Japan Led “Decarbonization” Projects In SEA Support Fossil Fuel Technologies
A closer look into the AZEC agreements raises concerns about costs and climate impacts,” says Amy Kong, researcher at Zero Carbon Analytics
Over one-third of the agreements signed under the “Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC)” – an initiative led by Japan to promote decarbonization-related projects in South East Asia (SEA) – are related to fossil fuel technologies, according to a new report by Zero Carbon Analytics, an international climate and energy research organization.
The Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC) is an initiative launched by Japan in March 2023 to advance cooperation with Asia towards carbon neutrality. Japan aims to play a pivotal role in Asia’s energy transition. To date 158 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) have been signed as part of the AZEC initiative.
The study finds that among the 158 memoranda of understanding (MoU) signed between Japan and partner countries,-
- 56 MoUs (35%) include fossil fuel technologies. These include, natural gas, LNG, ammonia co-firing with thermal power plants, ammonia and hydrogen not made by green power, CCS and e-fuels.
- 54 MoUs (34%) include renewables and electrification technologies. These include, solar PV, wind, renewable power, hydropower, geothermal, battery storage, electric vehicles, green hydrogen, green ammonia and waste management. Only 11 agreements (7%) include wind and/or solar.
- The lifecycle emissions of these fossil fuel technologies are higher than clean solutions like wind or solar. The project cost of retrofitting coal/gas plants with ammonia and/or CCS will soon be higher than solar and wind. Developing AZEC countries risk deepening coal dependence or new LNG dependence at a high cost by adopting these nascent technologies.
- Japan signed the majority (43%) of deals with Indonesia, followed by Thailand (15%) and Malaysia (11%). Most projects are in their preliminary stages with 75% of projects in pre-construction.
- Only 11 agreements (7% of the total) involve wind or solar.
“A closer look into the AZEC agreements raises concerns about costs and climate impacts,” says Amy Kong, researcher at Zero Carbon Analytics. “Fossil-based technologies, such as ammonia co-firing, CCS, grey and blue hydrogen, and LNG have much higher lifecycle emissions than solar and wind.”
The writer of this article is Dr. Seema Javed, an environmentalist & a communications professional in the field of climate and energy
