Sustainability Momentum Sdn Bhd

The Malaysian Green Technology Corporation (MGTC) launched Malaysia’s first ever electric bus pilot project in Kuala Lumpur recently. The initiative aims to introduce as many as 2,000 electric buses on Malaysian roads by 2020, with the first bus traveling in downtown Kuala Lumpur by middle of next year. The electric buses are built by Chinese automaker BYD Co. but will be locally manufactured in Malaysia. The Government has also enlisted the local unit of Panasonic Corporation, among others, to develop outlets for battery charging stations. The electric buses are said to have the capacity to travel 250km on a single charge. The lithium-ion battery would take about five hours and forty-five minutes to be fully charged.

If there was an overall theme to the 2013 Frankfurt Auto Show, it would be “green”. Nearly every car that was unveiled there featured some form of green technology; plug-in hybrids and EVs were particularly numerous. Porsche, BMW and Audi, have all deployed the kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) used in hybrid vehicles to boost their sportiest cars. The Porsche 918 Spyder was reported that it uses less fuel than a small family car despite delivering breath-taking speed.

The Port of Frederikshavn, Steeper Energy, and Aalborg University are partnering to establish the world’s first biomass-based plant in Denmark to produce a sustainable sulphur-free marine fuel from wood. Aalborg University will carry out a longer term research efforts on mixing in locally sourced feedstock to ensure product quality before implementing this in full scale. Therefore, the technical challenges and risk involved will be significantly reduced.

Many feel that the government is putting more and more pressure on households and families from recently announced fuel price hike. However the government has claimed that the RM3 billion saved annually could be used to pay out BR1M which may be increased from RM500 to RM1,200. Furthermore, fuel price hike is also an indicator that the country is economically sound and moving forward. Everyone in the country would gain from the price hike.

Forty one elephants in the Hwange National Park, near Harare Zimbabwe, were found dead when their water source was poisoned with cyanide. Zimbabwean police have traced the cyanide poisoning to six poachers who they believe are operating an ivory trade business out of Bulawayo. This cruel merciless act of poaching elephants hits a whole new low as the cyanide used to poison watering holes would affect other animals such as zebras and impalas that also drink from them. Scavengers such as hyenas and vultures are also at risk if they feed on the poisoned animals.

                                   Launch of the first solar clothes dryer in the world at the IFA 2013. Photo Credit: IFA 2013

Domestic appliance company Miele has recently launched the T881 EcoComfort, a tumble dryer which uses the sun’s energy (without converting it to electricity) to heat air for drying clothing. This first ever solar-powered tumble dryer works by connecting to a home’s central heating system, which is then linked to a solar-thermal rooftop array. Heat contained in the water heated by the solar-thermal array is transferred to create hot air, through a heat exchanger. Given that it uses solar energy, the EcoComfort’s energy footprint is 60% lower than that of a highly efficient heat-pump dryer, and it’s 80% more efficient than a vented or condenser dryer.

The oil spill which occurred at the Selangor River last week, forcing emergency shut-downs of water treatment plants, has prompted the Selangor government to take measures to step up environmental compliance and enforcement. The Selangor Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim has ordered all local authorities to impose an immediate freeze on applications for any form of activity to be conducted at river reserves. They have also been instructed to improve monitoring of river reserves, in particular identifying unlicensed activities.

                            Tesla Model S and Model S lithium0ion battery pack. Photo Credit - http://www.greencarreports.com

Tesla plans to double the sales of its Model S by 2015, from 21,000 cars this year to 40,000 by 2015. This means that Tesla could very easily consume the world’s supply of cylindrical “18650″ lithium-ion batteries. This may be the driving force (no pun intended) that battery manufacturers need to ramp up the global production of power cells. Green Car Reports states that the popularity of the Model S has already started to affect the consumer battery industry. Panasonic, Tesla’s primary battery supplier, recently more than doubled its profits to 4 billion yen just this year, prompting it to expand its production capacities.

Four water treatment plants in Selangor were closed temporarily when used engine oil spillage was detected in the water system. As a result, most areas in Klang Valley faced water disruption problems. Oil removing and cleaning activities are in progress, though the water supply at some of the affected areas has been restored. The oil was found to be dumped by a lorry maintenance workshop in Jalan Batu Arang, Rawang. The Department of Environment (DOE) is currently investigating the incident and will then submit investigation papers to the attorney-general for the next course.

15 people died from a liquid ammonia leak at a cold storage plant in Shanghai, China’s most populated city. It was reported that the liquid ammonia leaked from a refrigeration unit which is owned by a seafood company. An estimated 26 people became ill from exposure to the liquid ammonia, and six of those are said to be in critical condition. The cause of the incident remains unclear as the investigation is currently in progress.