Mitr Phol Takes Carbon Credit Market, Using Biomass to Save World by CO2 Reduction
Mitr Phol Group is going to sell a carbon credit to Kasikorn Bank, hoping to cool the world’s temperature down. The company is also planning to carry out 3 projects on a biomass power plant this year while asking for more certified carbon credit to become Thailand’s biggest manufacturer with 980,000 tons of carbon dioxide.
According to a local reporter, Kasikorn Bank and Mitr Phol Co. Ltd. have lately signed a carbon credit of 2018 with the first being a buyer and the second a seller. The credit was certified by Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization (Public Organization) (TGGMO) under the Thailand Voluntary Emission Reduction Program (T-VER) to promote greenhouse gas management in Thailand. This refers to selling an amount of reduced/absorbed greenhouse gas to other organizations which are unable to manage greenhouse gas emission themselves. Both the sale and purchase encourage participation to solve global warming and comply with the Thai government policy to reduce the gas emission at 7-20% by 2020 and at 20-25% by 2030.
Mr. Kritsada Monthienwichiensai, the chief executive officer and president of Mitr Phol Group, revealed that the group’s policy required sustainable care for economy, society and environment; therefore, its major business, namely sugar cane, sugar and biomass power plant, needed to be topped up via selling of a carbon credit. In doing so, besides reducing imported fossil-based fuel, energy stability is promoted. The biomass power plant of Mitr Phol Group, in particular, which has production power of 700 megawatts in total, is considered one of the biggest in Asia and the Pacific right now.
At present, Mitr Phol Group has 489,000 tons of carbon credit officially certified from reduction of greenhouse gas emission at a biomass power plant in Dan Chan District, Suphan Buri. In 2019, the Group will register the T-VER program and ask for more carbon credit certified for 3 projects from a biomass power plant in Kuchinaraya District, Kalasin, where an amount of carbon credit equivalent to 150,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year will be certified. When all new projects are systemized this year, Mitr Phol Group will be able to reduce greenhouse gas emission of 980,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year according to the T-VER standard. Such will make it the biggest producer of carbon credit in Thailand, as well.
“All our business are environmentally friendly, in particular the biomass power business which started in 2002. Now, Mitr Phol is becoming a big company on biomass power of Asia and the Pacific with capacity to produce electrical power of over 700 megawatts per year. Also, we created renewable and environmentally friendly energy made of bagasse and used materials from agricultural activities. This was done under the concept for sustainable society in conformity with the greenhouse gas reduction program under Thai standard and ways to mobilize Thailand to become a low CO2 society,” explained Mr. Kritsada.
The managing director of Kasikorn Bank Plc. Ltd. Mr. Preedee Dowchai mentioned that the bank also aimed to do its business under the idea of a sustainable financial institution with high concern on proper risk management, good governance and balance in all perspectives, namely economy, society and environment. The latter perspective is of high concern because it connects sustainable development of the country. So, everyone is responsible for it on behalf of the world citizen.
“Kasikorn Bank may be the first commercial bank of Thailand that did not emit greenhouse gas and played a role in reducing environmental effects. Besides, it provided financial support to enable both business and industrial sectors to realize consequences of the global warming and switch to more alternative and renewable energy,” said Mr. Preedee.
More news report identified that Paris Agreement on Climate Change in 2015 had raised awareness throughout the world on global warming, thus encouraging everyone to work seriously and concretely with a goal to reduce an average world temperature to 1-5 degree Celsius.
Although 177 countries signed the agreement, control of world temperature is not that easy. It depends on each country to work further on the issue.
Solutions to greenhouse gas and other environmental problems require more mechanisms that enable different sectors to work together. One of them is to allow potential private companies to carry out a program on global warming prevention in which selling and purchasing carbon credit to compensate for emission of greenhouse gas is indispensable. Urging need to sell and buy carbon credit in the country is also a way of help to reduce the gas under the goal determined, as well.
