PETRONAS energy shift gains pace

PETALING JAYA: Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s (PETRONAS) inaugural hackathon in March was set out to crowdsource decarbonisation solutions globally and accelerate its energy transition pathway towards its net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 target.

Senior vice-president Datuk Bacho Pilong said the event was a part of the group’s efforts to deliver its short-term target of capping greenhouse gas emissions at 49.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2024.

“This solution towards decarbonisation will be the main focus for PETRONAS in the next few years.

“This is as the group aims to provide safe and reliable, cost-optimised and emissions-abated energy solutions,” he said.

Receiving over 1,600 ideas and over 500 submissions from 25 different countries, the hackathon’s grand prize winner was a solution that minimises energy consumption of gas turbines and stops flare gas leaks to reduce methane emissions.

The winning solutions from the inaugural hackathon are poised to be matured, scaled and deployed at PETRONAS’ facilities within the next two years.

This, according to Bacho, will be a race against time for the group.

He then said that parties like the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry could step forward to provide support and services to execute the ideas, given the short timespan towards 2024.

Bacho said PETRONAS wants to ensure the group will be able to continue supplying hydrocarbons to the market and the economic value of resources could be used for a good cause.