More people WFH could save millions

Photo: Filepic/The Star

WITH the conflict in the Middle East sending fossil fuel prices throughout the world skyrocketing, along with Malaysia’s fuel subsidy bills, the government has been looking into managing costs.

One proposal to reduce the fuel subsidy bill has been to implement work-from-home (WFH) initiatives throughout the country. On April 1, the government announced that employees of its ministries, agencies, statutory bodies, and government- linked companies could WFH beginning on April 15. While this is a good measure to reduce fuel consumption, expanding WFH to all sectors would have myriad other benefits.

The benefits can be calculated by adopting the following conser­vative parameters:

> Employed population of the Klang Valley: 4.1 million.

> Assumption of 50% WFH arrangement: 2.05 million.

> Average round-trip commuting distance in Klang Valley: 20km

> Average fuel consumption in heavy traffic: 0.11 litres/km.

Based on these parameters, the average commuter in the Klang Valley uses 2.2 litres of petrol each day to commute to work.

If just 50% of the Klang Valley’s working population was able to work from home, this would result in saving 4.51 million litres of petrol a day, and 90.2 million litres of petrol a month.

Given that the current subsidy bill is RM1.87 a litre, this would translate to fuel subsidy savings of RM169mil a month.

If the current geopolitical climate persists or worsens indefinitely, this could translate to subsidy savings of RM2.03bil over a 12-month period.

This figure focusing on the Klang Valley alone reflects just 23% of Malaysia’s entire working population. Mandating WFH for the whole country could potentially save up to RM1bil per month, depending on the ratio of the population able to WFH.

The benefits of this go beyond improving Malaysia’s fiscal position and employee productivity.

Data suggests that the vast majority of Malaysians commute to work alone, and that the vast majority of personal vehicles in Malaysia are internal combustion engine cars, which run on the harmful fossil fuels that are the leading drivers of air pollution and climate change today.

Air pollution is estimated to cost Malaysia RM303bil annually in public health-related costs, roughly 20% of our GDP.

Further, 32,000 lives are lost every year to air pollution, with respiratory illnesses being the second leading cause of death in the country.

Given that 70% of the Klang Valley’s air pollution comes from cars, the removal of 2.05 million cars from the road would drastically improve the valley’s air quality, and hence public health. Further, this would avoid the emission of an estimated 10,400 tonnes of carbon dioxide a day, 208,000 tonnes a month, or 2.5 million tonnes a year, reducing Malaysia’s contribution to global climate change.

The current spike in fossil fuel energy prices underscores the need for structural changes in Malaysia’s transport accessibility and energy sustainability and security. Given this, the following long-term measures should be undertaken by the government:

> Prioritise public transport: If the conflict worsens, the total subsidy bill for Malaysia could exceed RM48bil over a 12-month period. Based on recent estimates, this could instead fund 15,000 electric buses, 30,000km of covered walkways, 60,000km of protected bicycle lanes, or 720 electric train sets.

Malaysia requires budgetary reallocations to support a vast uptake of public transport and walkability across the country in both urban and rural areas; this would reduce the need for imported petrol and diesel substantially.

> Phase out fossil fuel energy: Even before the conflict, the cost of solar energy per MWh (megawatt-hour) in Malaysia was already lower than that of coal and gas. Solar energy is less susceptible to geopolitical tensions and therefore offers a viable alternative for Malaysia’s decarbonisation and energy security.

Accordingly, Malaysia should plan for a phase-out of polluting fossil fuel power plants and their replacement with new renewable capacity.

RIMBA WATCH

Rimba Watch is an environmental think-tank conducting research and advocacy on ­climate-related issues in Maritime South-East Asia.