Malaysia, Energy Observer's last stopover in South East Asia
by Energy Observer 15 Oct 2022 16:53 BST
11-18 October 2022
Energy Observer © Energy Observer Productions / George Conty
Energy Observer concludes its tour in South-East Asia in Malaysia, 74th stopover of its Odyssey around the world.
After Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore, which allowed many partners and officials to visit the ship and its educational exhibition village, the laboratory vessel, symbol of the energy transition, is in Langkawi for an eventful stopover from October 11 to 18.
Mobilizing all actors
Langkawi Island is the culmination of the Energy Observer's tour in South East Asia, which will then head to India and the Kerala region for its last stopover in 2022.
Many actors are mobilized around the arrival of the laboratory ship, partners of the Odyssey and local and institutional player.
"The French Embassy is proud to be associated with the stopover of Energy Observer in Malaysia. A press visit, a privileged exchange with the students of the French high school of Kuala Lumpur and the organization of a scientific field visit for the crew members will fully participate in the valorization of the event, in the bilateral exchanges on the energy transition, and in the promotion of the Sustainable Development Goals." Virginie Bioteau, chargée d'affaires at the French Embassy in Malaysia.
The NGO Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA), a scientific and educational partner of Energy Observer Foundation, has been collaborating with the crew through its Malaysian hub and the Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), which offers a number of programmes dedicated to marine biodiversity and the oceans. SOA is a global community of young people, entrepreneurs, and experts in their field, collaborating to solve the greatest challenges facing our oceans.
Energy Observer's stopover in Malaysia is thus an opportunity to explore the solutions that will enable the rise of a more sustainable maritime trasport, to welcome on board pupils and students from local schools and to support the various players in their efforts towards an ecological transition to preserve our ecosystems on land and at sea.
Documenting the challenges of energy transition
In 2021, Malaysia is a major producer of fossil fuels in the Asia-Pacific region, ranking 3rd in natural gas production and 4th in oil production in this area. Malaysia - being strategically located on important maritime trade routes - is a net exporter of energy, especially crude oil and liquefied natural gas. However, it imports coal - more profitable than natural gas as a feedstock for power generation - for its own domestic needs.
Although its energy mix is 90% fossil fuels, the countryhas a strong potential for the development of renewable energies, that is still under-exploited today: year-round solar irradiation, agricultural waste, especially in the palm oil sector, domestic and industrial waste for combustion, methanization or biomass gasification, not to mention river basins for the production of electricity by small hydroelectric plants.
In 2021 the government announced that it would increase the share of renewable energy in the installed capacity mix to 31% by 2025 to decarbonize the power sector, in line with the national targets of reducing greenhouse gases and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, which would put the country ahead of its South East Asian neighbours in terms of carbon reduction commitment.
Our audiovisual production team is on the ground to document these issues and understand how the country will be able to meet this dual challenge, observed in many neighboring countries that have experienced rapid growth in recent years: maintaining an acceptable standard of living and development, while gradually moving away from the fossil fuel era.
A long-awaited optimization shipyard
Langkawi was also the scene of the 5th technical worksite of the laboratory vessel, which got out of the water in September 2022, more than a year and a half after its last dry dock. Several optimization works have been carried out with a crew of sailors and engineers, especially on the onboard technologies. The fuel cell, the wind propulsion system, and some bifacial solar panels have been subject to maintainance with the replacement of some parts.
Energy Observer has been successfully relaunched after 3 weeks of intense work, which will allow to prepare the long navigations to come, notably to India in November 2022 and then to Cape Town in 2023, for a major stopover in South Africa.
Energy Observer, a unique vessel
Setting sail from its home port of Saint Malo in 2017, Energy Observer has already covered over 50,000 nautical miles, made 74 stopovers, 16 of which have been with its travelling pedagogical village, and visited over 40 countries. Developped from a legendary catamaran, whose many accolades include being the fastest sailboat around the world with Sir Peter Blake, Energy Observer is a laboratory for ecological transition designed to push back the limits of zero-emission technologies. From hydrogen to sun, wind, and tidal power, all solutions have been experimented with, tested, and optimised to make clean energies a practical reality accessible to all.
"Since the beginning of the round-the-world Odyssey in 2017, we have had the chance to dive into the heart of energy challenges and see the transformation of the various major industrial players in the sector. Despite the difficulties to change our energy model, I have witnessed a true will to accelerate this transition, whether it be public, political, or industrial. The strategies and technologies to offset greenhouse gas emissions are sufficiently mature to massively direct our investments towards low carbon technologies, making them accessible to all." - Victorien Erussard, Captain and founder of Energy Observer.
An Odyssey to accelerate the energy and ecological transition
In light of humanity's multiple challenges, the main missions of the Energy Observer expedition consist of accelerating transition through innovation, by demonstrating how well the onboard technologies and energy mix work in extreme environments and that they can be replicated on a wider scale both on land and at sea.
As the first French ambassador of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, this round-the-world tour also aims to explore all the solutions that favour ecological transition and raise awareness among allaudiences, general public, decision-makers, and manufacturers about this necessary transition through a series of inspirational and educational contents (documentary films, web series, scientific articles, and a travelling exhibition...).
Useful information:
Langkawi: from the 11th to the 18th of October 2022
*The boat can be viewed but cannot be visited by the public.