PTT Exploration and Production, part of the Kingdom’s largest energy conglomerate, said it will invest nearly $400 million for carbon capture technologies to use in the Gulf of Thailand with the goal of reducing emissions and fighting climate change.

PTTEP President and CEO Montri Rawanchaikul made the announcement at the Thailand Climate Action Conference 2023 held in Bangkok in early October. He told the audience of top-level executives, government officials, environmentalists and other scientists that the world is at a critical point where it must choose between doing nothing or too little and suffering a climate crisis, or adopting the policies and technologies needed to transition to a carbon-neutral existence.

PTTEP is the exploration and production arm of energy conglomerate PTT. It is the chief extractor of natural gas from the Gulf of Thailand, and so it will be focusing on carbon capture in that vital body of water.

Montri said that for Thailand to achieve its national goals and commitments under the Paris Climate Accords of reaching carbon neutrality by 2030 and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, it must reduce carbon emissions by about 40 million tons per year.

That is a daunting task, he said. Even aggressive reforestation and tree-planting programs will only produce a reduction of between 1 to 2 million tons per year. Other methods and technologies are needed, and carbon capture and storage are among them. PTT believes it can capture about 1 million tons of carbon per year with its technology in the Gulf of Thailand’s waters.

On land, the Bangkok Metropolitan Transit Authority is also planning to cut its carbon and greenhouse gas emissions by procuring an additional 2,013 electric busses to add to its fleet. Officials with the authority said they are drafting the procurement plan and it should be ready in six months for consideration and approval.

Source: Royal Thai Embassy, Washington D.C.