By Joachim Ng
All Perakians should welcome the announcement two weeks ago that Malaysia’s first solid-state hydrogen reactor for sustainable electricity generation will be deployed in Tanjong Malim. The 5kW reactor will power a community hall for Orang Asli.
If it proves successful, the use of these reactors will be expanded to include powering the lighting for clinics, night markets, food trucks, and bazaars to replace diesel generators.
The science involves splitting water molecules to produce hydrogen and oxygen. As there must be energy to perform the splitting, it is hoped that the hydrogen reactor will stimulate interest in hydropower generation throughout Perak which has 11 major rivers including Sg Perak, the second largest in Peninsular Malaysia.
One more innovative move should be made: introduce a hydrogen-powered bus to ferry tourists for visits to popular caves with designated pickup spots in Ipoh city centre. It may seem like a feeble effort, but the psychological effect on the public will be impactful. A large hydrogen bus wheezing around is a mobile showcase they will stir greater interest in the electric vehicle (EV).
Hence, this triadic surge focusing on hydrogen will energise the state’s participation in the race towards net-zero carbon emission. In road transportation, Kinta Valley should take over the ecological lead from Klang Valley.
Currently, EVs make up only 5% of the total industry volume that includes hybrids and fuel cells. The Government’s EV target for new vehicle sales is only 15% by 2030 – a long eight years away. At this slow rate of conversion, the nation will lose the race towards better health.
The rate of conversion for motorcycles is also a low 15% target by 2030. Malaysia has approximately 7.8 million active motorcycles, making it the most popular and affordable motorised transport. However, each petrol motorcycle releases 60 gCO2eq/km compared to an electric bike emitting about 27 gCO2eq/km. The relatively high price and short range of electric m-cycles are major deterrents.
Why is the adoption of EVs a slow, slow march forward? It’s because the targeted buyers are T15s (top 15% income earners) who are just 15% of the population. Many have already bought their petrol vehicles. Can they keep another car in their house? Hence, even the low target of 15% new sales is not likely to be met.
Perak can take over the lead by coaxing owners of goods delivery, ride-hailing and taxi service vehicles (vans, cars, and motorcycles) to trade in their petrol machines for EVs. Their capital investment is heavy but the returns are monthly as their highest recurrent expenditure item – petrol – gets slashed to zero.
The State Government can facilitate the purchase of EVs by offering persuasive incentives to car distributors and dealers who arrange special discounts and generous pay-by-instalment terms for buyers. The State Government should also put in some investments by sponsoring EV showroom display venues and installing charging points at rest stops.
A rapid switch to EVs will save Kinta from degenerating into another Klang Valley over the next eight years. A horrific cloud of looming death hangs over Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Klang, and other big towns in Selangor where up to four million motorists are stuck in a gridlock on the roads during the daytime hours that stretch from 7.30am to 7.30pm.
Commuters spend an average of 580 hours a year in traffic jams, resulting in an average travel time of two hours and 15 minutes on the road each day. Vehicles stuck in traffic jams – which have become a Monday-Saturday phenomenon even on suburban roads and lorongs – typically consume 2.6 litres of oil per hour when not in motion, contributing to the staggering amount of petrol wastage.
Major roads such as the Federal Highway stretching Kuala Lumpur to the entrance of Klang are choked with traffic even on Sundays.
Bus services are such a dismal failure in Klang Valley because insufficient routes are covered and waiting time for a bus can stretch your patience thin. This huge letdown has prompted a 10% increase in petrol-engine vehicle sales every year, resulting in the cloud of looming death growing ever thicker.
What is this invisible cloud of looming death? Petrol vehicle emissions spew out pollutants mainly fine particulate matter known as PM2.5, coarse particulate matter known as PM10, carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide. PM2.5 and PM10 send you to hospital more often and increases your risk of dying sooner.
Carbon monoxide emissions in Malaysia are higher than in Japan, Korea, and European countries because of the daily hours-long Klang Valley traffic jams.
But the most dangerous pollutant is PM2.5 because it can penetrate the lung barrier and enter the blood system, causing cardiovascular disease and lung cancer. It affects more people than other pollutants and has health impacts even at very low concentrations. One of the most health-damaging particles, it makes you cough, wheeze, and short of breath.
Exposure to PM2.5 leads to an increased risk of mutations in the EGFR gene and the KRAS gene, both of which have been linked to lung cancer. PM2.5 causes inflammation and if a lung cell harbours a mutation, it will then form a cancer. This explains why many non-smokers in Klang Valley are lung cancer patients.
Black carbon, also known as soot, is a component of PM2.5 of which some accumulate in a woman’s uterus after being translocated from the lungs. It has been found to damage the placenta in pregnant women and its presence increases the chances of a baby developing diabetes, asthma, stroke, and heart disease later in life. You now see why all these diseases, in addition to being caused by poor dietary habits, are sending thousands of youngsters in Klang Valley to hospital.
The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change data sheet 2024 released one month ago revealed that 19,100 deaths in Malaysia were attributable to human-caused air pollution in 2021.
Environmental psychologists are also certain that people breathing polluted air are more likely to develop personality disorders, schizophrenia, and depression than those breathing cleaner air.
According to IQAir, Kuala Lumpur’s PM2.5 level in 2023 was 2.4 times above the annual safety limit of 5. Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, conforms to the recommended limit and here’s how it is done: Stockholm has an excellent public transportation system with buses, metro, commuter rails, trams and ferries providing saturation coverage for the city.
This super-efficient system enables car-owning commuters to travel by public transport for half their trips. Without the need to use their motor vehicles everywhere they need to go to, car owners in Stockholm find driving to be a pleasure as the city has no traffic jams.
Stockholm, and not Kuala Lumpur, is the correct role model for Ipoh. The idea is not to stop all new sales of petrol vehicles; the idea is to persuade owners to make half their trips by public transport, while setting a 20% target for increased sales of EVs. Hence, this plan helps car distributors and dealers to maintain their profit margins while making a significant contribution towards healthy city air.
How to ensure that Ipoh develops a super-efficient public transport system good for the next 30 years? Make a study trip to Singapore. In addition to sending state and city officials, include officers from the Perak branch of the Ministry of Transport.
In which direction is traffic-jammed Klang Valley headed? Speeding hazily towards Bangkok and Jakarta – two neighbouring cities of doom.
Jakarta regularly tops the list of the world’s most polluted cities, and last year the city’s PM2.5 reading was a phenomenal 11.7 times higher than the safe limit.
Last year, 10.5 million people in Thailand required treatment for pollution-related health conditions and during the first two months of 2024 some 1.6 million people were treated chronic bronchitis, lung cancer, asthma, and heart diseases.
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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Ipoh Echo
