There is in urgent need for a new paradigm of development to meet the demands of the rising “global middle class” and natural gas has an important role, said Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
The Prime Minister said a shift was crucial as the world community could not afford to allow emerging economies to follow the same “grow first, clean later” model adopted by early industrialisers as it would bring grave consequences to the well-being and security of future generations.
“I believe natural gas has an important role within that paradigm, by sustaining development and at the same time decoupling it from rising emissions.
“Natural gas offers an alternative to the environmental concerns posed by the use of fossil fuels in economic development.
“It may not be the perfect solution but it is without doubt one of the best we have today, offering the lowest carbon footprint of all the fossil fuels,” Najib said when opening the 25th World Gas Conference here yesterday.
The Prime Minister said given the significant growth in electricity demand in the non-OECD countries, aggressive substitution of natural gas for coal would represent an immediate and the most pragmatic route to mitigating emissions growth.
Najib said over the last 30 years, gas had tripled its share of the country’s primary energy mix to become the largest energy source.
He added that Petronas’ LNG complex, one of the world’s largest facilities at a single site, supplies 20 per cent of the combined LNG imports of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and China.
