ส.อ.ท. จับมือกระทรวงพลังงาน จัดงาน Energy Symposium 2024 สู่การเปลี่ยนผ่าน “ความเป็นกลางทางคาร์บอน” ผลักดันการปรับตัวภาคอุตฯFTI Collaborates with the Ministry of Energy to Host Energy Symposium 2024 Towards Carbon Neutral Transition to Drive Industrial Adaptation

Today (Thursday, October 17, 2024), the Institute of Energy for Industry of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) organized the annual academic seminar Energy Symposium 2024 under the theme "Industrial Adaptation in Line with the New Energy Plan towards Carbon Neutrality" to inform industrial operators and interested parties about global situations affecting economic and energy volatility, along with adaptation guidelines under the National Energy Plan that the Ministry of Energy is implementing to drive the country towards carbon neutrality by 2050 and achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2065 at the Vibhavadi Ballroom, Centara Grand at Central Plaza Ladprao, Bangkok.

Mr. Prasong Inthanongphai, Vice Chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) and President of the Institute of Energy for Industry, stated that the current economic volatility, climate change leading to global warming, and geopolitical conflicts are factors impacting global energy prices and pose challenges to the Thai economy and industry. Energy is a fundamental component of operations and enhancing the competitiveness of the industrial sector. Therefore, industrial sectors and SMEs need to urgently adapt and prepare to cope with these challenges, including the rapid adoption of technologies developed during the energy transition, which will help industries achieve sustainable competition in the future.

In the past, the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), as a representative of the industrial sector, has played a significant role in supporting and developing the capacity of the industry in light of the rapidly changing energy situation. Therefore, the FTI has established a strategy to drive under the ONE FTI policy (One Vision, One Team, One Goal), focusing on the driving of First Industries and expanding towards Next-GEN Industries in 12 target new industries or future industries (S-Curves) driven by the BCG Model (Bio-Circular-Green), which reflects the current global direction. The industrial sector must be prepared and able to cope with the impacts of measures under foreign policy frameworks in various forms, such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) or EU's carbon adjustment mechanism that impacts Thai businesses. Additionally, one of the promotion methods to drive entrepreneurs towards Smart SMEs through 4GO consists of:

1. Go Digital & AI under the “Digital One” project to help elevate SMEs nationwide through various programs that help reduce costs, increase production efficiency, and lower expenses. This is a proactive policy that will accelerate the elevation to Smart SMEs.

2. Go innovation enables SMEs to be “small but mighty.” The FTI has collaborated with the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation to establish an innovation fund called “Innovation One,” in which the ministry has allocated a budget of 1 billion baht, supplemented by an additional 1 billion baht from the FTI, totaling 2 billion baht over three years to support SMEs and startups in developing innovative new products to create added value for goods.

3. Go Global will push SMEs to produce and sell products internationally to standards recognized abroad. For SMEs that are part of the supply chains of foreign exporters manufacturing in Thailand, efforts will be made to help them achieve international standards, thus enhancing their standards alongside various products.

4. Go Green aims to push SMEs to produce products and implement processes that are environmentally friendly, as this type of product is in high demand globally and continues to expand, thereby enhancing international competitiveness.

In addition, the FTI has collaborated with the Ministry of Energy to continuously drive the promotion of industrial practices in alignment with government policies, such as implementing various projects and activities for FTI members to promote and encourage energy conservation and efficient energy use in the industrial sector, as well as encouraging production that utilizes technologies and innovations that add value, along with promoting renewable energy and energy storage systems to focus on production that does not harm the environment through training and seminars, as well as producing disseminated media that provide beneficial knowledge to the industrial sector.

Mr. Pirapan Salirathavibhaga, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy, stated that in recent times, there has been increasing discussions on conducting business towards carbon neutrality, which aims to balance the emissions of carbon dioxide from various economic activities through conservation and reforestation. Economic activities that lead to greenhouse gas emissions or carbon dioxide emissions largely come from energy production and usage in all sectors. Thailand ranks 20th in greenhouse gas emissions globally among 198 countries (Climate Watch Data, 2020), with about 70% of carbon dioxide emissions originating from the energy sector due to usage in the industrial and transport sectors combined.

However, the primary purpose of energy use is to drive the economic activities of the country and to enhance the quality of life for citizens, thus it is impossible to cease energy usage altogether, but we must use it wisely and with minimal environmental impact, which will lead to sustainable carbon neutrality.

Global industries today must adapt towards low-carbon production in accordance with global commitments that set greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, affecting purchasing choices and investments in environmentally friendly businesses. Similarly, the industrial sector in Thailand must adapt, not only for business survival that considers returns solely in monetary terms but for the sustainable survival of the world, including its resources and living beings. The National Energy Plan developed by the Ministry of Energy aims for stable, sustainable, and equitable energy aligned with the country's goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector while creating economic value through the promotion of clean energy.

Moreover, Mr. Pirapan further noted that what the Ministry of Energy prioritizes and is currently implementing is to put the plan into practice with a strategy of "renovate, reduce, release, create" to establish an environment conducive to effectively implementing the outlined plans. The industrial sector aiming for carbon neutrality can also apply this concept to create a balance between carbon emissions from business operations and carbon sequestration through increased green spaces or carbon offsetting, managing current obstacles to transitions by "renovating" old, inefficient energy production systems, which will "reduce" energy consumption automatically. This means improving energy efficiency to achieve higher outputs with modern, efficient technology. Furthermore, "release" the dependence on external energy by producing clean energy on-site, enabling industries to control their energy costs independently, particularly when electricity production relies on imported LNG, leading to high and volatile costs impacting production costs and the survival of sectors.

     Thus, for businesses to achieve sustainable survival, they must have a clean energy source that can be independently managed to help reduce electricity demand. Currently, the Ministry of Energy is in the process of amending regulations in collaboration with relevant agencies such as the Ministry of Industry, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, the Provincial Electricity Authority, and the Metropolitan Electricity Authority, to modernize regulations, unlock unnecessary regulations, reduce procedures for operators, and facilitate the industrial sector towards being self-producing clean energy, reducing business expenses and ensuring energy security. Additionally, the industrial sector can also “create” added value from wastewater generated during production to further produce renewable energy for re-use. Furthermore, “creating” a management system to enhance energy efficiency utilizing modern technology, such as upgrading transportation systems to electric vehicles to reduce fuel costs and minimize environmental pollution, among others.

All of the above is an example of the industrial sector's adaptation, which many have already begun to implement. The Ministry of Energy will continue to push forward and support the industrial sector's adaptation towards energy-efficient production and usage that helps reduce energy costs, raw material management costs, and waste management, which will enhance the competitiveness of the industrial sector and ultimately help reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the national and global levels to achieve the established carbon neutrality goals.

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Published by the Corporate Communications Department of the Federation of Thai Industries (Tel: 0-2345-1051)