1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910511375503321

Autore

Serina Rahman

Titolo

Renewable Energy : Malaysia's Climate Change Solution or Placebo? / / Serina Rahman

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Singapore : , : ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, , 2020

ISBN

981-4881-94-5

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (28 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Collana

Trends in Southeast Asia, , 0219-3213 ; ; 11 (2020)

Disciplina

333.791509595

Soggetti

Renewable energy sources

Energy policy

Climatic changes - Government policy

Climatic changes - Government policy - Malaysia

Renewable energy sources - Malaysia

Energy policy - Malaysia

Electronic books.

Malaysia

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 29 Oct 2021).

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- FOREWORD -- EXECUTIVE SUMMARY -- INTRODUCTION -- MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT POLICIES TO MITIGATE CLIMATE CHANGE -- GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND PLANS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY -- OTHER INITIATIVES FOR AND AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION -- MALAYSIA’S CURRENT ENERGY MIX -- MALAYSIA’S PLANS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY -- EXISTING RENEWABLE ENERGY INITIATIVES -- ISSUES TO OVERCOME -- THE WAY FORWARD -- REFERENCES

Sommario/riassunto

Malaysia pledged to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 in relation to its 2005 GDP figure. The sectors listed as the main focus of this effort included: energy, industrial processes, waste, agriculture, land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF). Several initiatives under myriad governments have been launched to reduce Malaysia's climate change impacts; among those has been the emphasis on renewable energy (RE). Malaysia's current energy mix relies heavily on coal and natural gas. Long-entrenched subsidies on



these energy sources, coupled with greatly depreciating prices make it difficult for new RE producers to enter the market and increase their market share. This is in spite of positive developments in RE infrastructure and reduced RE material costs. Solar, biogas, biomass and mini-hydro have been put forward as the RE sources with the most potential, but all have issues of consistency and reliability. Because small energy generators cannot guarantee infallible energy production, they may not be the most viable options for the long term. Their size also denies them the economies of scale that would reduce their costs. Instead, these higher costs may be transferred to the consumer. Other issues include the competition for land in the development of large-scale solar farms, including the possible loss of community farmlands and hence livelihoods, if not displacement. A push for biomass and biogas as a source of energy might also lead to increased oil palm production to meet the need for consistent supplies of oil palm waste. Biogas from municipal landfills is made even more challenging given that Malaysian municipal waste is not sorted at source. One possible solution is the use of hybrid RE in rural areas, comprising a mix of micro-hydro, solar and diesel-based energy generation as a back-up. However an immediate win is to ensure energy efficiency and public education to encourage emissions reduction and climate change impacts on the individual consumer.