2018/19
Table of Contents
Abbreviations ..............................................................................................................ii
Abstract ...................................................................................................................... 1
References ............................................................................................................... 18
i
List of Tables
List of Figures
Figure 2: Primary energy supply in Malaysia for 2006 and 2016 ............................... 4
Figure 4: Information that are provided on each of the energy rating sticker ........... 12
Abbreviations
PV Photovoltaic
RE Renewable Energy
ii
Abstract
As we are facing energy resource shortages around the world, there is an urgent need
to develop a more sustainable energy system to cater for growth. The use of clean
energy sources is one of the feasible options. Malaysia is amply endowed with clean
capacities are grossly under-utilised, particularly from biomass and solar energy. The
green technology market in Malaysia. This paper will identify the key issues and
future in Malaysia. This paper will also look in detail at the types of clean energy and
1
Chapter 1: Introduction
meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future
generations to meet their own needs (Kates, Parris, & Leiserowitz, 2005). The concept
of sustainable development does imply limits and it is not absolute limits, but limitations
resources and by the ability of the biosphere to absorb the effects of human activities
of energy resources that, in the long term, is sustainably and readily available at
reasonable cost and can be utilised for all required tasks without causing negative
impacts (Dincer, 2000). The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were born at the
("Background on the goals," 2018). There are 17 SDGs in total which are a universal
call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace
and prosperity. In this paper, clean energy issues which is related to Goal 7 out of the
One of the main contributor towards the rapid growth of Malaysia’s economy is
energy. Malaysia is now having higher dependent on energy sector as its progressing
towards becoming an industrialised country (Mustapa, Leong Yow, & Hashim, 2010).
The primary energy supply in Malaysia has a significant increase which is from 67023
ktoe in 2006 to 93398 ktoe as shown in Figure 1. There is different type of primary
energy supply in Malaysia which are coal and coke, natural gas, crude oil, petroleum
products, hydropower and other renewable energy. In 2016, the hydropower and
renewable energy contribute only 6% of the total energy used as shown in Figure 2
2
whereas the rest are contributed by non-renewable energy in Malaysia (NEB, 2016).
The fossil fuels used to generate energy through combustion will unpreventably
contribute to the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG). Therefore, most of the existing
The GHG emitted will then contribute towards significant environmental impact which
is climate change and global warming. These could lead to ecological damage and
indirectly affects human health (Dincer, 1999). The direct and indirect effects of climate
change results in having 160,000 people deaths per year and the rate is estimated to
the increased by two fold in 2020 according to the statistics released by World Health
Organisation (WHO) (Mekhilef, Saidur, & Safari, 2011). In order to reduce the
environmental impact and tackle the issue of fossil fuels depletion, generation and
energy derived from renewable, zero-emission sources and energy saved through
energy efficiency measures (NCSEA, 2018). Renewable energy is one of the clean
source of energy which includes biomass, hydropower, geothermal energy, solar, wind
and wave energy, mainly used for power and heating (Tsagarakis et al., 2018).
in Malaysia. The aim of this paper is to identify the key barriers of clean energy
development in Malaysia.
3
Primary Energy Supply
100000
90000
80000
70000
60000
ktoe
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Year
2%
6%
35% 33%
11% 20%
4
Chapter 2: Literature Review
Rapid depletion of fossil fuel reserves as well as climate change has driven the world
Therefore, RE resources can be a good substitute for fossil fuels. Furthermore, in more
recent times, it has been realised that renewable energy sources and systems can
greenhouse effect)
Environmental degradation
2.1.1 Hydropower
complex because the issues are not confined to the design, construction and operation
of dams themselves but embrace the issues of social, environmental and political
issues (Yuksel, Yüksek, & Ceribasi, 2010). It is a renewable energy source and emits
negligible amounts of GHG (Ong, Mahlia, & Masjuki, 2011). In long term, electricity
generated from hydropower is comparatively cheaper compared to oil and natural gas
5
and the cost will not be overwhelmed by the fuel prices changing, which are currently
such as irrigation, flood control, tourism, local employment and skills development,
rural electrification and the expansion of physical and social infrastructure such as
roads and schools (Mohamed & Lee, 2006). These are among some of the reasons
why the government decided to implement the Bakun project having a capacity of
2,400 MW. The Bakun hydroelectric project will involve the construction of a 205 m
high rock filled concrete dam creating a reservoir of 695 km2 (Mohamed & Lee, 2004).
This reservoir is relatively small compared with some of the hydroelectric power
stations in other nations such as the 5,800 km 2 for the 2,400 MW Aswan Dam, 4,500
km2 for the 1,500 MW Kariba Dam in Zambia and 8,500km2 for the 850 MW Akosomb
Dam in Ghana (Mohamed & Lee, 2004). Therefore, hydropower is still the only
Ongsakul, Widjaya, & Henson, 2007). However, only 6,086 MW out of the 29,000 MW
is currently utilised. Table 1 shows the installed capacity of major hydropower stations
in Malaysia with a total capacity of 6,086 MW. In 2008, the state government of
Sarawak has announced plans to develop several large hydroelectric projects under
the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE), where more sizeable dams are
being planned to bring 4 GW of total generation capacity by 2025 (Sovacool & Bulan,
2012).
6
Table 1: Installed capacity of major hydropower stations in Malaysia
Installed
Station Total (MW)
Capacity (MW)
1. Terengganu
Stesen Janakuasa Sultan Mahmud Kenyir 4 x 100 400
Stesen Janakuasa Hulu Terengganu 2 x 125 + 2 x 7.5 265
2. Perak
Stesen Janakuasa Temenggor 4 x 87 348
Stesen Janakuasa Bersia 3 x 24 72
Stesen Janakuasa Kenering 3 x 40 120
Chenderoh 3 x 10.7 + 1 x 8.4 40.5
Sg. Piah Hulu 2 x 7.3 14.6
Sg. Piah Hilir 2 x 27 54
3. Pahang
Stesen Janakuasa Sultan Yussuf, Jor 4 x 25 100
Stesen Kanakuasa Sultan Idris II, Who 3 x 50 150
Cameron Highland Scheme* 11.9
Stesen Kanakuasa Ulu Jelai 2 x 186 372
4. Kelantan
Pergau 4 x 150 600
Kenerong Upper 2x6 12
Kenerong Lower 2x4 8
5. Sabah
Tenom Pangi 3 x 22 66
6. Sarawak
Batang Ai 4 x 27 108
Bakun 8 x 300 2,400
Murum 4x 236 944
Total 6,086
Solar energy is the most promising backup energy as it has many benefits over
other resources. Solar energy is a naturally accessible and clean energy source
derived from the sun that can be exploited directly to generate electricity (Saidur,
2010). Solar energy did not release pollutant, low maintenance and high reliability,
with life span expectation of 20 – 30 years made solar power a favourable source of
energy to be used in the future (Saidur & Mekhilef, 2010). In Malaysia, the tropical
climatic condition is favourable for the development of solar energy due to abundant
7
sunshine with the average irradiance per year of 1643 kWh/m 2 (refer to Figure 1)
(Ahmad Hadri Haris, 2009). There are massive applications of photovoltaic technology
such as solar water heating, solar drying and solar photovoltaic; however, solar
In Malaysia, the solar energy applications can be split into two main categories
which are solar thermal application and photovoltaic technologies. Solar thermal is a
technology where the heat from solar energy is exploited for heating purposes
photovoltaic material convert the solar radiation into direct current electricity (Saidur
et al., 2009). Solar thermal consists of solar heating and cooling system such as solar
water heaters, solar pool heating, solar assisted drying system, solar space heating
and cooling, ventilation, solar air conditioning and solar refrigerator (A. H. Haris, 2009).
Malaysia is ideal for large scale solar power installations due to its location in the
equatorial region (Mekhilef et al., 2012). Table 2 shows the summary of yearly average
solar radiation in various towns in the country. Table 2 indicates that Kota Kinabalu,
Bayan Lepas and George Town receive the highest level of the solar radiation in
Malaysia. According to the head of the Renewable Energy Unit, PTM, Penang and
Sabah are the best two spots to produce electricity from sunlight (Saidur et al., 2009).
8
Table 2: Annual solar radiation in Malaysia
Source: Solar energy in Malaysia: Current state and prospects by Mekhilef, S. et. al.
9
2.1.3 Biomass Energy
there is a need to explore alternative energy sources to support her population and
commercial energy demand. Nowadays, biomass and biofuels are seriously being
supply much more energy than conventional energy sources (Saidur, BoroumandJazi,
Mekhilef, & Mohammed, 2012). Biomass energy is an energy that is derived from living
matter such as field’s crops and tress. Agricultural and forestry wastes and municipal
solid wastes are also considered in the biomass category (Hinrichs & Kleinbach,
2012). Biomass is the fourth largest energy resource in the world and can be found
abundantly in Malaysia (Mekhilef, Saidur, Safari, & Mustaffa, 2011). The biomass
potential in Malaysia is estimated at 1,300 MW (Oh, Pang, & Chua, 2010). However,
only 260.4 MW is utilised out of 1,300 MW (NEB, 2016). Table 3 shows the biomass
based power generation in Malaysia. Besides, biomass energy is one of the important
potential sources of renewable energy in Malaysia, due to massive output from palm
oil residues and wood wastes including rice husk, sugarcane and municipal waste
(Petinrin & Shaaban, 2015). However, the main sources of biomass in Malaysia are
come from plantation residue and agricultural residue as shown in Table 3. Plantation
such as palm oil, rubber, cocoa, wood and timber and pepper are highly potential to
be used as biomass residue for electricity generation (Shafie, Mahlia, Masjuki, &
Ahmad-Yazid, 2012). Agriculture crop residues are divided into two categories of crop
residues and agricultural industry product (Schoneveld, German, & Nutakor, 2010).
10
Table 3: List of biomass-based power generation in Malaysia
Total 260.35
Source: A review on electricity generation based on biomass residue in Malaysia by S.M. Shafie et. al.
Energy efficiency (EE) now has a significant place in the public policy agenda
1996). While everyone is enthusiastic about renewable and clean energy, many have
forgotten that most important “fuel” of all should come from the energy saved through
11
grid (APEC, 2011). The prospect of the amount of energy that could have been saved
One of the key initiatives worth highlighting is the amendment to the Electricity
(MEPS) on selected electrical appliances and lighting. Under this regulation, all
refrigerator, air-conditioner, television, fan and lamp that are imported into the
Malaysian market must meet the minimum regulatory standards as a way to phase out
(Oh et al., 2010). MEPS-related information of each product being sold must be made
information that each sticker provides, with the rating ranges from 1-star (consumes
Figure 4: Information that are provided on each of the energy rating sticker
12
Chapter 3: Methodology
sustainable development goals in Malaysia. Several articles were read to have better
efficiency in Malaysia. Besides, the facts and data in the articles were analysed and
interpreted to complete this paper. The data in this paper were extracted from the
articles in different journals. The major sources of the articles read and cited in this
paper are from Elsevier, Sciencedirect and Web Science. Keywords such as
Development” were used to search the relevant articles for this paper.
Currently, there are many green energy projects are implemented with the
uncertainty, thus it creates a barrier for its development. This in turn indirectly
increases the price of clean energy options and delaying their full integration into the
energy marketplace. Besides, the initial cost for the efficient equipment is relatively
higher than the standard alternative and the payback period or economic return may
be unacceptable (Mustapa et al., 2010). Clean or green energy projects generally face
difficulty in getting financing and bank loan approval due to the high risk involved and
13
also the lack of the technical knowledge on the part of the financiers. Generation of
energy generation and availability of cheaper alternatives energy. The relatively high
costs and final energy costs, compared to conventional energy further restrain the
still in its infancy and has not realized the economies of scale with short payback
periods for developers to be interested in participating (Poh & Kong, 2002). Example
In this regard, the electricity costs from biomass, geothermal and solar energy are
In general, RE support services are inadequate to cater for the three major
users of the technology: the domestic sector, the industrial/commercial sector, and
developers/investors (Poh & Kong, 2002). Besides, there are uncertainty in some
technologies that may not be suitable because of unreliable power supply such as
14
wind energy in Malaysia. Also, being unproven technology, it may not be able to
survive competitively with more established options. Besides, there is limited local
of securing the long term biomass supply and price volatility. Project that do not have
biomass residues associated with their operation are subject to price volatility in the
biomass market. Furthermore, the nature of the electricity tariff undermines renewable
energy efforts.
need for refocusing the energy fuel mix in the country’s energy equation to give
importance to renewable energy. The government should allocate RE for its energy
usage to show its strong commitment. The subsidy for conventional fuel source should
generation from renewable resources and enhancing capacity building of key players
energy. Investment allowances and capital allowances were made available for RE
implementation since 2008. However, not many companies are aware of the special
incentives. There is a clear need for government agencies to help and advise
15
applicants and potential recipients how to go about applying for RE incentives and the
Chapter 5: Recommendations
The main concept of sustainability, which often inspires local and national
though being given many different meanings in different contexts, embodies a long-
term perspective. The increasing world population requires the definition and
Public awareness is the initial step and very crucial in making the sustainable
development programme successful. This should be carried out through the media
and by public and/or professional organisations. The Center for Education and
Training in Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in Malaysia should counter the
renewable energy resources, etc. should be provided to public through public and
sources should be promoted in every stage. This will create a strong basis for the
Financing is a very important tool that can be used for reaching the main goal
and will accelerate the implementation of renewable energy systems and technologies
for sustainable energy development of the nation. Some countries such as Germany,
16
apply the support in different way and simply exempt the people who use such systems
Chapter 6: Conclusion
Clean energy resources and their utilisation are intimately related to sustainable
development. The problem of global warming and exhaustion of fossil fuel have
sources closer to load demands in the distribution system. This paper presents the
vision a reality. Malaysia has abundant fossil fuels but they are fast depleting. The
current RE resources are not enough in Malaysia. Therefore, exploration into other RE
sources such as wind, tidal and biofuel/biodiesel needs to be done to meet future
energy demands. Renewable energy is the best alternative in providing electricity for
those living in rural areas that are far from utility grids or in places where extending the
17
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