Electricity, environment & sustainability

Week 3

According to Tenaga Nasional Berhad in their Annual Report 2014, power generation in Peninsular Malaysia in 2014 came from natural gas (53.8%), coal (35.3%), hydropower (10.3%), distillates (0.6%) and medium fuel oil (MFO) (0.04%). Those two sources mentioned earlier are non-renewable. Nijhuis (2014) reported that coal still provides about 40% of the world’s electricity and nearly the same amount of global carbon emissions. Coal is inefficient, with a low mass-to-energy ratio, and creates enormous pollution. Thus, coal is neither sustainable at the global scale because of its contribution to anthropogenic climate change, nor at the local scale because it is a threat to public health and ecological condition. This is due to the effect of combustion of the two sources which is the release of greenhouse gases and pollutants that lead to global warming and health problems. Besides affecting the environment, loss of these sources (since they are non-renewable) may impair development because our dependency on them is still high. 

To overcome these problems, UN under its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 7, target to enhance international cooperation to facilitate access to clean energy research and technology, including renewable energy, energy efficiency and advanced and cleaner fossil-fuel technology, and promote investment in energy infrastructure and clean energy technology by 2030. Most growth in renewable energy has been focused on the electricity sector. As a result, the share of renewable energy in power generation rose from 19.6 per cent in 2010 to 22.3 per cent in 2014. 

Our country also participates in ensuring the efficient use of electrical energy. In an effort to encourage economic development and market that is competitive in sustainable environment, Energy Commission (EC) monitors electricity intensity to
measure the rate of electricity consumption in producing a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) unit.
Various initiatives have been taken by EC to encourage the efficient use of electricity by all citizen regardless of age or geographical location. One of the initiatives is EE Tour. This campaign aims to increase the awareness of efficient energy practice among the consumers. It involves exhibition, seminars and talks. Throughout this tour, EC was able to interact with people from various backgrounds, allowing the share of knowledge and tips between them  regarding energy efficiency. Up to  the end of 2016, 27 programs of EE Tour and seminars have been organised throughout Malaysia (Energy Commission Annual Report 2016). 

Rider University has developed a list of five criteria for evaluating any energy source, including non-renewable sources:

1. Availability - Is the energy source available and for how long? Fifteen years is considered to be near, fifteen to fifty years is intermediate, and over fifty years is considered to be long.
2. Energy yield - How much of other energy is needed to produce the energy? Rider University uses a net energy ratio this is summed up as "Energy produced divided by energy expended during production." The higher the ratio, the better the energy yield.
3. Cost - How much does the energy cost to develop and manufacturer? For example, needed high-technology to produce nuclear energy may be a detriment to its use.
4. Environment - How does the energy affect the environment? Further, does extracting, transporting, and using the source outweigh the effects on the environment? Using coal as an energy source comes into play in these criteria.
5. Renewable - Is the energy source a candidate for a renewable energy? Is it sustainable? Rider University experts say, "Why develop it if you're just going to run out of it?" Oil, for example, falls into these criteria.

These are what authorities do to tackle the issue of electricity from non-renewable sources. But what about us? 

Through this course, I was asked to do an innovation related to sustainability. Hence, what am I doing now is trying to contribute myself to sustainability by reducing the consumption of electricity. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXjs66819i0

Here is a video that talks about source of electricity and what can we do to reduce electricity waste.