Ingenieur Vol 77 Jan-Mar 2019 ingenieur 2019 Jan-March | Page 71

THEME: Future Energy (July- September 2018) KDN PP 11720/4/2013 (032270) THE VOL.75 JULY-SEPTEMBER 2018 Climate Change: Malaysia drafting laws in efforts to overcome any scenario (Source: STAR, December 12, 2018) Malaysia will start drafting a Climate Change Act, which is expected to take 24 to 30 months. It will include a list of scenarios the country will face should global temperatures rise by 2ºC. Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister, Yeo Bee Yin said they are also aiming to complete and announce a national climate change adaptation and mitigation plan by the end of next year. She said a climate change centre would also be set up by next year. Yeo said because climate change adaption planning needs to start with the right data, the Ministry will be developing a comprehensive risk analysis, simulating possible scenarios with a rise of 2ºC in temperature. For example, how will it affect our shorelines, food chain, ecosystem and others factors when the global temperatures increase by 2ºC compared to pre-industrial levels. The ASEAN Century for Renewable Energy (Source: STAR, December 3, 2018) The coming year could be a watershed moment for Renewable Energy (RE) in the ASEAN region. Although Southeast Asia is considered laggardly in terms of RE deployment, the region lies in an area with arguably the most significant potential for sustainably-sourced energy. The conditions here for the development of RE, particularly solar energy, could not be better. We get enough sunlight and heat to fulfill global needs for a whole year; in other words, solar radiation can satisfy our energy needs 4,000 times over, notes Matt Tan, group president of Mattan Engineering. Based on information from the International Renewable Energy Agency, Malaysia ranked third in ASEAN with a solar capacity of 362MW by the end of 2017. According to Protégé Associates, the RE sector in Southeast Asia has developed over the years, L E M B AG A J U R U TE R A M A L AY S I A B OA R D OF E N GI N E E R S MA LAY S I A INGENIEUR M A G A Z I N E O F T H E B O A R D O F E N G I N E E R S M A L A Y S I A F U T U R E with installed capacity rising from 38.4GW in 2011 to 62.9GW in 2017, representing a growth of 8.6%. Under the ASEAN REmap, Malaysia is targeted to achieve 18.3GW of RE capacity by 2025, including bioenergy (3.8GW), geothermal (0.1GW), hydropower (8.5GW), photovoltaic (PV) (5.8GW) and wind energy (0.1 GW). Calls to Cool Down on Coal (Source: THE ASEAN POST, December 26, 2018) While delegates from 200 countries came together to ramp up climate action and investors worldwide call for an end to banking on coal as part of the energy mix, the Trump administration followed through with its threat to host a fossil- fuel promotional side event at the United Nations Climate Summit (COP24), held in the Polish coal capital of Katowice. Amidst protests and jeering from climate campaigners, only Poland and Australia were represented at the event intended to “showcase ways to use fossil fuels as cleanly and efficiently as possible”. Poland’s commitment to coal is solid, 69