By Professor Dr Suhaiza Hanim

Malaysia is one of the countries in the Asia-Pacific region with the largest CO2 (the major greenhouse gas) emissions. Its significant reliance on fossil fuels, including coal, oil and gas, is mostly to blame for the enormous volume of this global warming discharge.

The detrimental impacts of petroleum-based goods, including contamination of the air and water, degradation of the land, and harmful carbon emissions, exacerbate global warming and make the repercussions of climate change more obvious.

To meet SDG 7 by 2030, it’s critical to increase energy output, invest in renewable resources, and guarantee access to energy for everyone.

Hence, the role of renewable energy (RE) sources has been credited as a feasible replacement for fossil fuel options in order to move Malaysia towards a sustainable energy future.

As such, Malaysia, which has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by the year 2050, has set goals to get 31 per cent of its power capacity from renewable sources by 2025 and 40 per cent by 2035.

However, given that renewables now only make up around nine per cent of Malaysia’s energy generation capacity, Attaurrahman Ojindaram Saibasan, a power analyst at data firm GlobalData, deemed the government’s plans to be “highly unrealistic”.

Potential to harness solar energy resources

Due to its tropical position, Malaysia has the most potential for harnessing its solar energy resources. As it stands, technological advancements have made solar energy more affordable than gas-powered electricity.

On the other hand, consumers continue to confront the initial cost as their biggest barrier to adoption because residential solar adoption has trailed far behind that of corporate solar.

In order to solve this, Plus Xnergy is pioneering a new initiative in Malaysia and Southeast Asia by introducing a rent-to-own programme that makes solar cheap and allows for savings of up to 90 per cent on monthly bills, which will raise awareness and increase access among house owners.

Enabling technologies like green hydrogen might also potentially help Malaysia achieve affordable and clean energy. By 2050, Malaysia’s clean hydrogen consumption is anticipated to reach 1.5 million tonnes, a considerable increase.

Furthermore, the nation may establish itself as a trustworthy partner and provider of green hydrogen, provided that first-order national goals, requirements, and mandates are satisfied.

On Malaysia’s net-zero road, electrification and energy efficiency are important initiatives as well.

Electricity should account for 40 per cent of the total final energy used across all end-use sectors by 2050, up from 26 per cent in 2018. This growth is due to the increased electricity consumption caused by the electrification of end users in the transportation and industrial sectors.

Solid RE sector value chain

As stated by Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, Minister of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change, Malaysia has a solid RE sector value chain that goes from the manufacturing stage to the service delivery stage.

To attract high-value, environmentally responsible investment, Malaysia must make the most of its competitive position.

Increasing the capacity of financial organisations, including banks, insurance firms, and investment firms, and breaking down demand and organisational obstacles, in addition to decreasing government spending on fossil fuel-related subsidies, are important as part of the strategies to promote RE in Malaysia.

According to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia is dedicated to being ready to develop a low-carbon economy and at empowering to help reduce global-warming emissions.

Although Malaysia’s energy transition is still moving forward, it is thought that the pace may pick up given the ambitious climate-action objectives and the challenging job of decarbonising an economy that is dependent on fossil fuels.

As Malaysians, we must take quick action to advance our sustainable efforts while balancing environmental and economic concerns since we are stakeholders in the future of the world.

It is expected that Malaysia is in a great position to create a sustainable energy system based on renewable resources that can promote economic growth, combat climate change, and meet goals for energy affordability, universal access, and security in order to accomplish SDG 7, - Affordable and Clean Energy.

-- BERNAMA

Professor Dr Suhaiza Hanim Mohamad Zailani is the Director of the Ungku Aziz Centre for Development Studies, University of Malaya.