Demonstration Project - Is it necessary or compulsory?

The hype of Renewable Energy (RE) is perpetuating like a point on a wheel. It goes up and down depending on the momentum, geopolitical context, economic downturn (or upturn) as well as the attitude of policymakers, the lobbyist groups and of course the end users.

It is not simple to adopt RE at once, let alone with gradual steps. Remember those old hypes in the 70s where, due to oil shortage and those geopolitical tensions between the west and the east triggered by the six days war and the change of regime in Iran, the option for nuclear power had become prominent to secure energy dependencies?

Not the same story, but it is repeated again. Between 2007 - 2008, oil price had gone, or precisely had surpassed, through the psychological barrier of US $ 150. Then, it was followed by the financial crisis (blame it on those financial institutions) which created weaker demand for consumptive goods and energy. This nightmare definitely has encouraged the US administration to reposition its energy policy from the use of conventional energy sources to renewable energy.

But will it work? Probably. Given the maturity of the technology in the western world, it may work. But what about the rest of the hemisphere?

Take an example a nation in ASEAN. The Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications Malaysia issued the 2007 National Energy Balance Malaysia detailing figures of energy supply and demand in the country. It was noted that although the country has addressed potential issues on the future of thermal energy, its reliance on such sources will not decrease, at least in the medium term.

For electricity sector, the total installed capacity at the end of 2007 was recorded at 21,815 MW. But most importantly, the contribution from natural gas for fuelling power plants took the share of 56.6 percent. Compared to coal (34.2 %) and hydro (6.9 %), natural gas will remain significant to contribute at least form some years to come. If hydro is counted as renewable energy without accounting its environmental impacts, then the contribution of RE for electricity is small.

But there seems to be a promising future for solar energy. The installed capacity of PV increased from 474 kWp in 2004 to approximately 1.7 MWp (both on-grid and off-grid) in 2008. The country initiated Malaysia Building Integrated Photovoltaic (MBIPV) project where commercial and residential buildings are installed with solar PV panel to power some lightings.

This demonstration project is essential to show that RE can also be adopted in the place where the density of the population is high. We will look forward on the progress of MBIV in the future.

Renewable Energy - viable energy option for the future

I've just read two interesting light materials on the energy sector of two ASEAN countries: Brunei and Lao PDR. Both are considered as small countries although in term of population and land size, the latter oversized the former.

The most interesting part is how each of them use their natural endowments for their incomes. On the case of Lao PDR, endowed with mountainous areas with rivers flowing the major parts of the country, the use of hydro power becomes not only imminent but also essential to secure the domestic energy supply as well as to obtain revenue through exporting electricity. The country also utilizes small scale hydro power (mini, micro) to enable people in the decentralized rural areas get access to electricity.

Yet, another interesting fact from the country is the initiative to use solar power for rural households living in isolated areas. Such power is also used for other purposes such as for health care station as well as to provide lighting for schools.

Contrary, with vast resources in gas and oil, Brunei relies its revenues on gas and oil export. It can be said that most of the oil is exported, while the majority of the gas produced is sold through long term contracts, mostly to Japan and Korea. Major gas areas are found on the Gannet and Fairley block while oil fields are located at Seria and Champion blocks.

Even with this huge resource, Brunei has started to initiate an action plan on renewable energy. Through cooperating with Mitshubisi, the country has installed a photovoltaic demonstration project, probably the largest in South East Asia country, at Seria power station in Belait district.

The project inspired me to plan a field trip activity to this site into the AGRE project agenda.

A lesson learn from these facts is we need to prepare for the worst. Renewable energy may be (in immediate time) the only viable energy sources when conventional (thermal) energy starts to run out, or is plotted for political purposes.