OUMH2103

FAKULTI SAINS DAN TEKNOLOGI (FST)

SEMESTER 2/ 2017

OUMH2103

ENGLISH FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNICAL PURPOSES

NO. MATRIKULASI : 790306035775001

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In the 1970s, a very serious energy crisis gave awareness to the world community

on the importance of Renewable Energy. Renewable energy refers to renewable energy

sources that can be replaced throughout human life. Energy-producing technologies from

sources such as sunlight, wind, waves and biomass have been enjoyed by many countries

based on their capabilities, expertise and finance. Due to the huge demand for energy

based on economic growth and the growing number of people, the Malaysian government

is considering how to produce alternative energy into existing energy without any impact

on the electricity generation industry (Source of Ministry of Energy, Green Technology

and Water, 2009).

Recognizing this fact, the Malaysian government through the Eighth Malaysia

Plan, announced renewable energy as the fifth fuel in five new fuel strategies in the

energy supply mix. It is targeted that REs will contribute 5% of the country's total

electricity demand to 2005, at the end of the Eighth Malaysia Plan period. In the Tenth

Malaysia Plan, renewable energy targets are expected to supply 985 MW by 2015,

contributing 5.5% to overall electricity generation.

According to Ahmad Hadri Haris (2009) as the National Project leader, in the

Ninth Malaysia Plan (2006-2010) it is expected that Peninsular Malaysia will produce

300 MW and 50 MW of Renewable Energy in the state of Sabah. With this target,

persistent efforts are being undertaken to promote the use of Renewable Energy sources,

such as biomass, biogas, solar energy and mini hydro, for power generation. Solar energy

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is another important choice, especially in the supply of electricity in rural areas and for

water heating (Source: Malaysian Energy Commission, 2008).

Overall, I agree with the truth given. This is because non-renewable resources

cannot cope with the consumption of the population within the next 20 to 30 years due to

the exhaustion of resources such as oil, coal and so on. For security measures, the

Malaysian government is working to improve research on renewable resources for an

alternative to non-renewable resources for future generations. This growing technology

era is capable of improving research on renewable energy sources to commercialize

consumers such as methane gas from junk and so on.

Renewable developers and customers may have difficulty obtaining financing at

rates as low as may be available for conventional energy facilities. In addition to having

higher transaction costs, financial institutions are generally unfamiliar with the new

technologies and likely to perceive them as risky, so that they may lend money at higher

rates. High financing costs are especially significant to the competitive position of

renewable and generally require higher initial investments than fossil fuel plants, even

though they have lower operating costs. It found that financing costs can greatly affect

the price and competitiveness for solar panels could result in solar generation prices as

low as 15.2sen/kWh for publicly owned utilities and as high as 43.1sen/kWh for a private

developer using project financing. In Malaysia there are several private companies as

well as government agency companies undertaking pilot projects on the use of renewable

energy sources i.e. solar energy. Computation of ROI and break-even is done to ensure

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the use of solar panels is very useful if the investment is implemented. The profit gained

can be divided into two, namely, to user of solar panel and solar panel investors. With

such calculations, it is able to educate investors to think about the pros and cons of this

renewable resource.

A Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) is a tradable tool used by organizations to

represent the environmental, non-power qualities of a unit of energy. Think of it as a

permit to claim the green-ness of a given energy source, with each REC certifies the

generation of one megawatt-hour (MWh) of renewable energy. This greenness claim

can then be useful for a company, either to meet its own sustainability goals, or to meet

the terms of federal Renewable Electricity Standards (RES).

RECs sound complicated and somewhat counterintuitive, and the whole idea of

buying and selling greenness is a bit unsettling. That leads many people to assume that

the system must be a scam a bunch of paper shuffling and double counting.

It's an understandable reaction, but in reality, the system of RECs is quite well-

established and tightly monitored. There are regional tracking organizations that give

each REC a unique identifying number; every transaction involving the REC must be

registered with such an organization. These organizations ensure that environmental

benefits do not get double counted, that no one claims, environmental benefits they are

not due, and that RECs stay retired when they are retired.

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As consumers, its important that stay informed to read a companys marketing

claims about its renewable-energy commitments. In doing so, it deprives the regions

communities, many of the jobs and environmental benefits that new renewable

investments have the potential to bring.

Its important for consumers to continue to call for renewable-energy creation to

replace dirty energies like coal, natural gas, and nuclear. At the same time, it needs

companies to demand renewable energy as well, so that utilities will transition to cleaner

sources of power like wind and solar. Bundled RECs, in the short term, can help quantify

demand for renewable energy. In the long term, as more and more companies shift to

sourcing 100% renewable energy directly, the RECs will no longer be needed.

Many of the benefits of renewable described earlier in this primer are public

benefits that accrue to everyone what economists call "public goods". For example, those

who choose renewable reduce pollution for everyone and provide an environmental

benefit to the public at large. A customer who is willing to pay more for electricity from

renewable still has to breathe the same air as the neighbor who might choose not to pay

more. Public goods do not motivate everyone who benefits to pay for them, if they can

choose to be "free riders" who benefit from the contributions of others.

In conclusion, awareness of green energy needs to be among consumers and its

use as well as education on green energy so as not to be easily deceived by voluntary

RECs by placing high prices with low capital. While this strategy may benefit the

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individual firm, it is likely to hurt the region's long-term economic competitiveness. In

the same way, firms that can pass on increases in energy costs to customers may also lack

an incentive to diversify fuel sources, even though investment in renewables would

stabilize prices over the longer term. Therefore, the description and details of green

energy need to be thoroughly scrutinized to ensure that the investments made do not harm

all parties.

(1101 WORDS)

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REFERENCES

Ahmad Hadri Haris, (2009). Feed-in Tariff (FiT): Driving Forward Green Technologies
Conference. Kuala Lumpur .

KeTTHA (2009). Tenaga Solar Ani M. Hassan.(2003). Pengembangan Profesionalisme

Md. Baharuddin Abdul Rahman, Khairul Azhar Mat Daud, Kamaruzaman Jusoff, Nik
Azida Abd. Ghani. (2009). Project based learning (PjBL) practices at Politeknik
Kota Bharu, Malaysia. International Education Studies. 2 (4), 140-148.

Solanki, Chetan Singh.(2008). Solar Photovoltaic Technologies: An Introduction for

UiTM, Shah Alam ( 2010). Photovoltaic Monitoring Centre (PVMC), Shah Alam.

Kevin Porter, Open Access Transmission and Renewable Energy Technologies, Topical
Issues Brief, National Renewable Energy Lab, NREL/SP-460-21427, September
1996.

Steven Stoft, Carrie Webber and Ryan Wiser, Transmission Pricing and Renewables:
Issues, Options and Recommendations, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, LBNL-
39845, May 1997, online at www.lbl.gov.

Farhar, ibid. For up-to-date information on green markets, also see the Green Power
Network web site: www.eren.doe.gov/greenpower/.