September-October , 2021 | @ green
CLIMATE CHANGE
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Roundtable 2 : Reducing operational carbon in the built environment .
renewable energy .
Zulkiflee from Energy Commission Malaysia shared some EE initiatives in Malaysia . The first one was the Efficient Management of Electrical Energy Regulations ( EMEER ) 2008 . He stated that 1,500 out of 25,000 industrial installations were subjected to EMEER 2008 , consuming about 80 per cent of total industry consumption .
“ In terms of number , it is low . In terms of consumption , it is very high ,” Zulkiflee commented .
He then shared another EE initiative , the Minimum Energy Performance Standard ( MEPS ), used to regulate the energy efficiency of some electrical appliances .
Aside from the two regulations was the National Energy Efficiency Action Plan ( NEEAP ) 2016-2025 . There were four strategic thrusts under this policy : to implement EE plan , strengthen institutional framework & capacity development , establish sustainable funding mechanisms , and promote private sector investment in EE initiatives .
“ We ’ re currently in the process of drafting a new Energy Efficiency and Conservation ( EE & C ) Act in Malaysia , which will include electricity and thermal ,” said Zulkifli , an architect who is also the president of Malaysia Association of Energy Service Companies ( MAESCO ).
“ The number of registered energy managers is almost 1,500 , but the truth is only about 30 per cent are practising .
“ And after 12 years of the EE regulations , there ’ s only 60 per cent of compliance may be due to the difficulty of enforcement .”
Zulkifli then shared about the general EE strategies for new buildings , consisting of the mandatory adoption of MS1525 or a selected Green Building Rating Tool , financial and tax incentives , enhancement of capacity building , public awareness programmes and awards and recognition .
He said the same strategies applied to the existing buildings with the additional plans , such as introducing the availability of high-performance EE technology to the building owners and boosting the quality of EE retrofits .
Zulkifli shared three components that MAESCO wanted to promote in the country were building EE policies , promoting of business models and finance mechanism . He also highlighted the need for a dedicated energy efficiency regulation in the building sector .
“ The most important thing that we need to emphasise now is to establish the EE & C Act . It has been years overdue .
“ Hopefully , there will be a liberalisation of this energy supply sector ,” said Zulkifli .
Carbon neutrality by 2050
In increasing RE adoption , Chong , the president of Malaysian Photovoltaic Industry Association ( MPIA ), said : “ We do Feed-in tariff ( Fit ), Large Scale Solar ( LSS ), Nett Energy Metering ( NEM ) and Self-consumption programme ( SELCO ).”
He said Malaysia could catch up with more advanced countries in terms of RE adoption with existing policies . Chong mentioned some challenges to the acceleration of RE adoption in Malaysia , which included the limitation of the TNB grid , the government ’ s restrictions regarding
Number one is to reduce carbon emission . The second way is to substitute the dirtier energy source with a cleaner energy source . You will also need to have carbon capture and sequestration of CO2 .”
— Chong solar installation , and the costly energy storage .
Ong , the executive director of Sunway Group , then spoke about carbon neutrality in terms of township infrastructure . Ong said there were three ways to help to reduce the dangerous situation of accumulated carbon intensity : reduction , substitution , and sequestration of CO2 .
“ Number one is to reduce carbon emission . The second way is to substitute the dirtier energy source with a cleaner energy source . You will also need to have carbon capture and sequestration of CO2 ,” said the director .
In Sunway City , these three mentioned approaches were made by providing walkways , adopting solar panels on elevated walkways and buildings , and planting more trees . — @ green
About CEO Action Network |
“ CEO Action Network ( CAN ) is a loose network of CEOs ,” said Dato ’ Seri Johan Raslan .
He said CAN , chaired by Tengku Muhammad Taufik , President and Group Chief Executive Officer of PETRONAS , consisted of CEOs who cared about the country , companies and climate change .
While it was joined mainly by larger companies like CIMB Group and Sime Darby Property , Johan stated that CAN was keen to bring Small and Medium Enterprises ( SMEs ) into the network as they were the backbone of the economy .
Even though SMEs might have
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more significant financial restraints than larger companies , he believed that the younger generation of CEOs was more eco-conscious .
Johan shared that CAN had two different workstreams . One was capacity building , which aimed to build eco-friendly businesses within industries and raise awareness .
“ Another is , I am compiling a list of requests that we are going to make to the government . For example , to make changes in the regulation that can encourage the development of sustainable businesses .
“ To ask the government to coordinate all the efforts of climate
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change and to work together . So , CAN is trying to help each other ( companies ) to be sustainable and also trying to help the governments to push sustainability .”
He believed with precise coordination and political will , Malaysia could achieve nett zero emissions by 2050 . He also highlighted that sustainability requires a collective effort , and everyone has their parts to play . Initiated at The Cooler Earth Sustainability Summit 2019 , CAN , focusing on sustainability advocacy , capacity building , action and performance , aims to influence policy , mobilise support , inspire action and deliver positive impact .
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