KUALA LUMPUR: Coal is one of the major fuel sources for generating electricity and its consumption is expected to increase from 42 per cent to 58 per cent by 2020.
However, over-reliance on coal resources can have an impact on Malaysia's commitment to reduce carbon intensity by 40 per cent, by 2020.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in his keynote address which was read by Energy, Green Technology and Water (KeTTHA) Minister Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili, in conjunction with the Ministry's excellence award presentation today, said this was the challenge faced by developing countries in balancing the cost of electricity generation and environmental protection.
Muhyiddin said the government, through KeTTHA, had identified appropriate mechanisms for reducing carbon emissions from electricity generated from coal fuel.
He said one of the technologies identified, the Clean Coal Technology, is currently used in all coal-based power plants operating in the country.
"In fact, I understand that the new power station based on coal, which is under construction will use more advanced technology which complies with the standards of Ultra Supercritical Clean Coal Technology.
"One of the other areas that have great potential for development is the generation of electricity from renewable sources or also known as renewable energy (RE).
"I was informed that this sector is growing rapidly due to the enforcement of the Renewable Energy Act of 2011 and the implementation of the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) in December 2011," he said.
However, Muhyiddin said, most of the quota for FiT application is focused on solar energy even though Malaysia has many kinds of RE such as biomass, biogas and hydropower.
"Therefore I urge the industry to develop RE sources that I mentioned earlier as it can produce electricity continuously compared with the PhotoVoltaic (PV) system which can only generate electricity when there is sun," he said.
He added the government was also looking at several other environmentally friendly technologies such as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) and nuclear energy.
Muhyiddin also called on everyone to work together with the government to adopt more energy efficiency (EE) measures.
He said KeTTHA was finalising the direction of EE by drafting the National Energy Efficiency Action Plan (NEEAP) with feedback from the industry.
"This plan will, among others, aim to facilitate and drive the development of EE to a higher level.”