THE National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) is intended to guide Malaysia towards a sustainable and resilient energy future. However, the roadmap, while addressing general issues related to climate change, needs more scientifically sound, sustainable and economically resilient approaches. This is to ensure the Net Zero targets can be met while mitigating core climate change challenges.
Levers of transition and misplaced priorities
The NETR is built on six key levers – energy efficiency (EE), renewable energy (RE), hydrogen, bioenergy, green mobility, and carbon capture and utilisation (CCUS).
Renewable Energy (RE) has shown the most noticeable growth, largely because it has been made profitable since 2011. However, this progress is insufficient and poorly managed, focusing narrowly on solar.
On the contrary, the most critical foundational area, energy efficiency, is in “hibernation mode”.
Malaysia is missing the most fundamental step in any successful energy transition: reducing overall energy consumption. The largest energy guzzlers, particularly the transport and building sectors, remain “unattended.” Billions are spent on alternative energy resources while the issue of high consumption persists.
EE simply means reducing energy usage while maintaining output and this would save billions more compared to introducing new energy sources.
The remaining levers – hydrogen, green mobility, and bioenergy – are largely deemed as potential solutions with real results yet to be seen clearly. This short-term focus, will avoid building a strong supply chain and broader downstream industries necessary for creating a resilient new economic growth sector.
The problem with intermittency and solar focus
While Malaysia has reportedly achieved its 2025 RE target with over 31% installed capacity, it is not actual electricity generated 24/7. The reliance on solar, which is only effective for four to six hours daily, cannot cater to the base load (the minimum level of electricity demand required constantly 24/7).
This intermittency forces fossil fuel plants to remain on standby, imposing a “silent cost pass through to tariff” which results in the socialisation of cost to the public while ensuring profitability for solar project owners. While battery energy storage system is seen as a solution, it also poses high environmental risk over a longer period of time.
Bioenergy offers a more reliable and minimal manageable intermittent risk for resource, yet Malaysia is not tapping into it holistically. The example of Germany’s RE revolution, where bioenergy made huge progress before solar, is in contrast to Malaysia’s approach. This is the missing organic growth opportunities due to policies that manage organic wastes merely as waste.
Deep-seated structural shortcomings
We identify several structural shortcomings that will be a threat to derail the NETR targets:
☻Waste surge: The decade-long delay in addressing the e-waste issue arising from solar panel disposal must be addressed immediately. The Net Zero and the NETR will produce more emerging waste to be managed. Therefore, proactive and long-term planning is vital to ensure environmental impacts are minimised.
☻ The nuclear shortfall: The very proposal of nuclear energy is interpreted not as a strategic addition, but as a direct consequence of the NETR’s inability to reliably meet the base load requirement to meet Net Zero target of 2050. Transparency in nuclear energy policy and project is a vital component that must be implemented as it introduces radioactivity risk that is not captured by carbon related measurements.
☻ Scientific argument against CCS/CCUS: Carbon capture, utilisation and storage is a high-capital expenditure solution propagated by the oil and gas industry.
Scientifically it does not convert green house gasses into harmless materials or a method in tandem with natural carbon sequestration.
In future, CCS/CCUS may end up like coal industry. Investments into this need a rethink and reassessment of risks.
We need to move towards more future-proof and sustainable solutions. We strongly urge the prime minister and the government to re-examine the roadmap through better and holistic consultations to develop solutions rooted in sound science and sustainable approaches. This is a vital step to ensure capital investments into the proposed mitigation bring better outcome for the nation and its economy.
This article is contributed by Association of Water and Energy Research Malaysia president Piarapakaran S.
The Sun Malaysia
