UNIVERSITI KUALA LUMPUR

MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF CHEMICAL AND BIOENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

ASSIGNMENT 1 (SECTION A)
SEMESTER SEPTEMBER 2022

COURSE CODE : CCB 40203

COURSE TITLE : RENEWABLE AND SUSTAINABLE ENERGY ENGINEERING

PROGRAMME LEVEL : BACHELOR OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WITH

HONOURS

TIME : 5.30 PM

DATE : 21 NOVEMBER 2022

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT

LECTURER’S NAME : DR SITI NURUL ATIKAH

STUDENT’S NAME : MADIHA BINTI MOHD ASRI

STUDENT ID : 55221119123
55221119123
 INTRODUCTION

Energy is needed for practically every aspect of daily life, including industrial activities that
affect economic growth, transportation, telecommunication, and agriculture. It is likely that
global energy consumption will increase more quickly than population growth which can leads
to energy crisis. The energy crisis is a big and intricate subject. Most people aren't aware of
its actuality unless petrol prices increase or there are long queues at the gas station. Despite
numerous efforts, the energy problem persists and worsens. The source of this is that efforts
to address the complex causes and solutions of the energy issue cannot be made because
there is not a comprehensive grasp of them.

The energy crisis is the issue that the world's demands on the finite natural resources
required to power modern society are decreasing as the demand increases. These natural
resources are scarce. Although they do happen naturally, it may take hundreds of thousands
of years for the stockpiles to refill. Governments and concerned citizens are attempting to
prioritise the use of renewable resources and to reduce the reckless use of natural resources
through increasing conservation. A number of circumstances, notably the incredibly quick
economic recovery following the epidemic, led to the tightening of the energy markets in 2021.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, however, caused the situation to spiral out
of control and into a full-fledged worldwide energy crisis. (Global Energy Crisis – Topics - IEA,
n.d.).

Energy price hikes have worsened already extremely high inflation, put households in
poverty, forced some businesses to cut output or even close, and delayed economic
development to the point that several nations are now on the verge of a catastrophic recession.
This winter, gas rationing may be necessary in Europe because of the continent's historically
heavy reliance on Russian gas supplies, which is also causing fuel shortages and dramatically
increased energy import costs in many rising nations. Despite certain similarities to the oil
shocks of the 1970s, there are also significant variations in the current energy crisis. The
current crisis affects all fossil fuels, in contrast to the price shocks of the 1970s, which were
mostly restricted to oil at a period when the world economy was far more dependent on oil and
less dependent on gas. It has a greater influence now since the global economy is much more
interconnected than it was fifty years ago. The first really global energy crisis is what this is,
for this reason.

It would be simple to blame one industry or activity for the entire energy issue, but that
would be a highly simplistic and inaccurate assessment of the situation. There are many
causes that can lead to energy crisis for a nation. First obvious cause is the overconsumption
of energy. The energy issue is a consequence of several, not just one, pressures on our
natural resources. Overconsumption of fossil fuels like oil, gas, and coal puts a pressure on
these resources, which in turn may cause pollution that strains our water and oxygen supplies.
Other major cause of energy crisis is overpopulation. The continual growth of the world's
population and its resulting demand for goods and resources has also contributed to the issue.
No matter the food or product we choose to consume, whether it be fair trade, organic, or
created in a sweatshop from petroleum materials, none of them are produced or delivered
without having a substantial impact on our energy resources((29) What Is the Energy Crisis?
| LinkedIn, n.d.).

Another factor contributing to the energy shortage is the infrastructure of the power
generation equipment. Most energy-producing companies continue to use out-of-date
machinery, which limits the amount of energy that can be produced. Utilities are in charge of
maintaining infrastructure upgrades and establishing high performance standards. Few
nations experience major delays in the opening of new power facilities that can close the
energy supply-demand imbalance. As a result, in order to satisfy the daily demand for power,
ageing plants are put under tremendous stress. Load shedding and breakdown happen when
supply and demand are out of balance. People generally don't understand the value of energy
conservation across the world. Books, the internet, newspaper advertisements, lip service,
and seminars are its only sources of information. The situation will not alter any time soon until
we give it some serious attention. When it comes to energy conservation, small steps can go
a long way. These include turning off fans and lights when not in use, utilising as much natural
light as possible, walking short distances instead of driving, switching to CFL bulbs from
traditional ones, and installing proper insulation to prevent energy leakage.((29) What Is the
Energy Crisis? | LinkedIn, n.d.)

Lastly, the low exploration in renewable energy options is also one of the causes for
energy crisis. In the majority of countries, renewable energy is still underutilised. Coal and
other non-renewable energy sources make up the majority of the energy supply. It continues
to be the best option for generating energy. The solution to the energy situation cannot be
found unless we seriously consider renewable energy. Our reliance on fossil fuels can be
lessened by using renewable energy sources, which also contribute to a decrease in
greenhouse gas emissions.

During this post pandemic situation, every country in the whole world is facing the
energy crisis and that also include Malaysia. In Malaysia, electricity sector is dependent on
mostly by natural gas and coal. Figure 1 below shows the energy uses in the 2021 annual
report of TNB, where almost 80.9% of electricity is generated by using fossil fuel such as
natural gas, coal and oil. The balance was generated by hydroelectric and renewable energy.(I
N T E G R A T E D A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 2 1, n.d.).

Figure 1

Gross domestic product (GDP) is a key indicator of economic growth, and in Malaysia,
it closely matches the nation’s energy consumption. An uninterrupted energy supply is
necessary for Malaysia’s economy to grow. Therefore, it means that any energy supply shock
or conservation policies will have a negative impact on economic growth. Gas and electricity
were the two main sources of energy used in the industrial sector. In Malaysia, the demand
for electricity is anticipated to rise from 91,539 GWh in 2007 to 108,732 GWh in 2011. On the
basis of an annual growth rate of 8.1%, it is predicted that by 2020, Malaysia’s final energy
demand will reach 116 Mtoe. Malaysia’s energy demand in 2009 is 16,132 MW, up from
merely 9690 MW ten years earlier. Since 1999, there has been an increase in electricity
demand of around 66.5%. The high rate of economic development in Malaysia is to account
for this sudden rise in demand. Malaysia has a population of 25.4 million people as of 2009
and by 2020, that number will have nearly doubled since 1980 and approximately 75% will
reside in cities. (Shafie et al., 2011). As a result, due to the increasing use of natural gas
causing decrease in number of natural gases.

Other energy crisis is business environment in Malaysia does not actually adopt the
renewable energy technology. Most industry sector in Malaysia still using the fossil fuel as
their source of electricity and they find it hard to switch to another source of renewable energy
as they need to spent a lot of money and effort which can affect their production of business.
Because of that, renewable energy technology is not successful yet in Malaysia. Other factor
for this crisis is that renewable energy is economically weak as they are high price and lack of
support mechanism for the energy to be implement.
 RENEWABLE ENERGY

Renewable energy is defined as energy produced by natural processes as opposed to

using up finite resources like uranium or fossil fuels. Renewable energy is made up of sources
like solar, wind, hydropower, biomass, and geothermal energy. The Malaysian government
has always looked into and studied alternative potential renewable energies to use in addition
to the main energy sources including natural gas, oil, coal, and hydropower. Renewable
energy continues to make up a very modest portion of the current global energy landscape
despite seeing rapid expansion.(Ong et al., 2011). In Malaysia, there are few greatest potential
of renewable energies such as solar, hydropower, biomass, wind and tidal.

Solar Energy, a clean and renewable energy source, is produced when sunlight is
converted into electricity using a solar cell integrated into a solar panel. Photovoltaic cells are
this system. Electrons in photovoltaic cells are stimulated by sunlight to produce energy.
Malaysia's year-round sunshine and mild climate make it an ideal location for the development
of solar energy. In Malaysia, the yearly daily sun irradiations ranged from 4.21 kWh/m2 to 5.56
kWh/m2. Though Malaysia's isolated areas could benefit greatly from PV systems, the cost of
PV panels and related technology is currently prohibitive for the production of large amounts
of electricity. In comparison to other countries with less potential for solar electricity production,
the government's effort and initiative are still lower. Compared to what conventional plants
would cost, this is a 20-fold increase in price. (Shafie et al., 2011)

There is a substantial amount of water in Malaysia. About 3540 mm of rain falls

annually on average. It can run large cities' lighting systems when harnessed for
hydroelectric power. About 2.8% (2000 MW) of Malaysia's overall electricity needs and 6%
of the world's energy supply come from hydroelectricity. Tenaga Nasional Berhad is in charge
of the nation's hydroelectric facilities. Between 2006 and 2007, hydropower's contribution to
the production of electricity decreased by 1.1%. However, hydroelectric facilities need a lot of
land for the water storage reservoirs. For every 1 billion kWh/year produced, a reservoir with
a surface area of 75,000 hectares (ha) and 14 trillion L of water is needed. Other than that,
Malaysia has conducted a number of studies on its small-scale hydropower resources, and as
a consequence, it has come to the conclusion that mini hydropower projects will be financially
viable if paired with the added advantages of flood and irrigation control as well as promoting
tourism. (Ong et al., 2011)
 The potential for producing wind energy in Malaysia depends on the accessibility of
wind resources, which differ by area. Planning a wind energy project requires careful
consideration of the site-specific characteristics of wind. Estimating the performance of a wind
energy plant requires thorough understanding of the local wind conditions. Malaysia's average
wind speed is modest, and the only places where capturing wind energy is practicable are the
east coast states of peninsular Malaysia or remote islands, where the wind can gust to 30
knots or more during periods of intense surges of cold air from the north. A speed of 55 km/h,
or 15.4 m/s, is equal to 30 knots. However, the utilisation of wind energy in Malaysia can be
expanded if the turbine can function in the 3-5 m/s average wind speed of the nation.

Malaysia has abundant biomass resources at its disposal. These factors make
biomass the most appealing choice in Malaysia when compared to other renewable energy
sources. The total land area of Malaysia is 32.90 million acres. A natural forest still covers
about 61% of the region, while just 14.9% is used for agricultural purposes. The five main
industries in Malaysia that generate biomass energy from wastes are oil palm agriculture
(43.67%), forestry (wood) (30.56%), animal husbandry, and urban garbage. However, the
largest source of biomass in the country is among these palm oil wastes, including biogas.
Crude palm oil is produced and exported by Malaysia, which ranks second globally. From 400
hectares in 1920 to roughly 4.69 million ha in 2009, the growth of palm oil plantations rose
significantly, and it is anticipated that they would increase to 5.2 million ha in 2020. More than
160 million tonnes of biomass are produced annually in Malaysia, including trash from the oil
palm and forestry industries, as well as fibres from coconut husks, rice, and sugar
cane.(Ozturk et al., 2017)

Massive amounts of biomass waste that might be used as a potential source of

renewable energy are anticipated to be produced by the expansion of the palm oil industry.
This is owing to the fact that a single ha of palm oil planting can result in 50–70 tonnes of
biomass residues. Currently, the state is linked to 417 palm oil mills, which annually discard a
sizable amount of biomass waste in the form of empty fruit bunches (EFB), mesocarp fibres,
and shells. The primary energy source for the mills employing a cogeneration system is
biomass leftovers. The potential for all forms of biomass energy has been calculated to be
between 2% and 3% of the nation's overall electricity output. Under biomass, there is biodiesel
production, a sustainable fuel that is mostly made from vegetable or animal fats and has the
potential to replace petroleum-derived diesel in compression ignition (CI) engines. When Envo
Diesel was introduced in Malaysia in 2006, the reputation of biodiesel as a renewable energy
source was further cemented. Envo Diesel was a blend of 95% diesel made from petroleum
and 5% refined palm oil. The main factor influencing Malaysia's development of the biodiesel
business is the country's abundance of oil palm. In order to build its own biodiesel sector,
Malaysia does not have to rely on importing raw materials from abroad. Additionally, using raw
materials from one's own plantations will give biodiesel developers a better handle on cost
and product quality. (Ong et al., 2011). Thus, biomass energy can be the one right potential
renewable energy that should be applied as a major energy source to replace fossil fuel in
Malaysia

In conclusion, decrease in fossil fuel source and low recognition of renewable energy
technology are the issue that cause energy crisis in Malaysia. Besides that, biomass can be
one right great potential renewable energy in Malaysia which can substitute the usage of non-
renewable energy such as natural gas and coal.
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