به سوی توسعه پایدار در مالزی: چشم اندازی امنیت انرژی برای ساختمان ها

Malaysia's economy expansion has been powered by cheap oil making us too dependent and addicted on using fossil fuels. As a country that is primarily reliant on fossil fuels for generating its development, issues such as fossil fuel depletion and peak oil will threaten the development of this country. Oil depletion issue had risen rapidly throughout the globe and the quest for substitute fuels has never been as anxious as it is today. Energy security is in crucial perspective in order to prolong sustainable development in Malaysia. This paper will review the energy sources in Malaysia, the importance of energy security and prospective review of renewable energy towards sustainable development in Malaysia. It will show the impact of power blackouts to Malaysia and the importance of effective measure towards energy security for country's building stock. In order to achieve that, consideration on utilizing renewable energy as a backup energy for the nation is essential. At the moment, the highest potential of adaptable renewable energy for buildings in Malaysia can be gained from solar. Thus, it is important to value this natural energy which is environmental-friendly and abundant in Malaysia. The main objective is to acquire energy security for buildings in Malaysia.

Development in Malaysia has grow for the past 3 decades and spectacular landmarks, such as the Petronas Twin Tower, the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), the Light Rail Transit (LRT), the SMART tunnel system and many more have been established admirably throughout the country. The gross domestic product (GDP) and Human Development Index (HDI) of Malaysia is also among the best in Asia. It has been proved that, GDP in Malaysia has improved after the implementation of National Economic Policy in 1971 by the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Abdul Razak [1]. Idrus [1] has reported that in 1975, Malaysia GDP per capita is USD1, 750 and had increased to USD 14,700 in 2009. Meanwhile, for HDI, Malaysia was ranked at 57th from 169 countries; with 38% increment from the year 1980 to 2000 [2]. This ranking is ahead from all other Asian countries. Development in Malaysia started when the government enacted the Petroleum Development Act in mid-1974 [3]. Petroleum in Malaysia is controlled by Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) and since the launch of the act, they has generated sufficient fuels supply for the whole country. This had led towards the development of Malaysia. Since the launching of Vision 2020 by Tun Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad in the year 1991 [4], Malaysia had gone through a process of rapid development. Buildings and infrastructures were built in larger scale throughout the country and the industries in property and real estate were expanded. Job opportunities grow and building stock increased throughout the country. High-raised buildings and housing sector were built tremendously through many cities in Malaysia, for instance Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Kuching and Johor Baharu. Due to this, the unemployment rate of people in Malaysia becomes low, which only averaged within 3.43% from 1998 until 2010 [5]. These scenarios are all due to the respect of development that has been powered by abundant fuel supplies. The question now arises as to whether these developments can be sustained despite of inconsistent fuel market in the future.

In order to achieve sustainable developments, Malaysia needs to focus on the energy security by intensifying further implementation of Solar PV programs. Global experiences from countries that have strong solar PV infrastructure such as Germany and Japan, had proved that strong and long-term effort from the Government is crucial in implementing PV programs towards the development of the country. Malaysia needs to take a step forward in finding a proactive approach towards sustainable developments in Malaysia, particularly for all buildings developments.