Malaysian gov't urged to promote green energy

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug. 5 -- The Malaysian government should promote the use of green energy in order to contribute positively to sustain the environment, industry players said here on Wednesday.

Saw Choo Boon, Chairman of Shell Malaysia, a petrol company, said

that the Malaysian government should do away fuel subsidies as fuel should not

be a cheap commodity.

With the subsidies in place, fuel prices would be kept low, and there

was no incentives for the people to conserve fuel consumption, Saw said at a

roundtable talk which were attended by eight prominent business figures here.

He said that when the government increased the petrol price in 2008,

consumption dropped by 10 percent.

Malaysia's prime gasoline price once rose to 2.70 ringgit (0.77U.S.

dollars) a liter from two ringgit (0.57 U.S. dollars) in June2008.

Should the government cut down its fuel subsidies, billions of

ringgit could be saved for promoting the use of green energy, which in turn

benefits the future generations, added Saw.

Going green was not a matter of possibility but something the nation

must do, stressed Saw, adding that fossil fuel would go into history after a few

decades.

Touching on education, Saw said the Malaysian government should come

up with relevant courses to meet the development requirement of the green

energy.

He said that providing technology-savvy experts to the industry as

well as venturing into starting-up business that acquired high technologies were

important.

Johan Dennelind, Chief Executive Officer of DiGi Telecommunications

Sdn Bhd, echoed Sam's view, citing a Swedish experience.

Dennelind said that in the 90's, the Swedish government decided to

allow energy prices to move towards market prices, reducing the coal and oil

generated energy from 80 percent in the 70's to 20 percent currently.

This showed that giving incentives alone was not enough in promoting

green energy but other regulations should come in place as a complement, said

Dennelind.

Ahmad Hadri Haris, National Project Leader of Malaysia Energy Center,

said the exorbitant prices of green energy should not be ahindrance for the

people to use it.

Fuel prices looked low but should the external costs such as damages

to the environment be incorporated, the real prices of fuel would surge,

reminded Ahmad.

He also said that the development of green energy was likely to be

incorporated into the Tenth Malaysia Plan, making the industry an important jobs

creator.

The Malaysia Plan is a five year plan to develop the nation's

infrastructure, education, health care and etc for the well-being of the people

as well as for the economy. Currently the Ninth Malaysia Plan is ongoing.

Pian Sukro, Chairman of Energy Commission Malaysia, said that the

Malaysian government should consider hydro power as the nation had plenty of the

resources.

He said nuclear power should be considered as well and the developed

countries should use more of this source to generate energy, leaving the

conventional methods for the developing countries.

Tay Kay Luan, Director of Association of Chartered Certified

Accountants for ASEAN and Australia, said that utilizing green energy was good

for both business and reputation.

When introducing hybrid vehicles, the Malaysian government should

capture renewable energies such as hydro, wind and solar power, added Tay.

Lee Chor Wah, President of Malaysian Institute of Architects, said

the Malaysian government could give cash incentives for the constructions of

green buildings.

However, he admitted that there was limited incentive for consumers

to build green buildings as the relatively low technology adopted in Malaysia

made going green costly.

Costs of construction could increase by 10 to 15 percent in Malaysia

for going green but it only cost 2 to 3 percent more in Australia, added Lee.

Lee Weng Seong, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PhilipsGroup

of Companies in Malaysia, said the people should think that their business might

not be sustainable without going green, instead of thinking only about the costs

incurred to go green.

He urged the Malaysian government to draw up strict standards for

various industries to adhere to and penalize those who failed to comply with the

regulations and requirements.

Julian Wynter, Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank

Malaysia, said education, incentives and regulations must be coordinated in a

way to make green energy popular.

On the individuals side, Wynter advised everyone to consume less

resources.

He said the bank had embarked on internet banking and phone banking,

resulting in less papers being consumed.