Call for standalone Energy Ministry

THE country may need a standalone Energy Ministry in an effort to address the energy efficiencies in the system, says Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water (KeTTHA) secretary general.

Datuk Loo Took Gee had this to say to energy industry members who lamented the lack of regulation for the energy sector in its entirety.

"In our country, electricity regulation is very clear. The Energy Commission (EC) is the one that takes care of it. In terms of oil consumption we are not sure that no real agency is really looking at oil consumption because the biggest user is the transport sector and we've got many, many agencies looking after the transport sector," Malaysian Energy Professionals Association president Dr Mohd Zamzam Jaafar told reporters after the launch of the inaugural Asean Energy Management Scheme (AEMAS) and Conference yesterday.

According to the World Bank in 2008, Malaysia's energy use was at 2,693 kilogramme oil per capita, a figure higher than that of even China, which was at 1,598 kilogramme oil per capita.

Indonesia's was at 870 kilogramme oil per capita, while Philippines was only at 455 kilogramme oil per capita.

Currently, the electricity segment of the country's energy consumption is under some form of regulation under the Electricity Supply Act 1990.

The Energy sector of the oil and gas, however, has no such Act to govern it.

Electricity alone makes up about 18 per cent to 20 per cent of energy use and mostly oil and gas makes up the rest of it.

"Energy efficiency in the transport sector for example means you have to make sure that the cars are efficient, the buses are efficient, that we have to get car producers in line, make sure that salesmen don't sell old cars. This needs to be tackled at the national level and at the moment there is no ministry in charge of this. So, once we have a ministry in charge then probably we can look at the whole thing," Zamzam said.

EC chief executive officer Ahmad Fauzi Hasan concurred with Zamzam's call for a comprehensive Energy Act saying that only then can the entire economy be calibrated in terms of efficiency in energy use.

"At the moment there is a loophole. About 80 per cent of the energy sector is not being regulated," he said.

Loo said while the transportation sector, for example, is addressed in the energy efficiency masterplan that is being formulated, the powers of KeTTHA do not cover the transport sector.

It is envisaged that a standalone Energy Ministry would cover all aspects of energy and not just electricity.

Meanwhile, AEMAS is the world's first regional certification system for energy managers and energy end-users.

The programme, funded by the European Union's Switch-Asia Programme seeks to reduce energy consumption from the manufacturing industrial sector and emissions of greenhouse gases in Asean.

Some 160 energy managers have been certified under the programme here.

Malaysian Green Technology Corp, which is AEMAS country coordinator for Malaysia, targets that some 500 energy managers will be certified by 2014.