SOLAR energy is to be one of the promising
Renewal Energy sources for Brunei Darussalam, as prices of solar panels are
expected to drop in the future.
Permanent
Secretary (Power and Downstream) Hj Jamain Hj Julaihi at the Prime Minister's
Office shared this yesterday during a Seminar Programme for Brunei Schools'
Energy Clubs as he emphasised on how the cost is a major factor in terms of how
widely the solar panels can be deployed.
"On
average some 435 to 533 watts per square metre of sunlight falls into our
country each day, with a peak of more than 1,000 watts per square metre. In
theory, one per cent of Brunei land mass could produce close to 10 terawatt
hours of energy each year if covered with solar panels, which is three times
more than our annual electricity need," he said.
He
added that as technology improves and solar panels are available in abundance,
the cost of solar panels will begin to decrease.
An
example he drew was from the module price of PV panels of 2010 which are less
than 50 per cent compared to $4 per watts in 2008.
Hj
Jamain said it was no surprise that the shares of solar energy only contribute
to 0.1 percent of the total global energy supply source in reference to a
recent Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
According
to the United Nations Common Database, the permanent secretary said that
Brunei's energy consumption per capita is among the highest worldwide, ranking
12th out of the 198 countries and top of the ASEAN member countries.
"Based
on the true market value of energy, we are spending $2 billion a year to meet
our overall energy demand and this is expected to grow to more than $5 billion
by 2035," he said. "For a small economy like Brunei, the current rate
of energy consumption is not sustainable in the long term."
The
permanent secretary went on to say that despite 99 per cent of our power plants
being fuelled by natural gas, the cleanest fossil fuel, it was estimated that
3.9 million tonnes of cabon dioxide (CO2) equivalent was emitted in 2010 which
gives Brunei Darussalam one of the largest carbon footprints in the region at
approximately 9.75 tonnes of CO2 per capita per year.
The
power generation sector is the biggest contributor, he said, accounting for
approximately 60 per cent of total CO2, while the remaining 40 per cent is
mostly generated by the transportation sector.
He also
said that the demand for energy to meet social and economic development is
increasing where in 2010, the world consumed approximately 90 billion barrels
of oil equivalent (BOE) of energy which is approximately 40 per cent more than
the consumption two decades earlier.
"Going
forward, the world's thirst for energy is expected to continue to grow
significantly. Global energy demand in 2035 could grow an additional 40 to 55
percent from 2008 levels from 125 to 135 billion BOE."
Hj
Jamain Hj Julaihi was invited to speak during the launch of yesterday's Seminar
Programme for Brunei Schools' Energy Club at Institut Teknologi Brunei (ITB) as
the guest of honour.
AMIR
NOOR
The
Brunei Times
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