CHICAGO: The move towards renewable energy especially biofuels creates a lot of opportunity for Southeast Asian countries, including Malaysia.
There was a strong case to be made for the usage of "more expensive energy" for developing countries about 20 years ago, Honeywell chief sustainability officer Gavin Towler said.
The common thought was to use low cost energy that was available to raise the standard of living.
Towler, however, noted that some of the renewable resources available today are cheaper than non-renewable resources like fossil fuels, which is an energy source that has been widely used.
"What has happened is that when the scale of renewable power has grown, renewable energy resources like wind and solar became cheaper than fossil fuels. So the previous argument does not apply anymore.
"It should be the other way around now. Why would you use the expensive fossil fuels when you could be using cheaper renewable power.
"As the world moves towards renewables, particularly as it moves towards bio fuels, it creates a lot of opportunities for countries in Southeast Asia," he said at the Honeywell Global Sustainability Week here last week.
Malaysia has good resources potentially for renewable energy due to its climate.
"Malaysia has got very good resources potentially for hydroelectricity, wind power and solar power. Of course Malaysia and Indonesia had been big exporters of biofuels so we can see that some of the countries that were rich in fossil resources could also be rich in renewables," said Towler.
He cited the latest development in Sarawak whereby the state aims to provide one gigawatt of renewable energy to Singapore by 2032.
"Malaysia is great for solar and it has got a lovely climate, depending on where you are in the country. In Australia, you have to pay for people to brush the solar power because the sand blows to it and lowers its efficiency.
"However as for Malaysia you can just put the solar power on the roof and you are bound to get good power," he added.
Sarawak had recently stated its aims to provide up to one gigawatt of renewable energy to Singapore by 2032.
Sarawak Energy Bhd had noted that negotiations to supply the electricity via submarine cables are now at advanced stage.