Student: Nicholas Sievers
Graduation date: December 2018
Type: Concentration (single major)
Date approved: November 2016
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Summary
As climate change threatens the lives of many million, countries must reduce their reliance on fossil fuels to ensure safety for future generations. This dependence on fossil fuels can be seen especially in East and Southeast Asia where countries are rapidly industrializing and people move from countrysides to cities. Countries in East and Southeast Asia such as China, Malaysia and the Greater Mekong Subregion are beginning to seek out renewable energy technologies (RE) to reduce emissions and diversify their energy portfolios as energy demands increase. These regions have different energy needs, population sizes and abilities to invest in various forms of energy. What these regions do share, however, is a dependence on oil, coal or wood. Due to unique circumstances of these regions, a full transition to RE cannot be achieved immediately, but measures to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and investment in RE must happen as climate change intensifies.
Renewable energy sources can be harnessed continuously and produce fewer emissions than fossil fuels. Types of RE include biomass, solar energy, geothermal energy, hydroelectric power and wind power. As the energy market stands, RE fulfills about 25% of the world’s energy demand, but much of it comes from biofuel and hydroelectric dams (Sorensen 2006). Like any other type of energy, each type of RE has pros and cons. Pros of RE include fewer emissions and energy security— energy security being continuous access to an energy (Yergin 2006). However, cons of RE include more expensive energy generation per kw/h than coal or oil, varying energy generation efficiencies, and land use and social impacts (Evans et al 2008). Land use and social impacts are the most significant, because they can fundamentally change the overall benefit of the energy source (Evans et al 2008). Larger energy projects, especially dams and nuclear reactors can have deeply negative impacts on the people and the environment around them, such as displacement, and loss of productive land. Because of these cons, it is up to national governments, local governments, energy companies and citizens to decide if the pros outweigh the cons if RE is embraced. Despite the benefits of RE, the situated examples show that not all energy demands can be fulfilled with RE alone. Each of these regions reflects differences in income and population size, but these regions all express interest in reducing their reliance on non-renewable energies.
Renewable energy is not always a viable option for some countries, especially for the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). For instance, much of the GMS, which includes parts of Thailand, Laos, China, Myanmar and Vietnam, contains low income areas. Poverty in these regions is problematic, because many inhabitants of the GMS rely on biomass as a source of energy which produces large quantities of methane, and is known to be more polluting than C02 (Asian Development Bank 2009). To reduce carbon footprints, local governments in the GMS region must make the electrical grid accessible to these rural areas, which would reduce the heavy pollution from wood burning. High costs and lack of institutional support are two reasons why this has not been made possible (Asian Development Bank 2009).
China, with its booming economy and large population, has experienced the consequences of reliance on fossil fuel, which is why China has been actively trying to reduce dependence on fossil fuels such as coal— China’s main energy source (Wang 2010). As an alternative to coal, the Three Gorges Dam was built on the Yangzi river and produces 84.7 billion kW/h of energy annually (Chang et al. 2010). To much opposition, the dam resulted in the relocation of over a million people, flooded the surrounding area and caused the loss of productive land (Jackson 2000). The Three Gorges Dam reflects the hesitation over creation of large RE projects due to their potential implications. With this in mind, China continued with its renewable energy efforts with the Renewable Energy Law (REL) in 2005, which instated multiple RE promoting measures, including subsidization of RE and guarantees grid access to cover the costs of operation of RE facilities; it has also allowed the government to set the price of energy for grid operators (Wang 2010).
Malaysia is a smaller country with a high energy demand met by local natural gas and oil reserves and fuel imports. Despite this, Malaysia is quickly realizing the importance of reducing its reliance on these non-renewable fuels now that its reserves are declining (Tick 2010). Up to now, the government has subsidized oil and natural gas (Sovacool 2011). As a result, Malaysia lacks significant RE development. In 1999, Malaysia’s government passed the Five Fuel Diversification strategy to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels, stimulate investment in RE, and preserve oil reserves (Tick 2010). Malaysia implemented a feed-in tariff program between the government and private energy companies. This would benefit the market by paying RE generators a premium for the energy they produce, and promote RE over other energy sources (Hickson 2013). One of Malaysia’s largest attempts to invest in RE was the Bakun Dam (Tick 2010). Despite good intentions, this resulted in the same kinds of displacement problems that the Three Gorges Dam caused.
Countries in East and Southeast Asia must evaluate their fuel dependencies as climate change becomes more severe and must make adjustments to ensure security for future generations. In all of these examples, a complete transition to RE is not feasible due to the strong fossil fuel markets and technological limitations of RE. However, local and national governments do recognize the importance of exploring ways to implement RE into portfolios.
Resources:
Asian Development Bank. 2009. Building a Sustainable Energy Future : The Greater Mekong Subregion (1). Manila, PH: Asian Development Bank. Accessed October 17, 2016. ProQuest ebrary.
Chen, Jie. “Rapid Urbanization in China: A Real Challenge to Soil Protection and Food Security.” CATENA 69, no. 1 (January 2007): 1–15. doi:10.1016/j.catena.2006.04.019.
Chang, XiaoLin, Xinghong Liu, and Wei Zhou. “Hydropower in China at Present and Its Further Development.” Energy 35, no. 11 (November 2010): 4400–4406. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2009.06.051.
Evans, Annette, Vladimir Strezov, and Tim J. Evans. “Assessment of Sustainability Indicators for Renewable Energy Technologies.” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 13, no. 5 (June 2009): 1082–88. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2008.03.008.
Hickson, Ken. Race for Sustainability : Energy, Economy, Environment and Ethics : Energy, Economy, Environment and Ethics. Singapore, US: WSPC, 2013. Accessed October 17, 2016. ProQuest ebrary.
Jackson, Sukhan, and Adrian Sleigh. “Resettlement for China’s Three Gorges Dam: Socio-Economic Impact and Institutional Tensions.” Communist and Post-Communist Studies 33, no. 2 (2000): 223–241.
Sørensen, Bent. 2004. Renewable Energy (3). London, US: Academic Press. Accessed November 9, 2016. ProQuest ebrary.
Sovacool, Benjamin K., and L.C. Bulan. “Behind an Ambitious Megaproject in Asia: The History and Implications of the Bakun Hydroelectric Dam in Borneo.” Energy Policy 39, no. 9 (September 2011): 4842–59. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2011.06.035.
Tick Hui, Shen Yee Pang, and Shing Chyi Chua. “Energy Policy and Alternative Energy in Malaysia: Issues and Challenges for Sustainable Growth.” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 14, no. 4 (May 2010): 1241–52. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2009.12.003.
Wang, Feng, Haitao Yin, and Shoude Li. “China’s Renewable Energy Policy: Commitments and Challenges.” Energy Policy 38, no. 4 (April 2010): 1872–78. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2009.11.065.
Yergin, Daniel. “Ensuring Energy Security.” Foreign Affairs 85, no. 2 (2006): 69. doi:10.2307/20031912.
Questions
- Descriptive: What factors influence the choice to install a new energy source? What external factors are considered when creating an energy site? How do Southeast and East Asian countries currently obtain their energy?
- Explanatory: Why are some energy projects considered more successful at meeting energy demands than others? Why and to whom is the location of energy installations important in the process of meeting energy demands? How do East And Southeast Asian governments make decisions to install energy or make an energy transition?
- Evaluative: What kinds of environmental impacts do energy projects cause? What groups of people are affected by of energy projects? Does government cooperation with fuel companies threaten a country’s opportunity to make green-fuel policies?
- Instrumental: What actions can be taken to avoid or overcome the negative externalities of energy projects? How can other forms of energy be used instead or in conjunction with fossil fuels? How much will government cooperation with fossil fuel companies affect a country’s ability to make a continued effort for more green energy policies?
Concentration courses
- ENVS 200 (Situating the Global Environment, 4 credits), Summer 2017 This course was on my Mt. Fuji program. In this class, we put different themes that came up in the class in a greater context, delving into our own evaluation of the themes and figuring out how they manifest in Japanese culture. I will use Japan as one of my foremost situated examples because of how familiar I am with it.
- GEOL 170 (Climate Science, 5 credits), Fall 2017 Climate Science is the backbone for my concentration. It brings attention to important global processes that moderate earth's climate, but more importantly the conversations that must be had going forward such as climate sensitivity, resource scarcity and mitigation.
- HIST 261 (Global Environmental History, 4 credits) Fall 2017 This class provides a diverse background of human and societal development. Because it talks about issues such as pollution, energy and global inequity, this is particularly relevant to my concentration.
- ENVS 350 (Environmental Theory, 4 credits), Spring 2018 Environmental Theory brings attention to major discourses in the ENVS field, which will supply me with a more refined background in relevant literature.
Arts and humanities courses
- PHIL 215 (Philosophy and the Environment, 4 credits). Pre-approved A&H course; no justification required.
- HIST 112 (Making Modern Japan, 4 credits) Spring 2017 Japan falls into the category of East Asian countries and energy development. This class will provide me with a background of Japan and its rise to prominence, helping me build a foundational knowledge for East Asian countries.