Meeting malaysia's future energy demand with energy plantations

摘要

Malaysia has embarked on a policy to bring the country into the ranks of a developed nation by the year 2020. Currently Malaysia is a net exporter of oil and gas. However with the increase in demand, as the nation industrialises and the population grows, it is envisaged that the country's fossil fuel reserves will not be able to sustain her energy needs much beyond 2020. Strategies to overcome the projected problem have to be ampped. It is proposed that being in the tropics, the country should embark, in a big way, on a biomass utilisation programme where energy plantations should be seriously considered. The paper discusses Malaysia's current and projected future energy situation as well as explores the energy productivity of various crop species as potential candidates for energy plantations.