Monday, December 5, 2011

Coal Plants Scrapped

The government of Sabah announced that they had killed a plan to build a controversial 300-megawatt coal-fired plant in the tourism-driven eco-paradise. The plant had been proposed to help meet the state's energy shortages, which regularly inflict brownouts on Sabah's 3 million residents. Instead, Sabah will tap its relatively abundant store of natural gas. 


That's not the cutting-edge renewable-energy portfolio environmentalists consider ideal, but it's certainly cleaner than coal. And because the state's vast clean-energy potential is still largely undeveloped, it's the most immediate practical solution to the growing local power needs. Officials anticipate a 7.7% annual increase in demand through 2020. 

Imperfect though the natural-gas solution may be, it marks a huge course change toward clean energy in Malaysia, says Daniel Kammen of the University of California, Berkeley, who directed an energy and environmental-impact study commissioned by a coalition of green groups, which was used widely in the discussions of Sabah's energy options. "It is a turning point that should bring deserved praise and partnerships to Malaysia at the upcoming climate conference in Durban, South Africa," says Kammen, now the chief technical specialist for renewable energy and energy efficiency at the World Bank. 

This is the third defeat for the proposed coal-fired plant — which would have been Sabah's first such facility — in three years. The first two proposals were shot down by the federal Department of Environment and local opposition. And even though the latest one seemed to be heading in that direction after it failed a detailed environmental-impact assessment in August, anticoal activists nevertheless worried it would eventually be approved because it was slated for federal land and had the backing of the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.


Sabah's chief minister, Musa Aman made the official announcement of the coal-fired plant's cancellation on Wednesday. That move followed a recent National Economic Advisory Council meeting attended by federal and state officials, including Najib and Musa. The decision was made in part, Musa said, because "the government under the Prime Minister's leadership is a government that always listens to the voices and feels the pulse of the people."

Maybe. But after a three-year campaign to get those voices heard, Sabah's environmental activists might beg to differ. Nevertheless, they're reveling in what is an unusual victory. Activism isn't exactly common in Sabah.
"I don't think there had ever been such a movement [in Sabah] over any other issue before," says Cynthia Ong, who heads one of the five environmental organizations that collaborated on the anticoal campaign. "The groundswell of dissent, which started local and became international, was a key piece."
High-profile environmental organizations like 350.org promoted Sabah's anticoal message. Some international media coverage didn't hurt either. Environmentalists don't fear a fourth site being proposed down the road.
"I think coal power is dead for Sabah," Ong says. "We are certainly going to do everything we can to ensure that."



Green Sabah Says: Although this news isn't new, but I'm still glad that the Sabah State Government had scrapped the coal plants project in Sabah after many disagreements from the Sabahans. This shows that our voices are heard by the government. Hope that Sabah will adapt greener technology for power generation within the states such as wind power, solar power and other alternative sources of energy in order to improve the electricity shortage within the state.

31 comments:

PCSB said...

wonderful news !! No coal !! as per CM.
Musa said, because "the government under the Prime Minister's leadership is a government that always listens to the voices and feels the pulse of the people."

Paquin said...

Wow I like "the government under the Prime Minister's leadership is a government that always listens to the voices and feels the pulse of the people." hehehe

Paquin said...

Baguslah. ini berita baik. Jangan saja manis di mulut, sedap didengar tapi hasilnya takda. hehe

Paquin said...

Semoga perkara ini dapat dipastikan jadi kenyataan :)

Paquin said...

Namun saya yakin CM tidak akan bercakap kosong. Hal ini pasti dilaksanakan.

Paquin said...

Apapun, kita tunggu dan lihat sajalah nanti.

Mohd Ishak said...

Harap kerajaan akan terus mendengar pandangan dan suara hati rakyat tempatan.

Mohd Ishak said...

Kerajaan Sabah perlulah mempertimbangkan penggunaan penjana tenaga yang lebih mesra alam dalam negeri.

Scarlett said...

Masih ingat banyak usaha dilakukan untuk membantah coal plant ini. Ini menunjukkan kesedaran rakyat tinggi dalam melindungi alam sekitar. Dan terima kasih kepada kerajaan negeri kerana tidak meluluskan projek ini.

Scarlett said...

Alam sekitar terancam kerana pembangunan yang tidak terancang. Perkara ini harus dielakkan. Kerajaan di bawah pimpinan Musa Aman tentu bijak dalam merancang apa yang terbaik untuk Sabah.

Anonymous said...

This is the kind of government we want. I believe the majority of the local people are happy with the government’s decision that finally put the coal plant issue to rest..

Anonymous said...

the timely announcement was made where the Federal and state governments had also agreed to use liquefied natural gas (LNG) to generate power instead of coal-fired energy. this decision is correct and it reflects the BN’s sensitivity to the grouses of the people.

azman said...

keputusan yang dibuat ini adalah baik dan mendengar suara rakyat.

azman said...

keputusan yang dibuat pastinya disokong dan disambut baik oleh semua.

PCSB said...

“Prime minister Najib Razak understands that we can’t have power supply at the expense of the people’s welfare and environment,” Musa said, adding that Najib has ordered Tenaga Nasional Berhad, the national electricity company, and Petronas, the national oil company, to consider liquefied natural gas (LNG) to generate electricity particularly for people and industries in the east coast which is short of power.

Anonymous said...

cadangan pembinaan loji arang batu ini memang mendapat bantahan yang terus menerus dari rakyat bermula dari cadangan pembinaannya di Lahad Datu hinggalah cadangan pembinaan ini dipindahkan ke Sandakan.

Anonymous said...

wajarlah ia tidak dilaksanakan bagi memelihara kesejahteraan rakyat dan kelesterian alam sekitar. lagipun masih terdapat alternatif lain yang lebih mesra alam untuk menjana tenaga.

mantra said...

pembatalan projek arang batu tersebut menunjukkan bahawa kerajaan negeri di bawah kepimpinan Musa Aman mengambil berat akan pendapat dan suara rakyat.

mantra said...

selain arang batu byk lagi sumber tenaga lain lebih murah dan bersih boleh digunakan.

No name said...

Good idea for environmental friendly.

No name said...

yang tidak baik harus dimansuhkan supaya pencemaran dan keseimbangan alam dipelihara.

No name said...

Baik lah jika menjaga alam sekitar bersama-sama. Semoga tindakan bijak ini mendapat sokongan semua pihak.

No name said...

Kerajaan sedia mendengar suara rakyat.

No name said...

Tindakan yang bijka dari kerajaan. Semoga keindahan alam sekitar dijaga dan diguna dengan baik untuk tempat penarikan pelancongan.

No name said...

Government should study and look for alternative sources to overcome electricity shortage in Sabah.

jackie said...

Ini berita baik..harap dapat di laksanakan..

jackie said...

JIka untuk alam sekitar, saya sokong sepenuhnya... Alam sekitar harus di jaga untuk masa hadapan jg..

jackie said...

keputusan kerajaan untuk tidak meneruskn projek ini sangat mengembirakan rakyat.

Jason said...

That is good to know.

Jason said...

It proves that the gov do listen to the people's voice.

Jason said...

Keep up the good job MA! Our voice should always be prioritize .

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