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KUALA LUMPUR: Higher
education institutes can offer mandatory courses to instill greater awareness
on green technology in Malaysians, says a Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL)
professor who specialises in the field.
Prof Dr Karl Wagner said
creating awareness was the biggest problem and that the government and
institutions of higher learning could collaborate with the media to provide a
good platform for green technology.
“Students are the
masterminds of the country’s future. They will and should have a chance to
understand what is going on,” he told Bernama.
He said the Malaysian
government could also issue something like the green journals once a month,
which could act as a marketplace for exchange of ideas.
UniKL could play a role in
helping to promote awareness as the university had a joint Masters programme
with German universities which offered various Masters-level programmes in
green-efficient buildings.
The German embassy in
Malaysia has also been very supportive in this regard, he said, pointing out
that UniKL had been working with the embassy, especially with the ambassador,
Dr Guenter Gruber.
“The German embassy is very
close to this aspect. This is our link to the government, we can say. He
himself (the ambassador) is a green person. So, whenever we meet, we ask
ourselves to do more such activities,” Wagner said.
Wagner said Malaysia has linked up with the German
embassy here and other institutions, such as the Malaysian-German Chamber of
Commerce Industry (MGCC), concerning green technology.
He said Malaysia has also
been quick to accept the need to promote green technology. Since 2009, there
have been numerous initiatives as well as rules and regulations regarding green
technology.
“There is one regulation
that is probably still missing – the regulation on energy efficiency – which I
have heard is going to be implemented from 2014 onwards,” he noted.
Energy efficiency refers to
the measurement of the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other gases that are
spread into the atmosphere (CO2 emission). Carbon dioxide is a colourless,
odourless gas that a person breathes out or is produced when substances
containing carbon are burnt.
Green technology comprises
two aspects: energy efficiency (EE) and renewable energy (RE). Energy
efficiency is applicable to existing buildings and deals with, for example, how
to re-engineer fans or air conditioning systems to make them green in terms of
CO2 emission.
Renewable energy, meanwhile,
refers to solar energy, wind energy, biomass energy and heat arising from
industrial productions.
“This heat is turned into
energy, because all of these items are warm, and warm items always have a
source of heat and a source of renewable energy,” he said.
UniKL is also building green
mock-up houses in Bangi, Selangor, made of different building materials, so
that the students can try them out and decide which they prefer the most in
terms of building material, comfort and cost. (Bernama)
2 comments:
The green technology will become a focus in the near future. The Sabah government have taken the initiatives to introduce green technology in terms of power generation in the state.
Having green technology as a mandatory course in University is a good way to create awareness and increase student's knowledge on this subject.
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