Friday 4 March 2016

Green Technology | Wastewater Treatment | Environmental Impact Assessment

  • Malaysia has recognised green technology as one of the key drivers of national economic growth. To achieve this, the Government is currently reorienting its policies to promote and develop green production.
  • In developing the Green Industry in Malaysia, the Malaysian Government had introduced the National Green Technology Policy on 24 July 2009. The policy focused on 4 pillars, namely Energy, Environment, Economy and Social. Green Technology shall be a driver to accelerate the national economy and promote sustainable development.
  • At the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties – 15 (COP-15) in Copenhagen back in 2009, our Prime Minister, YAB Dato' Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak made a pledge that Malaysia would reduce her carbon intensity by 40 percent as compared to 2005 levels by the year 2020, subject to financial and technological help from the developed countries.
  • The Government is determined to see Malaysia becoming a major player in green technology and renewable energy industry not just in our region but globally, and hope that this will in turn translate into an increase in the number of green jobs and green business opportunities.
  • Going green can unlock opportunities for economic growth by contributing to fiscal consolidation, enhancing productivity through greater efficiency in the use of natural resources, opening up new markets for green technologies, goods and services.
  • Going green isn’t just a preferable approach to economic development. On the contrary, in the long term it’s the only way to sustain economic growth. Using resources productively is what makes for competitiveness today. Increasingly, nations and companies that are most competitive are not those with access to the lowest cost inputs but those employ the most advanced technology and methods in using their inputs.
  • The UN Foundation made a statement that said, “Governments should exploit energy efficiency as their energy resource of first choice because it is the least expensive and most readily scalable energy option”.
  • Efficiency is the “low hanging fruit” of the world’s energy challenge. The Malaysian Government has identified promoting energy efficiency as one of our top priorities for the coming years. This is because energy may be the defining challenge of our time, the one issue, more than any other, which will shape the fate of our planet, our economies, and our nations. It also may well be one of the greatest economic opportunities of the 21st century; an opportunity that could help put millions of people to work in high-skill, high-wage jobs.
  • Developed markets have far been adopting green growth in their economic sustainability. This can be seen from number of companies that are well-known for their green concerns in their branding or actively undertaking R&D activities to produce more eco-products for their company. To name a few: First Solar from Germany, Panasonic & Sony from Japan.
  • With many regulations related to green have already being in placed, and also part of the standards, this makes green criteria sooner or later, no longer a voluntary adoption but a mandatory requirements for producers to market their products in that particular country.
  • Many emerging economies have also started to move towards a sustainable development model that makes green industries competitive and serves green technology markets. China, for example, has become the world’s top installer of both wind turbines and solar photovoltaic systems. India is strongly encouraging the rapid expansion of bio-gas, solar and other forms of low-carbon energy in rural areas through renewable energy certificates.
  • Existing efforts to create awareness on ‘going green’ and introduce Malaysian companies that are producing green products or services to new markets have started to show positive results.
  • To quote some examples on the green products that have been exported overseas,  this can be seen in 2011 whereby Malaysia’s total exports of photosensitive semiconductor device, photovoltaic (PV) cells and light emitting diodes (LED) were valued at RM8.34 billion.
  • Whereas, exports of green building materials also showed major increase in 2011. Insulation materials, used to reduce heat transfer and energy consumption such as slag wool, rock wool and similar mineral wools recorded total exports amounted to RM88.21 million.
  • Many countries have established clear targets to reduce carbon emissions. These are indications of their commitment to embark on a new development paradigm. As for producers and service providers “business as usual” would indeed be imprudent and ultimately unsustainable.

    Tags- green technology, wastewater treatment, environmental impact assessment, coagulant, sewage treatment, environmental monitoring, environmental issues, clean technology, renewable energy, waste management, environmental engineering, water reuse/ recycle, sewage treatment plant, water treatment process, environmental pollution

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