Critical to reduce reliance on oil & gas

Debbie Too
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

BRUNEI has a "unique opportunity" to invest in the "greening" of the economy, which would also reduce reliance on traditional energy sources.

Aneta Nikolova, the environmental affairs officer for the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP), told The Brunei Times there was incontrovertible evidence to show that countries that focused on only one type of fossil fuel for their energy needs would eventually reach a critical point.

"There is always a critical point, because hydrocarbon, for example, is a finite source... There is no need to wait for that critical point to come closer," she said.

Nikolova also said that oil and gas exploration would become more expensive as fossil fuel reserves were used up, forcing petrochemical companies to bore deeper into the earth's crust. She said that current technology only permitted 40 to 50 per cent of the world's oil reserves to be extracted "so there is basically a lot of room now to start experimenting and building the technology base for renewable energy," Nikolova, a trained petrochemical and engineering geologist, said.

Nikolova said Brunei was in the fortunate position of having a leadership that was very much aware of the need for conservation of nature. She said that Brunei had wisely reinvested returns from oil and gas into natural capital restoration. The "system" is in place to give the country the opportunity to start expanding into renewable energy, such as wind, solar and possibly bio-gas.

"Brunei has an abundance of solar, and good wind opportunities. Another source that could be tapped into could be bio-gas collected from human settlements, big hospitals and farm toilets to produce electricity for home use," she said.

One scenario that Brunei could also explore would be to switch from a centralised electrical system, which she said has an 80 per cent loss on the grid transmitting energy to households, to a de-centralised power system.

This would create more jobs because more people would be needed to work in the compounds. She also said energy itself could be recycled. "During the day when most households have reduced occupancy, if Brunei has solar power, that could be sent back into the grid instead of using it for home use, so the opportunities are here," she said.

Nikolova said green growth created "very different and new opportunities" to be creative and innovative. "I have seen the amazing buildings (in Brunei) from your Sultan, and it is amazing to see the foresight and (care for) nature and the natural environment, so I have a very firm belief that there are a lot of opportunities here," she said.

Nikolova was in Brunei for the first national seminar on Green Growth Policy Tools for Low Carbon Development in Brunei Darussalam: On-site e-Learning Training of Trainers' Seminar at the University Technology Hub, Universiti Brunei Darussalam.

Dipetik dari - The Brunei Times