Summary/ Reader Response Draft 3- Clean Energy Transition

In the article, “How Can Southeast Asia’s Clean Energy Transition Be Sped Up?” Ha (2019) wrote about energy experts addressing the important issue of clean energy transition in Southeast Asia. He mentioned Moniz, who is the Chief Executive of the Energy Futures and Nuclear Threat Initiative, talking about deploying “low-carbon technologies and solutions” for energy to lower emissions in the ASEAN region. Ha also said that Moniz mentioned nuclear fusion or hydrogen power as a substitute for solar and wind power in Singapore due to its lack of natural resources and land. In addition, it is also stated that Wong, Group Chief Executive of utility company Singapore Power, mentioned that Southeast Asia must consider both its consumption and production of energy. They should explore new energy sources and strategies to reduce energy consumption while keeping the same lifestyle to comply with the Paris Agreement. Ha stated that ASEAN should consider replacing the use of coal to produce energy as it produces the most greenhouse gases. Ha then mentioned that Moniz proposed to cut costs in the power, industrial, and transportation sectors to be able to transition towards renewable energy. Indonesia should use geothermal energy because it reduces carbon dioxide emissions, is available throughout the year, and is highly effective.

Firstly, Indonesia has many volcanoes spread out across the country, which makes it a good form of geothermal energy. Richter (2021) mentioned Sentot, who is the Pertamina Geothermal Energy’s Government and Public Relations Manager, reported that Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGE) has helped to minimise millions of tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) gas by “operating geothermal power” facilities for nearly “five decades”. Furthermore, he stated that Sentot agreed about Indonesia’s geothermal development still being in its infancy compared to other countries such as “America, Italy, New Zealand, Japan, Iceland”. This shows that even though geothermal energy has helped to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions significantly, geothermal development in Indonesia still has a lot of potentials to grow.

In addition, one of the advantages that was written in the article “Advantages and Disadvantages of Geothermal Energy - The Source of Renewable Heat” (2021) is that geothermal energy is an “exceptionally constant source of energy”. This suggests that it does not depend on the wind or sun, and it is available throughout the year. Referring to the first figure in the article, which illustrated the availability factor of renewable energy sources, it was indicated that geothermal energy tops the list. This shows how reliable and consistent geothermal energy is as compared to other energy sources. Also, it proves the independence of geothermal energy from external factors when supplying electricity.

Moreover, the article “Advantages and Disadvantages of Geothermal Energy - The Source of Renewable Heat” (2021) stated that “geothermal heat pump systems use 25% to 50% less electricity for heating and cooling than traditional systems” and their “flexible design” allows them to be adjusted to various scenarios while using less hardware space than traditional systems. Additionally, the article "Geothermal Energy Advantages: Pros of the Alternative Energy Source" (2016) reported that geothermal heat pumps have an efficiency of over 400 percent. The reason why geothermal energy has high efficiency of 400 percent is due to the energy being harvested directly. This shows that geothermal energy is highly effective.

However, there are disadvantages to using geothermal energy. According to “Advantages and Disadvantages of Geothermal Energy - The Source of Renewable Heat” (2021), one of the disadvantages to using geothermal energy is that individual households will have to face a “high initial cost” because a complicated system must be drilled and installed in one’s home, which will make the cost fairly “high”.

In conclusion, regardless of the disadvantages that geothermal energy or the system has, the benefit of geothermal energy outweighs the disadvantages. Thus, I believe that Indonesia should use more geothermal energy as compared to the current fossil fuel that they are using. Not only does geothermal energy reduce carbon dioxide emissions, but it is available throughout the year, and it is also highly effective. Furthermore, I think that geothermal energy in Indonesia still has the potential for room to grow.


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References:


Advantages and Disadvantages of Geothermal Energy - The Source of Renewable Heat. (2021, September 8). Greenmatch.co.uk. https://www.greenmatch.co.uk/blog/2014/04/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-geothermal-energy

Geothermal Energy Advantages: Pros of the Alternative Energy Source. (2016, December 13). Ecavo. https://ecavo.com/geothermal-energy-advantages/

Ha, T. (2019, July 19). How can Southeast Asia’s Clean Energy Transition be sped up? Eco-Business https://www.eco-business.com/news/how-can-southeast-asias-clean-energy-transition-be-sped-up/


Richter, A. (2021, August 11). Benefits of geothermal to Indonesia beyond green electricity. Think GeoEnergy - Geothermal Energy News; ThinkGeoEnergy. https://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/benefits-of-geothermal-to-indonesia-beyond-green-electricity/

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