An interview with Professor Dan Kammen of University of California, Berkeley
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Wong Tack 
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July 8, 2010 at 12:50 am
Wong "Thumb Tacks"
Wong,
Do u know that u just had been cheated and fooled by green movement scam.
I dont know how much money u make out of this but for your concern, green movement is the biggest big fat liar in whole universe.
I had watch a documentary title “Great Global Warming Swindle”…
Its bullcrap and humiliating insane intelligence.
you should watch this video from youtube:
I guess…this proffesor had been bought by you…hahaaa
May god enlightened you…God bless you Wong Tack !
July 11, 2010 at 1:20 pm
jefferi78
to anonymous,
please do show your credentials and proof before you made any allegation on the green movement or wong tack. being anonymous and shot at the back is a cowardly act no matter in online and offline.
youtube is not the definite and reliable source. it doesn’t have the source or the person to back it up. the video you linked are also anonymous and it is not the basis for your argument.
no matter what professor dan kammen said in the video, it is his own opinion and he has more credible than your anonymous opinion and anonymous youtube link. at least you know who is he and where he work and you can always sent him an email to share your mind.
ps: i am not wong tack, i wrote this comment on my own basis. if you want to have a dialog with him, there will be a forum in next two week. please stay in touch with this blog for the actual date.
July 8, 2010 at 1:05 am
Mutalib ernie
Why we have to listen to foreigners to decide our future?
This professor must had been paid with sums of money to make such statement. He dont want to see Malaysia progress as a develop country. He asking other people to used renewable energy, but the facts that his country is the biggest pollutant in the world…
look to yourself first before asking other people to follow you…
July 11, 2010 at 1:26 pm
jefferi78
mutalib,
tell that to our government, who listen to those greedy businessman how to run the country. it is not about foreigner influence our future but it is about the environment (forest and marine) and the people whom are effected by this project.
coal is not clean and not in the option for power generation in sabah. there are more other alternative option to generate power. such as biomass, gas, wind and hydro. biomass is the most suitable candidate.
talking about foreign influences, if dan kammen is the foreign influences, why our PM’s wife invited american martha steward who was jailed for fraud as a honorable guest to sabah? what would you say about that?
July 12, 2010 at 11:19 am
Jas Kler
I had the privilege of meeting with Prof Kammen when he was in KK, and i also took the liberty to read the whole report his team came up with. He was commissioned by Green SURF to come up with the report, and I think it is important for us to make it clear that Prof Kammen was not under any pressure to side with the “green movement” as some of you have indicated.
If you bother to read the report, you will know that Prof Kammen and his team had largely used TNB, SESB and other Malaysian government sources to come up with the study. He basically said there are other options to coal, given that we have biomass, hydro, and even a 67mw geothermal site in Tawau. He also did a cost comparison analysis which clearly showed that based on costs and available incentives for renewable energy, biomass waste projects at large mills are cost-competitive with coal.
It also finds that hydropower is cost-competitive with coal, but recommends more research into potential hydropower sites as available data at the time the study was done dated back to the mid 1980s.
A summary issued in the form of a press release is as below. Please read to understand the issue before making blatant accusations. Thank you.
SABAH CAN BENEFIT FROM RENEWABLE ENERGY, POSSIBLE LEADER IN THE REGION
KOTA KINABALU, 3rd April 2010: Sabah, and Malaysia as a whole, stand to gain from using clean energy as it is a “premium product,” a preliminary study on power options in the state has found.
One way of achieving this is for the government to consider removing the 10 megawatt (MW) cap imposed on independent power producers taking part in the Small Renewable Energy Production (SREP) programme.
There is also a need for utility companies to buy electricity from SREP producers at more than the maximum 21 sen per kilowatt hour (kWh) paid now for energy from waste like biomass that come from Sabah’s vast oil palm plantations.
“It helps mitigate harmful waste from agricultural processing, aids Malaysia in achieving its ambitious greenhouse gas emissions targets, and creates local jobs.
“International grants for research, low-interest loans to project developers, and carbon offset incentives also favour palm oil developers,” the study called “Clean Energy Options for Sabah: An Analysis of Resource Availability and Cost” said.
The study, which quoted a variety of sources, aimed to present and analyse information on the potential of renewable energy in Sabah to provide an environmentally friendly and cost effective alternative to the proposed 300MW coal-fired plant in Lahad Datu.
It was written by University of California in Berkeley Professor of Energy, Daniel M. Kammen, the same university’s law student Tyler McNish, and Harvard College senior majoring in Environmental Science and Public Policy, Benjamin Gutierrez.
Green SURF (Sabah United to Re-Power the Future), a coalition of five non-governmental organisations, had commissioned the study which took several months.
The report said while in theory 500MW is available from palm oil waste in the state, it is not economically feasible to generate power from all mills.
However, 42 of the 117 mills are considered large enough to collectively produce 380MW at present, and if the number of “large” mills increase at the same rate as fresh fruit bunch production, the capacity will grow to 510MW by 2020.
Currently, only 30MW is produced locally from palm oil waste under the SREP programme.
The study has, based on costs and available incentives for renewable energy, found that biomass waste projects at large mills are cost-competitive with coal.
It also finds that hydropower is cost-competitive with coal, but recommends more research into potential hydropower sites as available data at the time the study was done dated back to the mid 1980s.
And while clean geothermal energy is not as cost-competitive with coal, there is a site in Tawau with potential for 67MW.
The study also advocates the phasing out of costly fossil-fuel subsidies that distort energy markets making them unfairly competitive with other options, and to continue studies on the feasibility of renewable investments at known geothermal, wind and environmentally-friendly micro hydro sites.
An interesting highlight of the study is the need for energy efficiency, stating that more than 100MW could be saved in Sabah at residential and commercial sites.
A study in the United States southwest region found that energy efficiency could reduce projected electricity consumption by 33 per cent over 17 years, eliminating the need for thirty-four 500MW plants.
Explaining this concept further a recent forum in the city on energy options for Sabah, Professor Kammen said there is a need to make energy efficiency a priority as it is the cheapest alternative.
“It is a way not only to offset fossil fuels, but also saves money. It is a superior option.
“Sabah should look at the diversity of options it has – like geothermal, hydro, biomass and energy efficiency.
“This package sounds difficult but in nations that have taken this package, they have found that they don’t need fossil fuels, and don’t addict themselves to the long term import of fossil fuels that may involve sending currency abroad.
“With concerns on climate change, more than a hundred coal plants were cancelled in the United States,” Kammen said at the forum attended by about 400 people.
He said Sabah has the opportunity to build a power generation mix minus coal, backing the report which predicts the state has what it takes to be a renewable energy leader in East Asia.
The recommendations fit in with the Malaysian government’s New Economic Model released this week, calling on the nation to embrace a leadership role in green technology.
According to the National Economic Advisory Council (NEAC), natural resources if properly managed, have the capacity to reduce the world’s carbon emissions, which is also in line with Malaysia’s commitment to cut its emissions by 40 per cent in 2020 compared to 2005 levels.
The NEAC warns that Malaysia could face not only irreparable environmental damage but also global sanctions that could have significant economic impact on its future exports and income, if its natural resources are mismanaged.
The site for the proposed coal-fired plant is near the Sulu Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion, recognised globally as an important marine and fisheries zone.
Although the site is within a Felda plantation, it is not too far from the Tabin Wildlife Reserve which is home to endangered and iconic wildlife like orang utan and Sumatran rhinos.
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