Time Series Patterns and Relationship of Energy Consumption and CO₂ Emissions in Malaysia

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Begum, Rawshan Ara^{a; *} | Abdullah, Sharifah Mastura Syed^a | Sarkar, Md. Sujahangir Kabir^b

Affiliations: [a] Institute of Climate Change (IPI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), 43600 Bangi, Malaysia | [b] Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), 43600 Bangi, Malaysia

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding Author. rawshan@ukm.my

Abstract: It is crucial to understand time series patterns of Malaysia’s energy consumption and CO2 emissions and their relationship for implementing strategies and policies to energy security and climate change mitigation.Data from 1980 to 2011 show that all types of fuel and sectors exhibited growth in energy consumption. Major fuel energy consumed are the electricity, diesel, natural gas and motor petrol while transport and industrial sectors are the main consumers of energy. Alike, electricity generation and transport sectors contribute a larger share of CO2 emissions followed by manufacturing industries and construction sectors among others. In recent years, emissions from power generation rapidly increased due to the increasing coal share of energy input instead of natural gas. Moreover, the positive and linear relationship between CO2 emission and energy consumption indicates that Malaysia’s higher rate of energy consumption leads to the increased CO2 emissions whereas a high growth of GDP and increasing population might cause increased energy consumption. However, implementation of Feed-in Tariff (FiT) mechanism would work as an incentive to reduce energy consumption and a motivation to consumers (individual or industry) to offset the incremental electricity cost by applying renewable energy and energy efficiency measures that ultimately would contribute to reduce emissions in Malaysia.

Keywords: Energy consumption, emissions, mitigation, Malaysia

DOI: 10.3233/AJW-170014

Journal: Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 41-49, 2017