MALAYSIA LOOKING AT ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES

KUALA LUMPUR, April 27 (Bernama) -- Malaysia will become a net energy
importer before 2020 and is therefore committed to find alternative means,
Deputy Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Fadillah Yusof said Tuesday.

He said the country's energy requirement was estimated to rise by 6.3 per
cent annually and by 2030, the level would have reached 28 per cent.

"Towards this end, Malaysia is very much committed to find alternative means
of energy that are sustainable," he said in a keynote address at the EU-Malaysia
Biomass Stakeholders Forum here.

Fadillah said the country was in the midst of implementing a number of
initiatives with regard to policy review, research and development (R&D) and
applications in this area.

The ministry, he said, had given emphasis to the R&D of renewable energy
since the Seventh Malaysia Plan.

In total, 185 projects related to the development of technologies focusing
on harnessing energy from resources such as biomass, solar, hydro, wind and
tidal waves costing RM158 million (US$1=RM3.18) have been carried out.

Fadillah said biomass would be a feature in the source of renewable energy
mix for the country in the near future since Malaysia has an abundance of the
resources.

He said the ministry had taken the necessary steps to develop a renewable
energy technology roadmap in five focus areas comprising biomass, solar, wind,
micro-hydro and tidal power.

"The use of renewable energy plays an ever increasing role in meeting the
requirements of our energy security and the effects of climate change due to
the greenhouse gases emission," he added.

-- BERNAMA