INGENIEUR
FEATURE
Sustainable Energy Management
Environmentalism Vs
Consumerism
By Ir. Rocky H.T. Wong
The UN Brundtland Commission, 1987,
defined Sustainable Development as
“Meeting the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs.”
Sustainable Energy is Malaysia’s “5 th Fuel” that
is, Energy Efficiency (EE) on the Demand Side and
Renewable Energy (RE) on the Supply Side of the
Energy Equation. You cannot have one without the
other. Sustainable Fuel is a conjoined twin unlike
the four other fuels that make up our Nation’s
policy on energy mix for electricity generation,
i.e. oil, gas, coal and hydro (besides micro- or
mini-hydro that come under the 5 th Fuel (RE)
classification).
Sustainable Energy Management forms a
part of the universal green agenda for our Planet
to attain sustainable development – a shared
concern of mankind. Sustainable Development
is Environmentalism. Consumption by the living
(such as humans, animals, plants etc.) creates
Consumerism – to satisfy need, but not greed!
So, are Environmentalism and Consumerism
compatible?
Can Environmentalism and Consumerism
be Compatible?
When dealing with sustainable energy
management, we are in effect dealing with broader
environmental issues of universal concern. In
that instance what readily comes to mind are
issues relating to the commonly recognised and
understood “3R’s”, they are: Reduce, Reuse and
Recycle. But is that all there is to it? Because there
are also the “3E’s” which together define, in some
manner, the holistic approach in understanding
complex environmental issues:
● Ecology (the impact)
● Economics (the consequence)
● Equality (affects all without discrimination,
meaning inclusiveness)
Pollution brings about environmental issues
and challenges. We have to understand the
contributing factors to pollution. The issues are
referred to as “3P’s”:
● People
● Priorities
● Politics
It is “people” — the ever-increasing population of
the world who have an insatiable hunger for more
global resources than Mother Earth can provide
— who are depleting the finite over time. Mother
Earth understands our need, but not our greed. To
slow down the rate of consumption, Governments
of the world and global bodies e.g. the United
Nations (UN), World Bank, International Monetary
Fund (IMF), World Trade Organisation (WTO),
etc., faced with unchecked demands, will have
to prioritise their efforts to contribute towards
sustainable development.
Intervention into the sincere and businesslike
attempts to rank priorities is usually politics
driven. Those with power, either by the mandate
of the people, or the mandate of haven, will have
a say in the merit-order ranking of priorities. It
is evident everywhere and over the spectrum of
50 VOL 81 JANUARY-MARCH 2020