Summary Reader Response Essay Draft 1

In the article “How can southeast Asia's clean energy transition be sped up?”, Tim Daubach (2019) Southeast Asia is a region with huge distinctive economies, resource allocation so, Ernest Moniz (Chief Executive of the Energy and Nuclear Threat Initiative) believes that the region should execute low-carbon technologies in the production, storage and supply of electricity to reduce the harmful gas emission. He suggested that for the countries with limited area, it is smart to use nuclear fusion or hydrogen as a zero-emissions fuel. Even though nuclear fusion facilities has huge prospect but, due to today’s technology and maintenance cost, it is not efficient for power production in huge scale according to Chapman (Chief Executive of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority). Moniz insists that to shift people to use sustainable energy more swiftly, business and policymaker should decrease the cost of the energy. Therefore, Southeast Asia should grasp the chance to improve the ecosystem, livelihood, and economy by quickly incorporating various sustainable methods in producing green energy.

The key to reducing carbon emission is to implement low-carbon technology in every region. During the golden age of industrialization, the technology used is to maximize the economic growth by ignoring the damage done to nature. Thus, this brings the result of greenhouse effect. Hence, low-carbon technology is introduced to decrease the greenhouse gases to the steady level by reducing carbon emission. There are various low-carbon technology such as solar photovoltaic (PV) systems; Wind turbines; Micro-CHP; Hydroelectricity; Solar water heating etc. The facts about solar PV is that, it is easy to install, Feed-in Tariffs payment which make a good investment, and it is estimated that “Typical domestic systems are around 2.2 kW in size, and can provide around 1,850 kWh a year. This is over 40% of the electricity used by a typical household”. (1) Therefore, the objective of establishing low-carbon technology is to focus on bringing stability between human and nature for a better ecosystem and economic growth. 

The first commercial nuclear power plant was commissioned in 1957, being one of the oldest sustainable energy sources. In the past 50 years, nuclear power provides about 10 times that of solar and wind energy combined and became one of the top contributors of global electricity supply market. Moniz stated that for countries with limited space, it is smart to use nuclear fusion or hydrogen as a zero-emissions fuel for energy production, but I do not agree with Mr.Moniz on the idea of building nuclear power plant. Even though this power plant takes less space, there are 3 main drawbacks. Firstly, the radioactive waste is lethal for living organism so, for small country it can cause havoc ; secondly, there is a need for high skilled labour to run and maintain it as there cannot be any mistake in handling it; lastly, terrorist tend to attack power plant as it cause most damage to people and economy of the country. Hence, one solution does not suit for all countries.

The business owner and government should take initiative to educate and popularize green energy. Southeast Asia is still falling behind in introducing essential energy efficiency measures. To diminish the usage of coal we have to introduce new/alternative ways to generate power. Moniz insists that business and policymaker should unite and decrease the cost of the energy so that the people can change to sustainable energy more swiftly. I agree with his statement. The government should use social platform, media, magazine, news article etc. to guide people and explain to the general public on how they can benefit by swapping to clean energy and co-exist with nature. Therefore, they should revise tax policy, motivate, promote, and fund the research on clean energy.

Regardless of inexhaustible sunlight, wind, and water bodies, Southeast Asia is lagging behind in changing from fossil to clean energy production in an era of flourishing economies. Hence, it is the duty of the each and every person to change for the better future. It is significant to learn, adapt, and co-exist.

Reference:

(1) http://www.greensuffolk.org/assets/Greenest-County/SGBN/Renewable-Energy/buyersguiderenewables.pdf

(2) https://www.eenews.net/assets/2019/05/28/document_ew_01.pdf

(3) http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2018/ph241/kuet2/

(4) https://m.scirp.org/papers/69366

(5) https://www.eenews.net/assets/2019/05/28/document_ew_01.pdf

(6) https://www.eco-business.com/news/how-can-southeast-asias-clean-energy-transition-be-sped-up/