Buildings today account for 40% of the world’s primary energy consumption and are responsible for about one-third of global CO2 emissions (24% according to IEA, 2008; 33% according to Price et al., 2006). Despite steady increases in energy prices, especially crude oil, Indonesia has enjoyed steady economic growth of around 5 percent since rebounding from the 1999-2000 crises. All of this growth is surely accompanied by the increase in energy demand due to the increasing number of homes, factories, and commercial and industrial buildings. If we assume that demand for electricity will grow in average 7% per year for the next 30 years, then electricity consumption will significantly increase, for example in the household sector, consumption will increase from 21.52 GWh in 2000 to around 444.53 GWh in 2030.
There are four main sectors of energy users, namely household, commercial, industrial and transportation sector. Currently the largest energy user is the industrial sector with a share of 44.2%. Next largest consumption is the transportation sector with 40.6%, followed by the household sector with 11.4% and the commercial sector with 3.7%. Until now, the primary sources of energy still come from fossil fuels, with 46.9% from oil, 26.4% from coal, and 21.9% from natural gas. Hydro (water) power and other renewable energy only make up about 4.8% from the total of utilized energy resources.
Energy Efficiency versus Energy Conservation
Energy efficiency is the most cost-effective way of cutting carbon dioxide emissions and improvements to households and businesses. It can also have many other additional social, economic and health benefits, such as healthier homes, lower fuel bills and company running costs and, indirectly, jobs. The choices we make about how we use energy-turning machines off when we’re not using them or choosing to buy energy efficient appliances-impact our environment and our lives. There are many things we can do to use less energy and use it more wisely. These things involve energy conservation and energy efficiency. Many people think these terms mean the same thing, but they are different.
Energy conservation is any behavior that results in the use of less energy. Energy efficiency is the use of technology that requires less energy to perform the same function. A compact fluorescent light bulb that uses less energy than an incandescent bulb to produce the same amount of light is an example of energy efficiency. The decision to replace an incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent is an example of energy conservation. As consumers, our energy choices and actions can result in reductions in the amount of energy used in all four sectors of the economy; residential and commercial, industrial, and transportation.
Home Energy Usage
Households use about 41 percent of the total energy consumed in Indonesia each year. Cooling systems use more energy than any other systems in our homes. Typically, 43 percent of an average family’s energy bills are spent to keep homes at a comfortable temperature. Energy efficient improvements can make a home more comfortable and save money.
One of local improvement that we can apply is by landscaping. Although it isn’t possible to control the weather, landscaping can reduce its impact on home energy use. By placing trees, shrubs, and other landscaping to block the wind and provide shade, people can reduce the energy needed to keep their homes comfortable during dry and wet seasons. Another, is by choosing appliances for homes. Appliances account for about 20 percent of a typical household’s energy use, with refrigerators, clothes washers and dryers at the top of the list. When shopping for new appliances, you should think of two price tags. The first one is the purchase price. The second price tag is the cost of operating the appliance during its lifetime. You’ll be paying that second price tag on your utility bill every month for the next 10 to 20 years, depending on the appliance. Many energy efficient appliances cost more to buy, but save money in lower energy costs. Over the life of an appliance, an energy efficient model is always a better deal.
Energy Wise Consumers
The products we use every day consumes an enormous amount of energy to be manufactured. Therefore, manufacturers must use energy efficient technologies and conservation measures to be successful in businesses. As consumers, we can help to protect the environment and save money, energy, and natural resources by Reducing, Reusing and Recycling the products no longer use. Here are some useful measures that consumer can easy to put into practice.
Buy only what you need. Purchasing fewer goods means less to throw away. It also results in fewer goods being produced and less energy being used in the manufacturing process. Buying goods with less packaging also reduces the amount of waste generated and the amount of energy used.
Buy products that can be used repeatedly. If you buy things that can be reused rather than disposable items that are used once and thrown away, you will save natural resources. You’ll also save the energy used to make them and reduce the amount of landfill space needed to contain the waste.
Make it a priority to recycle all materials that you can. Using recycled material almost always consumes less energy than using new materials. Recycling reduces energy needs for mining, refining, and many other manufacturing processes. Recycling a pound of steel saves enough energy to light a 60-watt light bulb for 26 hours. Recycling a ton of glass saves the equivalent of nine gallons of fuel oil. Recycling aluminum cans saves 95 percent of the energy required to produce aluminum from bauxite. Recycling paper reduces energy usage by half.
Energy Sustainability
Efficiency and conservation are key components of energy sustainability. The concept that every generation should meet its energy needs without compromising the energy needs of future generations. Energy sustainability focuses on long-term energy strategies and policies that ensure adequate energy to meet today’s needs, as well as tomorrows. Sustainability also includes investing in research and development of advanced technologies for producing conventional energy sources, promoting the use of alternative energy sources, and encouraging sound environmental policies. The need for a profound transformation of the world’s energy-producing and -using infrastructure is, of course, already widely recognized in the context of mounting concern about global climate change.
In some cases, technology improvements that reduce emissions of conventional air pollutants (such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons and particulate matter) can be expected to also reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Some conventional pollutants, such as black carbon, directly contribute to warming. In those cases, conventional emission controls can provide automatic climate co-benefits. In other cases, the relationship is more complicated: Sulfur particles, for example, actually have a cooling effect in the atmosphere. In general, most post-combustion conventional-pollutant control technologies do not reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas.
Renewable Energy for Indonesia
Today, renewable energy accounts for a small but growing portion of Indonesia’s electricity portfolio. Most renewable energy comes from the hydro power and geothermal industries, but growth in other sectors is likely. Surprisingly, Indonesia continues to import fossil fuels to cover production deficiencies instead of fully utilizing its already installed renewable energy capacity. Expanding the production of existing resources (that is, already operating geothermal plants or hydro power dams) could displace some fossil fuel imports, by lowering the cost of energy subsidies and creating additional demand for renewable energy technology and expertise. Indonesia Presidential Decree No. 5 mandates an increase in renewable energy production from 7 percent to 15 percent of generating capacity by 2025. To accomplish that goal, 6.7 GW of new renewable energy capacity must be installed in the next 15 years based on current growth projections (Ibid). Geothermal and biomass have been slated for the most growth, but opportunities exist in every renewable energy technology.
A policy on renewable energy and energy conservation was promulgated by The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources on December 2003 giving references for renewable energy development and energy conservation in Indonesia to support sustainable development program. Under the Green Energy Policy, renewable energy in Indonesia has been classified into three types: (a) already developed commercially (biomass, geothermal, and hydro energy); (b) already developed but still limited (solar, wind); and (c) still at the research stage (ocean energy). The Green Energy Policy defines action steps consisting of formulation of more specific policies and programs. These include policies for: (a) investment and funding; (b) incentives; (c) energy pricing; (d) human resources; (e) information dissemination; (f) standardization and certification; (g) research and development; and (I) institutional development.
For the Indonesia archipelago, the energy solution is really dependent on its geographical position and natural resources. Through implementation of various policies and programs by the government increase the awareness of the importance role of renewable energy in a sustainable energy system for Indonesian people, and with energy efficiency will bring health, productivity, safety, comfort and savings to homeowner, as well as local and global environmental benefits.