Energy: Serious Environmental Problem in Indonesia

Energy is a serious environmental problem that exists in Indonesia today. Indonesia as a developing country is consistently building and developing new infrastructures, such as industrial complex, real estates, and sky-crapper buildings. All of them are hunger with power, and a lot of power means burdening the environmental in a sense. Seeing for the wide implication of the problems, several solutions must be thought and be put into action. There are three promising solutions in overcoming the energy problem in Indonesia, which are alternative power sources, improvement in building designs, and power conservation.

Firstly, considerations of alternative power sources are popping out. From engineering side, power alternatives are being developed, such as sun-powered generator and alcohol based vehicle. Now, 50% of Indonesia’s source of energy comes from the fossil fuels, while 30% comes from renewable energy sources, such as biogas energy, solar energy (, and wind energy. This 30% will keep increasing and that is very promising! Secondly, the building design can also be improved as one of the solutions. Civil Engineers are trying to design not only the buildings that are strong, durable, and beautiful; but now, they also have to consider about the energy efficiency for the buildings. Now, they have a green rating that indicates the building’s energy efficiency. Thirdly, power conservation is also being promoted in Indonesia as another solution. The government tries to encourage people in keeping the air conditioner in stable temperature of 25⁰C, reduce the amount of time that is used in watching TV, and use public vehicle as much as possible for transportation (“Efisienkah Langkah”, 2008). This encouragement brings the Electrical Engineers into stage, where they can design electric appliances that have as much energy efficiency as possible. Altogether, they sum up as a prominent and promising solution for Indonesia’s energy problem.

Source:

Efisienkah Langkah Penghematan Energi. 2005, 16 July. BBC Indonesia. Retrieved Feb 14, 2008 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/indonesian/forum/story/2005/07/050716_energy.shtml

Indonesia – Energy and Resources. (n.d.). World Resource Institute. Retrieved Feb 14, 2008 from http://earthtrends.wri.org/text/energy-resources/country-profile-86.html