esd final essay
TRANSCRIPT
Reflective Essay
Bachelor of Science (Honours) In Architecture
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABLE DESIGN [ARC 1413]/[BLD 60203]
Tutor: Ms. Suja
Farah Akmal 0315884
Lau Wei Ling 0315389
Lim Chin Yi 0315627
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 AIR POLLUTION 1
1.2 AIR POLLUTION INDEX (APII) 1
1.3 POWER GENERATION 2
1.4 THERMAL POWER STATION 3
2.0 IMPACTS
2.1 IMPACTS TO THE ENVIRONMENT 6
2.2 IMPACTS TO HUMAN 8
3.0 CASE STUDIES
3.0 MALAYSIA CASE STUDY 1 10
3.1 MALAYSIA CASE STUDY 2 13
3.2 INTERNATIONAL CASE STUDIES 16
4.0 REFERENCES 17
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Air Pollution
Air pollution happens when there are presence of pollutants such as chemical substances
and particulate matter in the Earth’s atmosphere. The pollutants in the air could cause
discomfort, harm and health issues to human and other living organism apart from causing
severe damage to the environment. Hutton (2011) stated that air pollution could be classified
into anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic origin in which the former is caused by human
activity and the latter is caused by natural events. In this essay, we will be focusing on
anthropogenic origin pollution caused by thermal plant in Malaysia.
1.2 Air Pollution Index (API)
Air Pollution Index is an indicator to generalized the air quality status at any particular area.
The air quality levels in Malaysia are measured based on 5 main air pollutants which are
Sulphur Dioxide, Nitrogen Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, particulate matter, and ground level
ozone. An hourly index is calculated for each pollutant and the highest hourly index value will
be taken as the Air Pollution Index for the hour (Beychok, 2008).
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The air pollutions levels are then ranked on scale 0 for good air quality all the way up above
500 for emergency levels that are hazardous to the public health. Most of the time, the air
pollutions levels are ranked within index value 0-50(good), and there are times where the
index would reach within 51-100(moderate) and 101-200(unhealthy). Although the air quality
in Malaysia is good in average, it is still far away from achieving the optimum air quality as
Malaysia was ranked only 55th in air quality score based on the Environmental Performance
Index (2014). The main causes of air pollution in Malaysia are from power generation,
industrial activities, development activities, land clearing, open burning and motor vehicles
(General Info of Air Pollution Index Department of Environment, n.d.)
Figure 1.20 API Index Sources: (Beychok, 2008)
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1.3 Power Generation
Electricity is one of the necessities in the modern lifestyle of the society. The use of
electricity in domestic, industry, construction and transportation is increasing each year. In
the year 2013, the final energy demand in Malaysia had reached up to 51584 ktoe from
17728 ktoe in a ten year interval (Malaysia Energy Information Hub, 2015b). The electricity in
Malaysia is generated through three types of power sources. They are thermal power
stations which will be further explained in the next paragraph; hydropower station which
generate electricity by the conversion of energy of flowing water; and co-generation which
uses the left-over-steam from electricity generation to produce heat for other usages.
Figure 1.31 shows the percentages of electricity generated by power sources in Malaysia
2013. There was 10,627,000 tonne of oil equivalent of electrical energy generated by
thermal stations which made up 88% of the total electricity generated. Therefore, we could
conclude that the thermal power stations are the main sources of power generated in
Malaysia. Examples of thermal power stations in Malaysia are Connaught Bridge Power
Station in Klang, Genting Sanyen Kuala Langat Power Plant in Kuala Langat and Sultan
Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Power Station in Kapar.
Figure 1.30 Percentages of Electricity Generated by Power Sources in Malaysia Sources: (Malaysia Energy Information Hub, 2015a).
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1.4 Thermal Power Station
Thermal power is produced from the combustion of fuels to power the electrical generator
which converts the thermal energy to electrical energy. Figure 1.41 above shows the
percentages of fuels used in thermal plants Malaysia. Based on the data, the three main
fossil fuels used in the generation of thermal power in Malaysia are natural gas, crude oil
and coal& coke. Although the thermal plant has brought us benefits, the combustion of fuels
have also caused pollutions such as thermal pollution and air pollutions that brings negative
effects to the society, nature and environment.
Figure 1.40 Percentages of Fuels Used in Thermal Plants Malaysia Sources: (Malaysia Energy Information Hub, 2015c)
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2.0 Impacts
2.1 Impact to the Environment
Chemicals released from the rotting vegetable and erupting volcanoes caused the acid rain,
but the major culprit is the burning of fossil fuels by coal-burning power plants, factories and
automobiles. When Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) and Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) emitted into the
environment, it reacts with the water and other compound and form various acidic
compounds, including fine particles and ozone. Then, it will fall to the earth in either a wet
form like rain, snow and fog or in a dry foam like gases and particles which will affect the
human health and the environment.
Emission from the power plant react with the water molecules in the atmosphere and
form acidic compounds that harm lakes and streams and caused them to absorb the
aluminium that makes its way from the soil into lakes and streams. This combination makes
the water toxic to crayfish, dams, fish and other aquatic animals, thus, making them unable
to support the fish and other aquatic life. However, in an interconnected ecosystem,
whatever impact one species also affect many other species throughout the food chain and
this is including non-aquatic species as well.
Besides, acid rain also brings harm or damage the forest ecosystem by directly
damaging the plant tissues, especially those at higher elevation. It releases the aluminium
from the soil by rob it, essential nutrient to a tree. This will also affect the tree’s leaves and
needles. Likewise, when acid combines with ozone it can weaken the trees and make them
unable to withstand to the threats such as pests, which cause mortality. In addition to this,
acid rain can affect the forest ecosystems indirectly by changing the chemistry of the forest
soils, including the leaching of plant nutrients from soils. It can increase the levels of
aluminium in soil water which can impair the ability of trees to use soil nutrients and can be
directly toxic to plant roots. Sample collection of the forest in Malaysia has been done and
analysis showed that the mean annual rainfall pH at Bukit Cerekah and Bukit Bujang in first
year was between 5-5.1 and it gradually dropped to 4.8 in the third year. The drop in pH
means that acid precipitation is going to make its presence. Bukit Lagong was 5.64 and 5.22
Figure 2.10 Emission Process Sources: (Usa EPA Archieve Document, 2015)
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in first and third years respectively and this is because of noxious gases like NOx and SO2
have been transported during the wetter seasons from area like Shah Alam, Sg. Buluh and
Kepong. (Philip, E. , M. Rizal, M.K and Siti Mariam, S, n.d)
Furthermore, acid rain can caused a great damage to a significant number of
properties of aesthetic and historical value including monuments, buildings, and statues.
Acid particles and deposition has increased the rate of weathering for these materials,
eventually resulting in aesthetic and structural damage such as structure that are made out
of limestone and marble which are particularly sensitive to acid deposition..
Nitrogen deposited from the atmosphere is a substantial source of nitrogen in many
estuaries and coastal waters. The estuaries and coastal waters is essential to marine but
large amount of nitrogen in it can have significant ecological impacts such as massive die-
offs of estuarine and marine plants and animals, loss of biological diversity, and degradation
of essential coastal ecosystem habitat such as sea grassbeds. These seagrass beds are
essential nurseries for fish and shellfish as it also provides a place to hide and escape from
predators. Excessive amounts of nitrogen in coastal waters from atmospheric deposition can
caused the harmful algal blooms from enhanced nitrification, some of which are toxic such
as red tides that kills millions of fish each year and a toxic to humans.
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2.2 Impact to the Living Organism
Fine particles like sulphates and nitrates in the air scatter light and create hazy conditions,
decreasing visibility contributing to regional haze. These will spoil the scenic vistas across
broad regions of the country, reduced visual range by as much as 80% to 10 miles or less on
the haziest days and it impaired urban vistas nationwide.
A mixture of solid particle and liquid droplets found in the air will create a large
proportion of sulphate and nitrate particles which are larger proportion of a fine particle in
most part of the country. These mixtures will cause an increase incidence of premature
death, especially those with heart and lung disease and the elderly. Aggravation of
respiratory and cardiovascular illness will lead to hospitalizations the worst comes to worst is
the emergency room visits for children and individual with heart or lung disease. Decreased
lung function and symptomatic effects, including acute bronchitis, especially among children
and asthmatics as well as new cases of chronic bronchitis, changes to lung structure and
natural defense. In the end, all these illness will increase the work loss days, school
absences and emergency room visits.
Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) and volatile organic compounds react in the atmosphere with
the presence of sunlight and form a ground-level ozone, a major component of smog in the
cities and in many rural areas as well. These will affect our respiratory illness and other
health problems, including decreases in lung function resulting in difficulty breathing,
shortness of breath, and other symptoms. Respiratory symptoms such as those associated
with bronchitis, aggravated coughing, and chest pain. Increased incidence or severity of
Figure 2.20 Comparison of Pood and Goor Visibility Left image : Poor Visibility , Right Image : Goor Visibility
Sources: (Colorado State University, 2015)
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respiratory problems resulting in more hospital admissions and emergency room visits.
Chronic inflammation and irreversible structural changes in the lungs, that, with repeated
exposure that can lead to premature aging of the lungs and other respiratory illness.
Mercury is a product of coal-burning, which can be transported over a range of
distance through the atmosphere before being deposited into the water bodies. It will
transform into methyl-mercury and bio-accumulate when it reaches the lakes. These are the
effects of the gas emission to the environments which have caused a lot of problems to the
environment. The primary symptoms of mercury exposure are the disorder of the body
nervous system, including brain damage, lack of motor skills, impaired cognitive skills and
difficulty speaking and hearing. These effects are obvious during the development of the
nervous system, such as fetuses and young children.
In conclusion, the main issues cause by thermal plants are acid rain, haze, and health
problems. Among all, acid rain is the main issue and it indirectly causing other problem as
well like nitrogen deposition, increase of regional haze and effect on the human health.
Therefore, serious attention or measures has to be taken to tackle the main problem, acid
rain, in order to solve the others.
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3.0 Case Studies
3.1 Malaysia Case Study 1
The use of renewable energy
Thermal power based on fossil fuel combustion remains as the major source of energy
globally and hence making the decommissioning of it difficult and impractical. Therefore, in
order to reduce the pollutions caused by thermal power production, it is essential to reduce
the energy generation by thermal power plant. Renewable energy cause lesser pollution to
the environment. Renewable energy is energy source that can be replenish and reproduced
in a short interval or a decade. Renewable power projects are carried out by Malaysia
government through investment as announced in the Tenth Malaysia Plan. Other than that,
Malaysia had started to implement the use of renewable energy in the year of 2011 under
the Renewable Energy Act 2011. More than 70 of renewable energy plant are built in
different places in Peninsular Malaysia. For example, KLIA had installed solar photovoltaic
system that can generate 19 MW solar energy each year.
In the search of new sources of energy that can replace the production of thermal
energy, Malaysia government formed an association that does research on the sustainable
energy.
“The Sustainable Energy Development Authority of Malaysia (SEDA Malaysia) is a
statutory body formed under the Sustainable Energy Development Authority Act 2011 [Act
726]. The key role of SEDA is to administer and manage the implementation of the feed-in
tariff mechanism which is mandated under the Renewable Energy Act 2011 [Act 725].” (About
SEDA, 2015)
Their vision and mission are to develop sustainable energy as for economic concerns
and environment conservation. They had run several of sustainable energy programmes and
ensure it is managed prudently and efficiently.
One of the programmes introduced by SEDA is Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) where it is a new
mechanism to catalyse the generation of renewable energy, up to 30 MW in size. The
generation license is distributed among private sector to generate clean energy and enable
them to sell back to the licensee for a fixed number of years. Renewable energy that is
eligible to be licensed are biogas including landfill gas & sewage, biomass including solid
waste, small hydropower and solar photovoltaic. The duration of the license are between 16
to 21 years. (FEED-IN TARIFF (FiT) IN MALAYSIA, 2015)
Figure 3.10 Different types of Renewable Energy that are eligible for FiT.
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The introduction of the FiT programme had motivated the private sectors to
participate for the long term incentives and contribution to the environment. Among the 4
types of renewable energy, the solar photovoltaic are promoted and installed widely in
domestic and private sectors.
Solar voltaic panels are devices that can generate energy from the solar energy and
converts light and heat energy into electrical energy without causing any air and water
pollution to the environment. Compared to other type of renewable energy and thermal
power plant, solar photovoltaic can only cause a lower impact to surrounding environment
and has a relatively lower need of maintenance.
Figure 3.11 The generation of electricity by crystalline silicon solar cell.
Besides that, hydropower is also research and installed widely in Malaysia. Malaysia
is a country which is rich in natural resources. Hydropower is generated by harnessing the
power of flowing water from lakes, rivers, and streams. Small hydro is based on simple
concepts. Moving water turns a turbine, the turbine spins a generator, and electricity is
produced. Many other components may be in a system, but it all begins with the energy
already within the moving water. There is less environmental impact caused by the
generation of small hydropower throughout the process. (Seda.gov.my, 2015)
According to the statistics provided by SEDA portal, there is a continuous instalment
and application of renewable energy in Malaysia. As seen at the table below, the installed
capacity of commissioned renewable energy is maintained each year. This could be seen
from the application of instalment of solar photovoltaic energy that has a drastic increase
that is 89 % for private sector and 213% for domestic sector in one year interval after the
introduction of FiT programme.
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Figure 3.12
Comparison between the approved application of FiT in the year of 2012 and 2013
Figure 3.13
In a nutshell, solar power generation had reach up to almost 98% of the renewable
energy source in Malaysia. The reason behind the choice of solar energy as renewable
energy is due to geographical location of Malaysia that has abundance of sunlight. Besides,
solar energy is easy to be installed and doesn’t require much maintenance and manpower
after installation. It also has the least environmental impact. The success of the FiT
programme by SEDA had motivated the use the renewable energy in Malaysia. As a long
term benefit, it is essential for the SEDA and Malaysia government to ensure the existing
programme to be managed prudently and efficiently. This will eventually ensure Malaysia to
have a growth of sustainable energy generation and reduce the relying on thermal energy
production. Thus, this will lower the impact to the environment especially the pollutions
caused by thermal power production in Malaysia.
Figure 3.14
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3.2 Malaysia Case Study 2
As another long term solution towards the air pollution cause by the thermal power
plant production on fossil fuels, it is advisable for the public to reduce energy consumption
thus reducing the pollution. The most important factor in reduction of energy consumption
would be the implementation of green building. Green buildings use lesser energy, lower
aggregate operational cost and fewer carbon dioxide emissions. The lesser the energy
consumption of the users, the lower the demand on electricity, the lower the generation of
thermal energy.
“Construction sector consumes as much as 40% of the world’s energy, 12% of
water and contributes to 40% of the waste sent to landfill”- Tony Arnel, chairman of world
green building council. (Greenbuildingindex.org, 2015)
As known, construction sector is a major contributor to the energy usage. In
response, the introduction green building can be seen as a necessary to reduce the energy
consumption as green building has characteristics of energy efficiency, indoor environment
quality, water efficiency, sustainable planning and management, innovative design, and
sustainable material and resources. Each of the characteristics leads to a low energy
requirement for daily operation and low impact towards the environment.
To motivate the construction of green building to replace traditional building, the
Board of Architects Malaysia (PAM) had introduced Green Building Index (GBI) to the
construction industry in Malaysia. GBI is a measure of the degree of green building by rating
marks to each of the quality and characteristics of the building. Energy efficiency is rated as
the first or second important criteria as a green building whether it is for residential or non-
residential building. (Greenbuildingindex.org, 2015)
Implementation of GBI system in Malaysia is an effort to reduce the construction
energy. From the statistics provided below by the GBI organisation, the construction of green
building is trending in the construction industry in Malaysia as in every year, the certified
projects are gradually increased. This trend can help to reduce energy and waste efficiently
from a long term sight of view. From the introduction of GBI building in Malaysia, the total
reduction of carbon dioxide emission by the electricity energy reduction had reach up to a
total of 668,006.43.
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GBI CERTIFIED PROJECTS BY YEAR/QUARTER
GBI Projects by
Year/Quarter
Registered
Projects Certified Projects
2009/Q2 17 0
2009/Q3 5 1
2009/Q4 12 0
2010/Q1 21 0
Year One Total 55
(Average 4.5/month)
1
(Average 0.08/month)
2010/Q2 14 6
2010/Q3 23 1
2010/Q4 20 5
2011/Q1 34 3
Year Two Total 91
(Average 7.5/month)
15
(Average 1.25/month)
2011/Q2 27 10
2011/Q3 25 13
2011/Q4 39 7
2012/Q1 30 12
Year Three Total 121
(Average 10.1/month)
42
(Average 3.5/month)
2012/Q2 27 15
2012/Q3 45 22
2012/Q4 27 13
2013/Q1 22 18
Year Four Total 121
(Average 10.08/month)
68
(Average 5.67/month)
2013/Q2 30 12
2013/Q3 21 22
2013/Q4 37 30
2014/Q1 36 24
Year Five Total 124
(Average 10.3/month)
88
(Average 7.3/month)
2014/Q2 26 21
2014/Q3 28 13
2014/Q4 29 17
2015/Q1 13 23
Year Six Total 96
(Average 8/month)
74
(Average 6.17/month)
2015/Q2 (15 MAY) 12 10
Year Seven Total 12
(Average 6/month)
10
(Average 5/month)
Figure 3.20
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CARBON DIOXIDE (CO2) EMISSION REDUCTION OF GBI CERTIFIED BUIILDINGS
CO2
REDUCTION
PROJECTION
TOTAL
as of
15 MAY
2015
NRNC
Non
Residential
New
Construction
RNC
Residential
New
Construction
NREB
Non
Residential
Existing
Building
INC
Industrial
New
Construction
IEB Industrial
Existing
Building
CO2 Emission
Reduction
(tCO2e/annum,
based on
electricity energy
reduction only @
1kWh =
0.741 kg CO2-
Peninsular
0.872 kg CO2-
Sarawak
0.546 kg CO2-
Sabah)
668,006.43 404,705.39
(60.58%)
178,324.75
(26.70%)
76,390.67
(11.44%)
6,865.33
(1.03%)
1,720.29
(0.26%)
Figure 3.21
As an example of green building that is certified in the highest category of GBI which
is platinum, Zero Energy Office is a building with zero net energy consumption, so that the
amount of consume energy is equivalent to the amount of on-site produced renewable
energy. The example of ZEO in Malaysia is shown below.
Figure 3.22 Zero Energy Building
Diagram 1.0 shows the Pusat Tenaga Malaysia Zero Energy Office Building, which is
a national energy research centre completed in 2007 in Bandar Baru Bangi, Selangor. The
carbon neutral status of the building is achieved through the incorporation of various energy
efficiency technologies and strategies (CleanEnergy | ACTION PROJECT, 2015). For examples,
the use of double pane windows to reduce the absorption of heat into the building; use of
high efficiency pumps and fans in the building systems; installation of integrated cooling
system with coils positioned beneath the floor slabs; and installation of solar photovoltaic
panels for renewable energy generation. As a result, the energy use intensity of the building
is reduced to approximately 35-40 kWH annually, which is around the 15% of energy
consumption of a conventional Malaysian office buildings. The building has set a great
example in energy saving; if these strategies could be widely applied in Malaysian building
construction, the overall energy consumptions of the nation would reduce drastically, thus
lowering the thermal energy production and pollutants produced.
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3.3 International Case studies
The direct solution to reduce the air pollution caused by thermal power plant is to use
cleaner fuel and higher productivity of thermal power technology. By the use of cleaner fuel,
less air pollutants are released to the atmosphere. The energy transmission turbine can also
be improved by bring in the newest technology from Japan and Europe country. Projects
such as EAGLE and THERMIE were carried out in the European countries to research on
and increase the efficiency of energy production.
The process of thermal power generation is by moving of turbine by the combustion
of fossil fuels through the plant. In the process, there might be waste heat that is loss due
different factors. The improvement of technology can increase the efficiency of energy
production by reducing waste heat and generates more energy within the same amount of
consumption of fossil fuels.
Based on the figure below, the heat loss of the thermal energy in the furnace can be
caused by several reasons. According to the Waste Heat Reduction and Recovery for
Improving Furnace Efficiency, Productivity (2004), “when the energy transfer reaches its
practical limit, the spent combustion gases are removed (exhausted) from the furnace via a
flue or stack to make room for a fresh charge of combustion gases. At this point, the exhaust
flue gases still hold considerable thermal energy, often more than what was left behind in the
process. In many fuel-fired heating systems, this waste heat is the greatest source of heat
loss in the process, often greater than all the other losses combined. The first step in
reducing waste heat in flue gases requires close attention and proper measures to reduce all
heat losses associated with the furnace. Any reduction in furnace heat losses will be
multiplied by the overall available heat factor. This could result in much higher energy
savings. The multiplier effect and available heat factor are explained in greater detail in the
following sections.”
Figure 3.30 Heat Losses in Industrial Heating Process
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To deal with the waste heat, several solutions could be taken. Minimizing the exhaust
gas temperature and volume is a way to reduce the waste heat. Exhaust gas temperature
happens when the heat produced by the combustion are unable to transfer effectively in the
furnace. In order to reduce the exhaust gas temperature, the proper rate of heat transfer
must be controlled by not overloading the amount of gas in the furnace. In addition, the
exhaust gas volume would also be controlled. Other than that, the use of oxygen enriched
air in the furnace will also increase the energy efficiency of the production. The use of
ambient air (21% oxygen and the 79% inert gas) or 100% oxygen can reduce the total
volume of exhaust gas. Indirectly, this is also fuel saving throughout the combustion. Lastly,
waste heat recovery is also a way to increase the energy efficiency. For example, the waste
heat could be reused by directing the waste heat to the product. This step will preheat the
combustion air which will be combust while reusing the waste heat. To conclude, waste heat
is unavoidable as when there is combustion, there would be waste heat throughout the
process. Nevertheless, the minimizing waste heat is a priority to increase the efficiency of
the energy generation whereas the impact towards the environment could be reduced as
much as possible. (Waste Heat Reduction and Recovery for Improving Furnace Efficiency,
Productivity, 2004)
Another essential precaution that should be taken to increase the energy efficiency is
through upgrading the electricity distribution transformer which functions as the part of
generation of the thermal energy power plant. ENERGIE is funded under European Union’s
Fifth Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration
(RTD). ENERGIE covers research, development of better technology innovation to better
generation of energy.
According to report for THERMIE project from ENERGIE, 2% of the total power
generated is estimated to be lost in the distribution transformers, nearly 33% of overall
losses from the system. Through saving the energy loss, it can cater the needs of nearly 5.1
million household use of energy. (The scope for energy saving in the EU through the use of energy-
efficient electricity distribution transformers, 1999)
System losses in the energy utilities in Europe have a drop after some time intervals
as the technology are advancing with the times. Nonetheless, effort should still be taken to
reduce some of the system losses in Europe. From the graphs below, Ireland and UK have a
relatively higher rate of system losses compared to Germany. It is noticeable that the Europe
countries even had a small increase in the late 21 century. Malaysia as a developing country
should see these countries as a good example and improved the technology in energy
production.
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Figure 3.31
The replacement of energy-efficient transformer is recommendable by ENERGIE by
chance: l oil-filled transformers: range C-C’ (HD428.1) and D-E’ (HD428.3) l dry-type
transformers up to and including 24kV: 20% lower than specified in HD538.1. HD538
mentions one list of preferred values, but explicitly allows the possibility for national
standards to specify a second series with load and/or no-load losses at least 15% lower.
Some transformer manufacturers offer dry-type transformers in normal and low-loss versions
l dry-type transformers 36kV: 20% better than specified in HD538.2, analogous to the
previous category. These transformers can reduce the energy loss during the transmission
of energy by having a good quality of conductor.
Figure 3.32 Distribution Transformer
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In serious search of better technology to be applied in the thermal power plant,
ENERGIE had launched a collaborative research on the newest technology for years. It is
essential for a more practical application of CO2 removal technology and improvement of
power generation efficiency to be research on thermal power plant. (Ito et al., 2008)
As known, thermal power plant usually emit carbon dioxide and produce other
harmful by-product during the combustion of fossil fuels. In Japan, they had used both
gasification and combustion methodology to generate energy. Gasification is a process that
converts fossil fuels into carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and hydrogen by reacting the
material in a extremely high temperature. To add on, gasification is a relatively cleaner
method of energy production. (Gasification.org, 2015) To compare with, the combustion
method of energy production will results in a higher impact to the environment. This
technology is not introduced in thermal power plants in Malaysia.
Figure 3.33 The concept of gasification.
As discussed by Ito et al, 2008, combustion method of thermal power attains high
efficiency with increasing pressure and temperature of steam cycle but also a high risk of
efficiency loss with a possible higher chance of pollutions. To dealt with the potential risk,
Japan had develop the 0, 600°C-class USC (ultrasupercritical) pressure technology to
decrease the leakage of fluid flows and deformation of structure.
Other than that, the Hitachi Company in Japan had conducted a research on so-
called Carbon capture and storage method where the carbon dioxide released is recovered
and removed from the high pressure syn gas before it is input into a gas turbine. From the
diagram below, there is an act of CO2 recovery during the process of gasification whereas
emission of carbon dioxide is greatly reduced. (Ito et al., 2008)
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Figure 3.34 Carbon Capture and Storage Method
As a conclusion, better implementation of technology in thermal power plant can results in
good returns as in lower environmental impact and a better long-term reliability. From the
better method of conversion of fossil fuels to better generation of gas turbine until better the
energy transmission throughout the thermal power plant will only bring benefits to the
environment until the use of fossil fuels as generating fuel of electricity is replaced by a more
sustainable energy. It is a responsible for our country to inspect and research on better
technology to reduce the pollutions by the thermal power plant.
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4.0 References
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http://www.seia.org/policy/solar-technology/photovoltaic-solar-electric
Beychok, M. (2008). Air quality index. The Encyclopedia of Earth. Retrieved 1 June 2015,
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CleanEnergy | ACTION PROJECT,. (2015). Pusat Tenaga Malaysia Zero Energy Office
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http://www.cleanenergyactionproject.com/CleanEnergyActionProject/CS.Pusat_Tenaga_Mal
aysia_Zero_Energy_Office_Building___Zero_Net_Energy_Building_Case_Study.html
Colorado State University,. (2015). A photo that illustrates pollution in 1990 and in 2010 in
Great Smoky Mountains National Park.. Retrieved from
http://www.news.colostate.edu/content/photos/GRSM%20full%20size.jpg
Environmental Performance Index,. (2014). Air Quality. Retrieved 28 May 2015, from
http://epi.yale.edu/epi/issue-ranking/air-quality
E, P. (2015). Philip, E. , M. Rizal, M.K and Siti Mariam, S (1st ed., pp. 1-3). Malaysia: Philip,
E. , M. Rizal, M.K and Siti Mariam, S. Retrieved from
http://www.ipicex.com/docs/posters/Philip%20et%20al.pdf
FEED-IN TARIFF (FiT) IN MALAYSIA. (n.d.). Retrieved June 1, 2015, from
https://www.wko.at/Content.Node/service/aussenwirtschaft/my/FiT-Brochure-Malaysia.pdf
Gasification.org,. (2015). The Gasification Technologies Council » GTC. Retrieved 5 June
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General Info of Air Pollution Index Department of Environment (1st ed., pp. 1,3,9-10).
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http://apims.doe.gov.my/apims/General%20Info%20of%20Air%20Pollutant%20Index.pdf
Greenbuildingindex.org,. (2015). Greenbuildingindex.org - What & Why Green Buildings?.
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