Shifting to renewable and sustainable energy is imperative, given that we need to weigh up the lives of future generations. The Earth is not only for us who live today but also for our progenies to live tomorrow.
By
Ahmad Najib Burhani
·5 minutes read
TURKISH PRESIDENCY VIA AP, POOL
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the virtual G20 Leaders’ Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabiain, in a video conference from his Vahdettin Pavilion, in Istanbul, Sunday, Nov. 22, 2020. Erdogan said Sunday that Turkey sees itself as a part of Europe, but he called on the European Union to “keep your promises” on issues such as the country’s membership bid and refugees.
The government has ratcheted up various ministries and government agencies in support of the three envisaged priority issues in line with Indonesia’s Group of 20 presidency, namely inclusive health care, digital-based transformation and a transition to sustainable energy. This article focuses on the socio-cultural aspects of the third issue. Transition to sustainable energy is often interpreted as an effort to shift energy dependency from fossil-based energy to zero-carbon energy.
Shifting to renewable and sustainable energy is imperative, given that we need to weigh up the lives of future generations. The Earth is not only for us who live today but also for our progenies to live tomorrow. Therefore, do not let nature be damaged for the sake of economic interests or energy needs for today's life. This calls an urgency to lower carbon emissions, reduce dependence on coal, use water sparingly, manage waste properly and always see to the balance of the ecosystem.
The merging point between renewable energy and the green economy lies in the desire for humans to always be the driver (people-centered) of the transition to the sought direction.
Collaborative research between the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) and Indonesia Statistics (BPS), which began on March 15, 2022, carries the theme closely related to the idea of renewable energy, namely Green Economic Development and Social Demographic Conditions of the Indonesian Population: Realizing Citizens’ Welfare and Sustainable Environment. The merging point between renewable energy and the green economy lies in the desire for humans to always be the driver (people-centered) of the transition to the sought direction.
As Yunita Winarno once alluded to the issue (2021), we do pursue people's prosperity, including economic welfare, but we must pay attention to planetary sustainability or the preservation of the planet we live on. In economic development, natural resources and the environment must be well maintained. Just as a green economy has three dimensions, namely economic, social and environmental, renewable energy also pays attention to social and environmental dimensions in addition to the energy dimension itself.
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Workers give the last touch to a banner near La Nuvola (the cloud) convention center where the G20 summit is scheduled to take place in Rome, Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021. A Group of 20 summit scheduled for this weekend in Rome is the first in-person gathering of leaders of the world's biggest economies since the COVID-19 pandemic started.
A shift to renewable and sustainable energy is not simply an energy use transition, for instance, from coal to solar power, but is also related to the transformation of human behavior. It entails the efforts to bring public awareness about climate change and realize natural sustainability. Indeed, the cost of renewable energy may currently be more expensive than the use of coal as an energy source, but inefficient use of electricity remains a daily habit. Because innovations have yet to make renewable energy cheap, many are still reluctant to switch to it. In fact, environmental degradation caused by the use of coal could be too costly to offset the benefits from its utilization.
Together with 195 other countries, Indonesia signed the Paris Agreement on Climate Change in 2016 for the commitment to reducing carbon emissions, keeping the Earth's temperature increase at 1.5 degrees Celsius and not exceeding 2 degrees. Indonesia followed up the ratification of the Paris Agreement with Law No. 16/2016 as an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The sought gas emission reduction is 29 percent of business as usual (BaU) as part of the national sustainability program and 41 percent of BaU as part of international cooperation. However, Indonesia is deemed as having yet to fully meet the commitment.
Sovacool concludes that the toughest challenges in the transition to renewable energy lie not in engineering and science, but in culture and institutions.
In his article titled “The cultural barriers to renewable energy and energy efficiency in the United States” (2009), Benjamin Sovacool describes in detail various cultural issues related to the transition to renewable energy. He says most people do not understand how electricity or energy is produced. They tend to be inconsiderate about its use. They don't really care about the impact or feel they still have abundant reserves of natural resources. They are not aware floods and extreme heat are caused by, among other things, our habit in energy consumption. They want vehicle fuel to keep cheap, protest a price increase and neglect the pollution it creates. Sovacool concludes that the toughest challenges in the transition to renewable energy lie not in engineering and science, but in culture and institutions.
SINA SCHULDT/DPA VIA AP
Cyclists ride along the dyke in Emden, Germany, Wednesday, June 3, 2020. The German government wants to increase offshore wind power capacity five-fold by 2040 as part of its plan to wean the country off fossil fuels. Cabinet on Wednesday agreed a bill that would set a goal of 40 Gigawatts of installed offshore wind power capacity in 20 years, from about 7.5 Gigawatts at present. It also raised the target for 2030 from 15 Gigawatts to 20.
In a nutshell, Sovacool sees three cultural aspects in this renewable energy issue, namely public apathy and misconceptions, public perspectives about energy consumption and its availability, and psychological deterrence from renewable energy. He suggests studies related to renewable energy technology should also cover social and cultural issues. Otherwise, we will fail to achieve the 2030 carbon emissions reduction target. This is in parallel with the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, which can’t just rely on vaccinations, hospitals, medical personnel and medical sciences. We have seen the resistance of some people to vaccinations and health protocols, which proves a barrier to the efforts to deal with the pandemic.
Finally, the use of renewable energy actually aims to overcome dependence on limited natural resources (SDA), climate change, environmental threats and energy crises. As stated by Indonesian economist Emil Salim in a webinar titled Energy Transition: Toward Sustainable Development (17/2/2022), the government and the people need to build a sense of urgency in dealing with issues of energy transition and climate change because Indonesia is an archipelagic country. Different from continental countries, Indonesia, which perches on the equator and consists of thousands of islands, will be the most affected by climate change. Our economy is dependent on the climate. Seasonal changes may affect food production.
AHMAD NAJIB BURHANI,Research Professor at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN)
