Sustainable energy: the trek begins now

NO GOVERNMENT can overemphasise the need to prepare for future economic challenges. It thus comes as a welcome development that His Majesty's Government through the Centre for Strategic Policy Studies (CSPS) is embarking on a study to look into potential alternative energy sources in line with the prevailing focus on pursuing sustainable development.

Fossil fuels are finite resources and the world sees that it has to begin developing sustainable ways of fuelling economic growth. The Brunei economy for decades has benefited from rich oil resources and while we do expect this to continue for a few decades more, the onus of doing the groundwork for future economic success rests on today's generation. The oil wealth that has kept our economy comfortably afloat through the decades is the same resource that gives us the ability to develop energy sources that are more sustainable than black gold.

In fact, other oil producing giants have also begun to look seriously at developing alternative energy sources. While oil producers do not see an immediate threat of alternative energy giving a direct threat to the dominance of oil in the world market, they have been willing to set up their research and development facilities to study how they can benefit from the potential of alternative energy in penetrating the world market.

Since 2005, the Organisation for Petroleum Exporting Countries has been exploring new forms of alternative energy. Some members have moved faster than others. The United Arab Emirates has a plan to create its so-called Masdar City, the first carbon neutral city that will run chiefly on solar energy and will not allow cars.

Alternative energy sources, while they are deemed to be environment-friendly and sustainable, are not exactly cheap to develop and, in fact, in some cases have caused a controversy on how it competes in the use of so-called politically sensitive raw materials. Bio-fuels, for one, have been the subject of debate as they require the use of raw materials like corn which is a staple in poor countries. This has given rise to speculation that biofuels could stoke food insecurity in countries that are immediately affected by any jump in the prices of basic staples that will be used by countries producing biofuels.

This gives rich countries the advantage to allocate their resources for the thorough study of alternative energy and to make sure their development does not conflict with the very reasons for exploring these new sources. Brunei's development level and its fiscal strength allow it the financial freedom to spend on vital research studies that will sustain its economy and keep it robust for years to come.

The research study entitled "Alternative Energy for Continuous Economic Growth" brings CSPS's initiatives in line with the government's Wawasan 2035. It aims to help put Brunei Darussalam among the top 10 economies in terms of gross domestic product. "The objective is to enable us to continue to be able to fuel economic growth until 2035 and beyond. In fact, if possible, one day we may also become a leading exporter of the identified new energy," the CSPS chairman said.

Although our territories are endowed with oil resources, the life spans of these require us to eventually look elsewhere to meet the energy needs of future generations. We're not looking at the immediate next generation to shoulder the challenging task of exploring new fields of energy. We're looking at what today's generation can do to begin the process of building new and sustainable ways of fuelling the country's future economic needs.