## 4 Ongoing Trends
### Diversification of fossil fuel
#### 4.4.2 Facing the Challenge of Global Climate Change  
Climate change is the change in climate caused by the increasing greenhouse effect. Energy-related carbon dioxide (CO\({}_{2}\)) emissions are the majority of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions [52]. The fight against climate change has become a defining feature in energy policy-making. As a developing country, Malaysia has no quantitative commitments under the Kyoto Protocol at present. However, together with all other countries, Malaysia is already committed under the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNFCCC) and has ratified the Kyoto Protocol [53]. During the Fifteenth session of the Conference of the Parties under UNFCCC (COP 15) in December 2009 at Copenhagen, the Prime Minister of Malaysia announced that Malaysia is adopting an indicator of a voluntary reduction of up to 40 percent in terms of emissions intensity of gross domestic product (GDP) by the year 2020 compared to 2005 levels [53,54].  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Year**} & \multicolumn{6}{c}{**Annual electricity generation (Mtoe)**} \\ \cline{2-7}  & **Biomass** & **Biogas** & **Small-hydropower** & **Solar PV** & **Solid waste** & **Total** \\ \hline
2015 & 2024 & 613 & 1450 & 61 & 1223 & 5374 \\
2020 & 4906 & 1472 & 2450 & 194 & 2208 & 11,229 \\
2030 & 8217 & 2514 & 2450 & 1019 & 2392 & 16,592 \\
2050 & 8271 & 2514 & 2450 & 13,540 & 2637 & 29,358 \\ \hline \hline \endHowever, there are three major challenges for Malaysian government to face the challenge of global climate change, as follows:  
(1) Increasing the coal proportion in electricity generation  
Although Malaysia has successfully changed its energy supply structure through introducing coal as a major fuel in electricity generation since 2000 to ensure Malaysia's energy security, more carbon dioxide emission have occurred compared with gas-fired plants. Currently, coal-fired plants contribute near half of the electricity generation of Malaysia.  
(2) Undeveloped renewable energy  
In 2000, renewable energy was announced by the Malaysian government as the 5 th fuel in the energy supply mix after natural gas, crude oil, coal and hydropower. Renewable energy was planned to be a significant contributor of the country's total electricity supply. Greater efforts have been undertaken to encourage the utilization of renewable resources, including biomass, biogas, solar and small hydropower [47]. However, it did not promote renewable energy utilization in Malaysia very successfully.  
(3) Low energy price in the end-use sector  
The high subsidies given by the Malaysian government for electricity generation and vehicle fuels have already delayed the development of renewable energy. The lower price of fossil fuel made it more attractive to Malaysians, and this has also caused Malaysians to be lacking in energy-saving awareness. Although the Malaysian government is going to reduce the subsidy in a stepwise fashion, some Malaysians still oppose the policy adjustment.  
To address the challenge of global climate change, the Malaysian government should further take a series of necessary countermeasures. Especially, while Malaysia is becoming a high-income country, the subsidy for fossil fuel energy especially in electricity generation and vehicle fuels should be reduced gradually. The current ruling party should negotiate with the opposition parties to plan a long-term plan to reduce the energy subsidies to reduce the expenditure, and increase the fiscal budget for the development of renewable energy and green technology and the improvement of energy efficiency. At the same time, the Malaysian government should also carefully control the development of coal-fired power generation.