TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Former Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Arcandra Tahar told about the difficulty of abandoning the use of cheap energy like coal to reduce pollution. The reason is because the use of coal in industry is still very large.
“Are there options for policymakers to reduce the pollution they produce? It’s not easy to answer,” said Arcandra Tahar on his instagram account arcanda.tahar on Sunday, September 19, 2021.
Currently, said Arcandra, policy makers in various countries are facing a complicated situation. They are required to balance between economic growth and prevention of environmental damage.
On the one hand, energy plays a role in the economy. The more expensive the energy, the more expensive the goods produced. Thus, losing competitiveness with foreign products, exports decline, and the economy slows down.
But on the other hand, cheap energy like coal is always associated with pollution. In addition to the steam power plant (PLTU), coal is also used in the steel and cement industries. Apart from generating electricity, coal is also used as a raw material.
From existing data, Arcandra said 40 percent of global emissions come from the use of coal. By 2020, PLTU will account for 39 percent of all electrical energy generated in the world.
The use of PLTU in Asia is even higher, around 72 percent. Then for Indonesia about 50 percent. Meanwhile, in the country’s steel industry, 72 percent also use coal.
However, Arcandra said there were some difficult choices that might be taken. First, early retirement of the PLTU that has been built and there is no longer any permit to build a new PLTU.
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