Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1029140
13
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 19 SEPTEMBER 2018
OPINION
BUSINESS
George M. Mangion
gmm@pkfmalta.com
The writer is a partner in PKF an
audit and business advisory firm
CLIMATE change by defini-
tion is a process which may
be caused by a number of
factors including natural, be
it geologic, oceanographic
and atmospheric events and
human-induced factors, the
most relevant of which is the
emission of greenhouse gases
through human processes such
as burning of fossil fuels.
Can we tell if the constant
barrage in the media to
combat climate change is
not another hoax like the
millennium bug? What is an
undeniable fact points to the
increase in carbon dioxide
concentrations and other
greenhouse gases, such as
methane and nitrous oxide
caused by our activities –
mainly due to the explosion
in car ownership, not to men-
tion attracting more heavy
industry.
Reliable sources tell us
there is undeniable evidence
pointing to the fact that
carbon dioxide has been on
the increase in the past two
decades. Readers may expect
this is another article extol-
ling the benefits of clean air
resulting from massive new
investment in plants gen-
erating Green energy – the
truth is not many shed tears
for our lack of success in
reducing the national carbon
footprint which undoubtedly
is contributing to climate
change.
Between 1990 and 2007 we
have seen our greenhouse
gas emissions increase by
almost 50%. It's time to start
reducing such emissions in
order to mitigate the effect of
climate change. It is vital that
each individual in our society
gets involved in this process
and that everyone does some-
thing to reduce the impact of
climate change.
Only then can we protect
our environment, society
and economy, and only when
each individual gets involved
can we safeguard a better
and safe future for future
generations. There have
been various conferences
and press releases by the EU
extolling the benefits of Re-
newable Energy Systems and
various attempts were made
by Brussels to propose ambi-
tious goals for Member States
to step up their investment in
Green energy.
The target is that by 2020,
the EU would seek to obtain
20% of its total energy con-
sumption requirements with
renewable energy sources.
Malta has so far been a lag-
gard in this regard albeit
steps have so far been taken.
As a definition renewable
energy includes wind, solar,
hydro-electric and tidal
power as well as geothermal
energy and biomass and from
studies published by the EU
one notes that Germany
leads the pack as a country
which has invested the high-
est amount in this sector
claiming to be the world's
first major renewable energy
economy (in 2010, invest-
ments total 26 billion euros).
According to official figures,
some 370,000 people in Ger-
many were employed in the
renewable energy sector in
2010, and it is no surprise to
discover that most companies
benefiting from this sector
are small and medium sized
companies.
Certainly, concentrations of
carbon dioxide in the Medi-
terranean have increased
along with the atmospheric
concentrations and this is
giving us colder winters and
higher humidity in summers.
All lines of evidence taken to-
gether make it unambiguous
that the increase in atmos-
pheric carbon dioxide con-
centrations is human induced
and is predominantly a result
of fossil fuel burning.
It is a fact that greenhouse
gases when controlled can
serve a useful purpose that is
to absorb infrared radiation
from the sun and re-emit it
in all directions. Without this
natural greenhouse effect,
primarily resulting in crea-
tion of water vapour and re-
sultant carbon dioxide which
functions like a shield to
protect the Earth surface, the
mean surface temperature
would be intolerable.
Thanks to this shield we
enjoy a habitable average
temperature. We also have
the issue of sea level rise. It
is estimated that over this
century we will encounter
sea-level rise of between
0.18 and 0.69m. In the case
of Malta, this is of major
concern due to the fact that
a substantial quantity of land
in severe climate change
causes it to be permanently
submerged under water. The
east coast will be particularly
hit, especially low lying areas
such as Sliema, Gżira and
Msida, among others.
As it happens, another
important aspect is that
unfortunately major infra-
structure and road networks,
as well as some of the most
vital economic and industrial
areas are situated close to
the shore. It goes without
saying that sea-level rise
will particularly impact our
economy.
It begs the question why
Malta with good exposure to
rays of the sun has still not
succeeded to increase pro-
duction of electricity to EU
levels from use of photovolta-
ic panels to the 10% thresh-
old. One may observe that
awareness in Malta of the
benefits of using such tech-
nology has changed since the
arrival of Shanghai Electric
which in the near future is
reputed to invest a substan-
tial amount in PV panels – all
linked to the national grid.
Why is PV technology
so popular? The answer is
because a solar cell is the
elementary building block
of the photovoltaic technol-
ogy. Recently research in new
technology has been making
giant steps, by testing new
prototypes made of semi-
conductor materials, such
as silicon which due to their
properties makes them highly
conductive and in turn uses
ingenious ways to capture the
energy of the sun and convert
it to electricity through an
inverter.
Simply fitting more panels
on rooftops seems easy but
the demographic and geo-
graphic characteristics of the
island create issues of spatial
planning, given that in reality
it is a very small and densely
populated state. But rejoice
as it is not all doom and
gloom.
Having started from zero in
1995 there has been a huge
leap in the number of rooftop
installations to date. Of-
ficial statistics indicate that
PV has grown at an average
yearly rate of 35% from 1995
to 2005 (1,8 kW to 40 kW)
and of 63% between 2005 and
2010. Ask any architect and
he will point out that spatial
planning takes into consid-
eration the issue of devoting
more open areas to renew-
able energy systems (RES) of-
ten clash with other planning
needs and for this reason
large-scale RES installations
are not practical in Malta.
In conclusion, can the en-
vironment minister succeed
to catch up with other EU
states and achieve the desired
target of 20% of total energy
sourced from non-fossil fuels
by 2020 – the easy answer
is the possible we do now,
miracles can wait.
References:
MRA (2009): Malta Re-
source Authority, Analysis of
Potential for Co-Generation
on the Maltese Islands.
Available at: