Effect of COVID-19 virus on reducing GHG emission and increasing energy generated by renewable energy sources: A brief study in Malaysian context

Amirreza Naderipour; Zulkurnain Abdul-Malek; Noor Azlinda Ahmad; Hesam Kamyab; Veeramuthu Ashokkumar; Chawalit Ngamcharussrivichai; Shreeshivadasan Chelliapan

doi:10.1016/j.eti.2020.101151

Effect of COVID-19 virus on reducing GHG emission and increasing energy generated by renewable energy sources: A brief study in Malaysian context

Environ Technol Innov. 2020 Nov:20:101151. doi: 10.1016/j.eti.2020.101151. Epub 2020 Sep 9.

Authors

Amirreza Naderipour^{1

2

3}, Zulkurnain Abdul-Malek³, Noor Azlinda Ahmad³, Hesam Kamyab⁴, Veeramuthu Ashokkumar⁵, Chawalit Ngamcharussrivichai⁵, Shreeshivadasan Chelliapan⁴

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Research and Development, Duy Tan University, Da Nang 550000, Viet Nam.
² Faculty of Electrical, Electronic Engineering, Duy Tan University, Da Nang 550000, Viet Nam.
³ Institute of High Voltage & High Current, School of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
⁴ Engineering Department, Razak Faculty of Technology and Informatics, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra, 54100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
⁵ Center of Excellence in Catalysis for Bioenergy and Renewable Chemicals (CBRC), Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Pathumwan, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand.

Abstract

Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) has globally affected the human mortality rate and economic history of the modern world. According to the World Health Organization, COVID-19 has caused a severe threat to the health of the vulnerable groups, notably the elderly. There is still some disagreements regarding the source of the virus and its intermediate host. However, the spread of this disease has caused most countries to enforce strict curfew laws and close most industrial and recreational centres. This study aims to show the potential positive effects of COVID-19 on the environment and the increase of renewable energy generation in Malaysia. To prevent the spread of this disease, Malaysia enacted the Movement Control Order (MCO) law in March 2020. Implementation of this law led to a reduction in environmental pollution, especially air pollution, in this country. The greenhouse gases (GHG) emission , which was 8 Mt CO₂ eq. from January 2020 to March 2020, reduced to <1 Mt CO₂ eq. for April and May. The reduction of GHG emission and pollutant gases allowed more sunlight to reach photovoltaic panels, hence increasing the renewable energy generation.

Keywords: CO2, Carbon dioxide; COVID-19; COVID-19, Coronavirus disease; Environment pollution; GHG emissions; GHG, greenhouse gas; MCO, Movement Control Order; MT, Million tonnes; PV, Photovoltaic; Photovoltaic; RE, renewable energy; Renewable energy systems; SARS-CoV-2; SARS-CoV-2, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.