Low Carbon Development through Measuring and Monitoring Carbon Emission in Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2021, Volume 9, Issue 1, Pages: 242-252

J. Environ. Treat. Tech.

ISSN: 2309-1185

Journal web link: http://www.jett.dormaj.com

https://doi.org/10.47277/JETT/9(1)252

Low Carbon Development through Measuring and

Monitoring Carbon Emission in Johor Bahru,

Malaysia

Isiaka Adeyemi Abdul-Azeez*

Department of Urban & Regional Planning, Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, Nigeria

Received: 10/09//2020

Accepted: 08/11/2020

Published: 20/03/2021

Abstract

Reducing carbon dioxide emissions through low carbon development is an appropriate solution to combating climate change. This

research aims to identify ways of reducing carbon dioxide emissions in Johor Bahru towards promoting low carbon development. The

research investigated the low carbon initiatives in Malaysia. The study was based on purposive case study and restricted to Johor Bahru,

Malaysia. It reviewed existing practice of low carbon development in the study area. Stakeholders and organizations related to low carbon

development and low carbon initiatives were interviewed. The study also observed that the initiative is relatively in the early stage with few

projects accomplished. However, emphasis was placed on other themes of low carbon concept rather than direct measurement of Carbon

dioxide (CO ) emission. Since majority carbon emissions are from electricity and transport sectors, the Malaysian University Carbon

Emission Tool (MUCET) was modified and suggested for measuring and monitoring emissions in Johor Bahru. This study facilitates the

formulation of policies that target emission reduction and ensure steady movement into clean energy future.

Keywords: Low Carbon Development, Energy Use, Carbon Emission Tool

the world have established the development objective to become

low-carbon cities.

Introduction

Spatial growth and high population in cities are enhanced by

Low carbon development is very significant to the sustainable

development of cities. Over half of the global population resides in

cities. This figure would rise to about 70 percent by 2050 [2]. Cities

are currently responsible for 67-76 percent of energy use and 71-76

percent of energy related carbon dioxide emissions [4,8]. A major

solution to economic growth without increasing carbon dioxide

emission is through Low Carbon Development. Therefore, Cities

are challenged to go low carbon so as to achieve sustainable

development [9], and many cities have established the development

objective to become low-carbon.

Low carbon development concept has its roots in the United

Nations Forum for Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC)

adopted in Rio in 1992. It refers to strategies and growth plans that

promote low emission or climate resilient economic growth [10].

Low carbon development refers to a society that emits greenhouse

gas (GHG) only in an amount that can be absorbed by nature and

portends a movement towards a simpler life style that realizes richer

quality of life in coexistence with nature. This means encouraging

greenness through new growth, new market and new consumer

culture that respects environmentally-friendly technologies by

promoting emission reduction strategies and renewable energy use.

Low carbon development can be achieved by promoting

environmentally friendly activities to tackle the effects of climate

the use of energy for movement of goods and services resulting in

continuous combustion of fossil fuel based energy. Concentrations

of human activities in cities produce emissions of greenhouse gases

that accounts for about 78% of carbon emission [1,2]. The current

technological practices that favor the use of fossil fuels as major

sources of energy [3] are major concerns for carbon emissions. The

insatiable energy use for the city's economy to continue to grow

under business as usual and the combustion of fossil fuel based

energy often results in emissions of CO , which is the major driving

force for global warming and responsible for the phenomenal

climate change [4].

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges to global

development and poses threat to the environment and the global

population [5]. The effects of climate change can best be tackled

through adaptation of low carbon technology and designing

mitigation policies, usually referred to as Low Carbon

Development. This may involve implementation of policies on

energy sustainability which may bring about changes to the

industrial structure and energy mix [6] as well as impact on

different sectors and employment structures [7]. Therefore, most

nations globally are charting the path to reduce carbon dioxide

emission in order to tackle climate change and many cities around

Corresponding author: Isiaka Adeyemi Abdul-Azeez, Department of Urban & Regional Planning, Modibbo Adama University of

Technology, Yola, Nigeria; Email: azeezabu@yahoo.com

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2021, Volume 9, Issue 1, Pages: 242-252

change through adaptation of low carbon technology and by

designing mitigation policies so as to achieve sustainable human

development [11,12,13]. The most significant question is how the

municipal authorities and other stakeholders will intervene to

reduce carbon emission with increasing urbanization. The major

focus could be on implementation of adopted resolutions of policies

others.

In the light of this, the Prime Minister of Malaysia pledge to

reduce the emission intensity of Malaysia by 40% below 2005 level

by the year 2020 [14,15]. To achieve this, the government of

Malaysia established agencies responsible for the implementation

of strategies that will facilitate the achievement of the country's

carbon emission reduction goals through the preparation of the

blueprint for the promotion of the low carbon society. Notable is

the Low Carbon Blueprint for Iskandar Malaysia 2025, which

covers five local authorities including the entire district of Johor

Bahru and Kulai Jaya. The blueprint recommends 281 strategic

policies that would assist to achieve a target of 58 percent reduction

in carbon intensity by 2025 compared to 2005 levels [16]. The

document was officially launched in 2012 by the Prime Minister of

Malaysia and adopted by the Iskandar Regional Development

Authority (IRDA).

Lifestyles, transportation, domestic energy uses, and consumption,

are among the prominent factors that contribute to global warming

[21]. Hence, the greenhouse gas emission of a city is a reflection of

its structure, energy resources and its resident’s lifestyles [12].

Economic development could mean more vehicular traffic

movements, more constructions of buildings, more manufacturing

and industrial developments, more retail and shopping activities,

more concentration of human activities and more energy

consumption for transport and electricity. Such thriving economy

may bring about growth and socio-economic benefits; usually at the

expense of significant environmental impacts through increasing

energy demand and rising greenhouse gas emission. Therefore,

cities are among the largest contributors of carbon emission where

large concentration of human activities impact on the environment

having consequences for climate change. Similarly, energy is

needed to sustain and expand economic processes like agriculture,

electricity, industrial productions, transport and other services, but

as energy consumption continues, the threat to global warming also

increases, thus, the need to limit the increasing global warming and

prevent dangerous climatic change becomes critical [22].

In view of the implication of energy use on climate change, The

role of cities in reducing emissions is prominent, since issues of

poverty reduction and economic development could be guided by

low carbon innovations and emission reduction strategies [5]. Since

the kind of technology that fuels the growth of most cities is

principally fossil fuel based, therefore cities are central to

implementation of low carbon development and as a result, carbon

emission becomes a common issue of city sustainability [23,24,25].

Cutting emission may affect economic growth in a hard and

difficult way [26], not with standing, taking low carbon

development path makes it possible to maintain growth and sustain

the living standard while minimizing fossil fuel energy

consumption and reducing carbon emissions. In other words,

energy is central to economic growth and sustainability and there

can hardly be a sustainable city development without sustainable

energy development [27].

Reducing carbon dioxide emission from all sectors of human

activities to mitigate global warming and combat climate change

will require steady monitoring so as to measure and determine the

existing levels of CO emission in order to manage and effectively

plan the reduction of such emission. The baseline emission for

Johor Bahru was determined by the Low Carbon Asia Research

Center, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, UTM, in collaboration with

their Japanese counterpart. This measurement and monitoring of

carbon emissions was carried out for IRDA using the Asia‐Pacific

Integrated Model (AIM) [17]. Self-monitoring is very important for

administrators to understand the carbon situation and make

informed decisions. IRDA needs to monitor emission reduction

through its own interface because planning emission reduction

becomes easier when familiar variables are considered, more so,

people will easily adapt when they know how their footprint was

Furthermore, energy plays a key role in most environmental

challenges, therefore, to promote economic growth in the city while

reducing carbon intensity, planning the reduction of carbon

emission from energy use becomes imperative. It is also essential

to find ways and means to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases,

towards sustainable development of cities (Sathiendrakumar,

2003). Like most cities, the kind of technology that fuels the growth

of Johor Bahru is predominantly fossil fuel based energy whose

arrived at. Energy has been identified as the driving force for CO

emission [13,18]. Promoting low carbon development in Johor

Bahru will identify the carbon emission scenario from energy use

and adopt a method of assessment to estimate extent of carbon

dioxide emission from the sources and facilitate policy formulation

based on informed decision.

The purpose of this research is to study how low carbon

development is practiced in Johor Bahru and describe a method of

combustion often results in carbon dioxide (CO ). The need for

measurement and cutting carbon emissions is a key challenge,

which should focus on achieving energy transformation required

to balance economic growth and the environment. This requires

scientific analysis regarding the sources of carbon emission and

how the emissions can be reduced to achieve low carbon

development. Therefore, the sources, type of and energy

carbon inventory to determine CO emission through the

assessment of the energy use resources in a manner easier to

understand by all stakeholders. This will facilitate the setting and

realization of emission reduction targets as well as promote low

carbon development in Johor Bahru.

consumption pattern become central to measuring the extent of CO

to achieve sustainable low carbon development in Johor Bahru.

Although, there is no existing method of accounting for carbon

emissions that accurately reflect “true” emissions levels [20], the

best method is one that most encourages reduction of emissions.

For that reason, the introduction of an easier method of carbon

Background of Study

Energy is a vital input for social and economic development of

any nation [19], and very significant in promoting low carbon

development because, energy connects everything to everything

else more universally and more quantifiably than any element [20].

Economies of most nations have benefitted from energy resources

and it is crucial to a modern economy being a necessary

prerequisite for growth and social development. Cities are engines

of growth of many nations and ensuring economic growth require

the use of energy which is essential for growth and development.

inventory to determine CO in a manner that is understood by the

administrators is a key step promote low carbon development

through innovative strategies of CO emission reduction that

facilitates the setting of realizable carbon emission reduction targets

from energy use. Consequently, measuring CO emission from

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2021, Volume 9, Issue 1, Pages: 242-252

energy use will facilitate the determination of extent of emission

and ease monitoring through periodical inventory as well as provide

the platform for efffective management and efficient

implementaion of emission reduction policies in Johor Bahru.

and also conferences and publications to create awareness in the

region.

The blueprint was launched at COP 19 in 2012 [29] and

provides the baseline for carbon emission for 2005 to understand

the “Business as usual” (BAU) and counter measure scenario. The

blueprint has been adopted for the implementation of Low Carbon

Society at the 5 local authorities of Iskandar Malaysia and IRDA is

monitoring the implementation of the low carbon projects at each

of the five local authorities in Iskandar Malaysia. Regarding what

has been achieved by low carbon initiative in Johor Bahru, Figure

Methodology

A critically review of low carbon initiatives of Malaysia is

central to this study .In view of the specialized and technical nature

of the study of low carbon developmnt, purposive sampling

technique was adopted in the design, selection and collection of

data. Sampling was centered on relevant authorities and

Information obtained from organizations directly concerned with

the management and implementation of related policies. Primary

and Secondary types of data were collected from Iskamdar

Regional Development Authority (IRDA), Low Carbon Society

office, UTM, Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA)

and Felda Taib Andak. Also, secondary data were obtained from

Taman Nasional Berhad (TNB), Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan (JPJ),

and International Energy Agency (IEA) among others. Since the

study was to review existing practice of low carbon development in

Johor Bahru, Secondary data were also obtained from relevant

published articles like journals, government publications as well as

from the internet. Finally, statistical analysis was performed, using

descriptive method of analysis, frequency table and charts

constructed using computer software (i.e. Microsoft Excel) for

easier interpretation and discussion.

shows the matrix of key actions of the Low Carbon Society

Blueprint for Iskandar Malaysia 2025 in relation to IRDA’s

Implementation Plans 2013-2015. This roadmap includes seven (7)

out of the ten (10) implementation Plans of IRDA. The

implementation plans are IRDA’s initiatives towards a climate

resilient economy in Iskandar Malaysia, prepared according to the

recommendations of the Blueprint. The implementation plan covers

the major themes of the Low Carbon Society concept - Green

Economy, Green Community and Green Environment, however,

the roadmap did not discuss the three special projects, which

require comprehensive study such as Bukit Batu Eco-Community,

Low Carbon Village Felda Taib Andak and Nafas Baru, Pasir

Gudang. Given the time limit, remarkable progress has been

realized towards the low carbon development initiatives in Johor

Bahru (Figure 1) and general awareness of the concept has been

achieved. In an oral interview, Ho and Boyd [30] opined that the

key obstacles to promoting low carbon development is changing the

mind-set of those who have not embraced the need to reduce carbon

intensity. However, continuous efforts is being made through the

initiatives of various stakeholders to achieve the objectives of Low

Carbon strategies in Iskandar region in general and Johor Bahru in

particular.

Low Carbon Development in Malaysian

The 10th Malaysian Plan clearly expressed the aspiration of

improving environmental quality by undertaking climate change

mitigation, while the sixth strategic thrust of the 11th Malaysian

Plan 2016-2020, focused on pursuing green growth for

sustainability and resilience by considering four major areas

namely;

.1 Energy Consumption in Johor Bahru

Energy is fundamental to achieving low carbon development.

Strengthening the enabling environment for green growth.

Adopting the sustainable consumption and production

concept.

The aspiration of Malaysian Government to encourage economic

growth and development in Johor Bahru- a major flagship in the

Iskandar Malaysia region would increase the threat to global

warming due to increasing energy consumption for economic

growth and social development. The first step energy management

is to identify the pattern of energy consumption in the city. Johor

Bahru offer diverse services for different activities. The extent of

Conserving natural resources for present and future

generations, and

Strengthening resilience against climate change and natural

disasters.

The Malaysian government embraced the Low Carbon Society

CO emission depends on types of service demand and energy

requirements. High energy demand service sectors will yield higher

CO emission according to the fuel-mix for electricity and fuel

project to ensure that the energy used for development is consumed

in an effective and efficient manner without impacting on climate

change in the Iskandar Malaysia region in general and Johor Bahru

in particular. This is with a belief that encouraging green economy

will result in improved human well‐being and social equity, while

significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities

types for transport. Figure 2 presents the schematic diagram of the

pattern of energy consumption in Johor Bahru. Majority of the

sources of energy that drives the growth of the city are fossil fuel

based in the form of oil, coal and natural gas among others and

constitutes the primary energy. Two principal sources of energy

were identified as the generated electricity energy and transport fuel

consumption or liquid energy. These represents the set of indicators

of carbon emission from which data may be obtained to measure

and compare the intensity of emission for various sectors of the city.

Energy sustainability requires the inventory of energy consumption

pattern as a prerequisite to identify the sectors or types of energy

[28] and promoting economic growth while reducing carbon

intensity. In line with the objectives to promote low carbon

development in Johor Bahru, the Malaysian government entrusted

onto the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA), the

responsibility of pursuing green growth for sustainability and

resilience in the Iskandar Malaysia region. IRDA assisted by the

Low Carbon Asia Research Center UTM, Kyoto University, Japan

and NIES, JICA, among others developed the Low Carbon

Blueprint as a guide to achieve low carbon development in Iskandar

Malaysia and show how these can benefit people socially,

environmentally and economically. IRDA assists municipal

authorities on how to implement low carbon projects and programs

through the preparation of local plans and organizing workshops

use with high energy demand so as to chart a path for CO emission

reduction. The quantification and monitoring of indicators of

carbon emission from energy use is desirable to achieve the goals

of low carbon development. The values obtained from these sources

could be communicated to a range of policy actions towards

reducing carbon emission in Johor Bahru. particular.

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2021, Volume 9, Issue 1, Pages: 242-252

Figure 1: Matrix of relationship between IRDA's projects and policies

Source: A Roadmap towards low carbon Iskandar Malaysia. UTM – Low carbon Asia Research Center (2013)

Figure 2: Pattern of Energy Consumption in Johor Bahru (Adapted and modified after Abdul-Azeez, 2015)

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2021, Volume 9, Issue 1, Pages: 242-252

The Malaysia electricity generation by fuel (Figure 3) shows

that natural gas constitutes the bulk of the fuel mix input while

coal and oil remain very significant. Based on this fuel mix the

emission factor for Malaysia is given as 0.741 Kg per Kwhr for

year 2015 [31]. This figure is universal for electricity

consumption in Malaysia peninsular because electricity is

generally purchased from a single source, i.e. Tenaga Nasional

Berhad (TNB).

The load growth scenario for Johor Bahru is presented in

Table 2. The consumption of electricity energy use is described

according to service demand sectors such as electricity use for

Domestic, Industrial, Commercial and Street lighting. Energy use

by the industries is highest followed by Domestic and

Commercial uses, respectively, while Street Lighting has the least

consumption of electricity. Determination of extent of CO

emission from these sectors can be critical in setting targets for

emission reduction in Johor Bahru. Finally, the transition to low

carbon societies will not be complete without commitment and

leadership from Johor Bahru Municipal authority making local

efforts to promote initiatives and measures encouraging energy

efficiency, use of alternative fuels, as well as advanced and

cleaner technologies among others.

Table

Combustion for electricity generation in Malaysian between years

000 to 2013. The carbon emission from the fuel mix of

1 presents the Carbon Emissions from Fuel

Malaysian electricity has been rising annually since year 2000.

Except for year 2009 where the figure dropped to 168,504.7 Kt

89,002 in 2008 with emission factor of 0.696 kg of CO

Figure 4). The carbon emission picked up again by 2010 and

rose to about 82 percent by 2013 with emission factor of 0.693 kg

of CO per kWh.

with emission factor of 0.636 kg of CO

per kWh from

per kWh

(

Table 2: Load growth scenario for Johor Bahru in MW

Sector

2010

2013

2015

Domestic

Commercial

Industry

Street lighting

Total (MW)

71.80

45.79

183.41

4.59

85.93

59.66

217.48

5.09

100.06

71.19

251.54

5.47

Considering the ambition of Malaysian government to go low

carbon, one would have expected the fuel mix of the electricity

production to be a major potential for reducing the country’s

emission. The emission factor for electricity in Johor Bahru

depends on the National figure as distributed by Tenaga Nasional

Berhad (TNB) - the largest Electric utility company and the main

energy provider in Malaysia. This is not steady and has increased

by 4 percent above 2005 level (Table 1).

305.59

368.16

428.27

Source: Johor Bahru City Council (MajlisBandaraya JB-MBJB) 2015.

2 2

Figure 4: Total CO emission- Fuel Combustion (KtCO ) and Emission

Factor in Malaysia (i.e CO per KWh) measured in KgCO /kWh (Source:

Figure 3: Malaysia Electricity Generation by Fuel (Source: International

Energy Agency. http://data.iea.org 2015)

CO Emissions from Fuel Combustion, OECD/IEA, Paris, 2015)

Table 1: Malaysian Carbon Emissions from Fuel Combustion.

.2 Transport Energy Consumption in Johor Bahru

There are 21,401,269 vehicles registered in Malaysia by 2013.

Year

Total CO

emission- Fuel

per KWh electricity

(KgCO /kWh)

Combustion (KtCO

)

These include motorcycles, motorcars, buses, taxis, rental

vehicles, goods vehicles, excavators, among others. As at 2012,

the Federal capital territory of Kuala Lumpur (KL) has 4,963,646

vehicles while. Johor State has a vehicle population of 2,923,898

followed by Selangor with 2,363,333 vehicles. Based on a

projected population figure of around 28.725 million the

Malaysian person per car ratio of 2.95 persons/car is relatively

high (Motor Trader, 2013).

Table 3 shows the types and number of registered vehicles in

Johor Bahru. About 90 percent of the vehicles are privately Cars

and Motorcycles with 47.2 percent and 43.8 percent respectively.

Lorries are about 4.9 percent while Public Buses and Taxis are

about 0.29 percent and 0.41percent respectively. Hire and drive

car and other vehicles such as agriculture and heavy duty vehicles

are 0.08 percent and 0.03 percent.

000

001

002

003

004

005

006

007

008

009

010

011

012

013

114 085.9

119 360.6

125 397.8

131 651.6

145 308.6

154 604.7

160 477.4

176 723.7

189 002.8

168 504.7

188 405.1

189 928.1

191 441.1

207 248.7

540.5

573.5

631.3

579.2

599.2

662.2

640.3

651.2

696.7

636.2

769.0

682.6

681.2

693.1

Source: CO Emissions from Fuel Combustion, OECD/IEA, Paris, 2015

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Table 3: Total number of registered vehicles by type

consumption pattern and energy service demand; transport

volume and structure; and low carbon measures that include

energy-efficient devices and buildings, renewable energy, modal

shift to public transport and fuel mix in power generation [35].

Majority of these multiple data are large and whose validation

may be difficult and besides do not have a direct relationship to

carbon dioxide emission. For instance, ExSS used the Base-year

data for Population and Household; Input Output table (or,

regional economic accounting); Transport demand (Passenger &

Freight); Building Energy demand and Energy supply, to make

reference for future scenario such as population projection,

economic projection or planning, transport planning, energy

strategy. Therefore, in view of the volume of variables used for

modeling and the complexity of its design, it is difficult to

interpret the simulation results of Extended Snapshot Tool (ExSS)

by the policy makers and are not be easily understood by the

administrators.

Type of vehicles

motorcycle

car

Number of vehicles

771,432

831,606

5,073

bus

taxi

7,317

hire & drive car

lorry

1,583

86,722

Others

total

58,289

1,762,022

Source: Road Transport Department, JabatanPengangkutanJalan,JPJ)Johor

Bahru, 2014

Since the majority of the vehicles use fossil fuel, there is an

indication of high CO

emission from vehicular sector

particularly from privately owned Cars and motorcycles. The

study also shows that the public transport sector in Johor Bahru is

not adequately developed and poorly patronized due to high

private vehicle ownership.

.2 Low Carbon Cities Framework and Assessment System

Among the existing carbon calculators used in Malaysia is the

.3 Measuring Carbon Dioxide Emission in Johor Bahru

The assessment and determination of the existing levels of CO

Low Carbon Cities Framework and Assessment System (LCCF).

is critical to formulate policies for emission reduction, encourage

investments in energy efficiency and promote low carbon

development in Johor Bahru. Since cities consume 78 percent of

the world’s energy and produce 60 percent of the total carbon

dioxide emission [32], the development of GHG inventory from

energy use resources is crucial to present the picture of the current

status of carbon emissions as a key to achieving energy action

plan. The measurement and monitoring of carbon emissions in

Johor Bahru is based on the Asia‐Pacific Integrated Model (AIM)

or ExSS to provide scientific findings and Quantitative modeling

of carbon dioxide emissions Johor Bahru [17]. In order to manage

carbon dioxide emission effectively and achieve low carbon

development in Johor Bahru, direct measurement of extent of

emission and monitoring of levels of reduction from transport and

electricity sectors is very essential. This is because transportation

accounts for 95 percent of the global oil consumption and about

The functions of this Assessment are:

Encourage and promote the concept of low carbon cities and

townships in Malaysia.

To guide cities in making choice/decision towards greener

solutions.

To assist stakeholders to develop action plans for low carbon

development.

As a tool to calculate the carbon emission within the

development.

The tool recognized 4 relevant carbon factors as elements

contributing to GHG emission, namely:

•

Urban environment

Urban transportation

Urban infrastructure

Buildings

This tool consider many variables such as 13 performance

criteria and 35 sub criteria in the assessment of carbon emission.

8 percent of total energy is used in buildings [33]. Furthermore,

what cannot be measured cannot be managed and monitoring is

only possible once there is agreement on what to measure. This is

not to say that attempts have not been made to measure extent of

Carbon emission in Malaysia. For instance, there are two

commonly used tools for assessment of crabon emission in

Malaysia among which are the Extended Snapshot tool (ExSS)

and the Low Carbon Cities Framework and Assessment System

The Malaysian Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water

(

KeTTHA) through cooperation with NEDO (New Energy and

Industrial Technology Development Organization), Japan, used

the LCCF in Putrajaya and Cuberjaya as a showcase for other

townships in Malaysia. Like ExSS, the LCCF was also considered

to be rather complicated. Although IRDA assisted to provide data

for LCCF, the tool was not used for Johor Bahru in view of the

large size of measurable variables required and the lack of

understanding of how figures were derived. This may affect

making informed decisions towards developing and

(

LCCF). These tools are briefly discuss below for the purpose of

comparism and clarity.

Low-Carbon Emission Assessment Models

implementing sound policies and practices towards CO

reduction. In view of the inadequacies of existing tools to measure

the actual CO emission as well as the poor understanding of the

emission

.1 Asia-Pacific Integrated Model (AIM) Extended Snapshot

Tool

The Asian–pacific Integrated Modeling System otherwise

process by administrators, this study adapted a prototype tool

Emission Tool (MUCET) to chart the path for emission reduction

in Johor Bahru. MUCET focused towards reduction of CO₂

emission from fossil fuel based energy use.

known as the Extended Snapshot Tool (ExSS) was developed by

Kyoto University and the National Institute for Environmental

Studies (NIES), Japan for the creation of low carbon scenarios

[34]. This was used to account for GHG emissions upon which

the GHG emission mitigation options of Iskandar Malaysia was

based. The tool is a static model consisting of simultaneous

equations with about 6000 variables that considers a wide variety

of variables to build up its assumptions among

These include economic growth and changes in industrial

structure; demography; changes of lifestyles in terms of

5.3 Malaysian University Carbon Emission Tool (MUCET)

The Malaysian University Carbon Emission Tool (MUCET)

was developed by the researcher and also tested in UTM,

Malaysia [18,27]. The tool was designed based on the emission

factors for Malaysia Peninsula electricity supply as given by

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2021, Volume 9, Issue 1, Pages: 242-252

International Energy Agency (IEA) and according to the fuel mix

of electricity purchased from Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB).

MUCET also integrated the emission factor for Gasoline and

Diesel combustion in vehicles in accordance with the Code of

Federal Regulations at 40 CFR 600.113-78 based on Inter-

Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines [36].

Figure 7 shows the adapted MUCET for Johor Bahru City Carbon

Emission. Column A present the service demand sectors for

electricity and transport, while categories of energy use are shown

in column B. The annual figures of Petrol/Gasoline and Diesel

consumed for traffic movement in Litres of fuel, the electricity

measured in kWh and also Natural gas consumption (where

applicable) are input into the calculator. The tool uses the

conversion formula embedded in each column to generate the

carbon emission equivalent. It also automatically converts the

total annual electricity input for these sectors in kWhr into tons of

The Development of Emission Tool for Johor

Bahru

For the purpose of this study, the Malaysian University

Campus Emission Tool (MUCET) was modified for the

measurement of carbon emission in the city of Johor Bahru. The

tool focused mainly on energy and carbon emission related

service sectors arranged into two categories according to

generated electricity and transport fuel energy. The associated

CO emission was based on the emission factors for purchased

electricity supply from Taman NationaBerhad (TNB), according

to the fuel mix data and figure offered by the Sustainable Energy

Development Authority (SEDA). For the transport sector, the

emission factor for gasoline and diesel combustion in vehicles

was integrated in the tool in accordance with IPCC guidelines

mentioned above.

carbon dioxide (t CO

The tool offers direct measurement of CO

.1 Description of the Malaysian University Carbon Emission

Tool

The Malaysian University Carbon Emission tool adapted for

emission from

combustion of fossil fuel use in Transport and Electricity, which

constitutes about 78% of total emission in Cities [33]. It can also

measure, monitor and simulate policy outcomes by inserting the

values of electricity or fuel consumption for the category of use

or service demand in the appropriate columns and rows of types

of energy use. Other service demands such as Agriculture and

Water that require the combination of fuel and electricity energy

use can also be calculated in a similar manner to show total

percentages as well as their percentages from the total emission.

Johor Bahru consists of columns classified into three (3) groups

namely; Sources of Carbon Emission, Columns of Measured

Parameters, Results and Emission Summary. There are five (5)

major groups of rows namely; Rows of Input Variables, Total

Carbon Emission percentage, Row of Constants, Rows of Input

Variable for Electricity and Rows of Input Variable for transport.

The tool calculates CO emission from the major service areas

that constitutes Johor Bahru’s energy consumption pattern. These

are arranged into two categories of Electricity generation and

Transport fuel energy respectively. The sources of carbon

emission are essentially the services associated with electricity

and fuel energy use.

Figure 8: MUCET for City Carbon Emission )Source: Modified after Abdul-Azeez (2012)(

248

Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2021, Volume 9, Issue 1, Pages: 242-252

These constitute Johor Bahru’s energy system and determine the

city’s operation and performances as listed below:

also consists of rows of input variables, which are based on the

two (2) service sectors i.e. Electricity and Transport. Similarly,

the rows can be increased according to the category of uses and

measured parameters. The calculation of emission from fuel

consumption of vehicles is based on the total amount of fuel

recorded in litres where the conversion rates of the inputs are

embedded within the rows of the tool, so that the corresponding

value of carbon emission is automatically generated in tons of

Electricity

Domestic/Residential

Commercial

Industry

Street Lighting

Others (such as energy use for Agriculture, for

production and distribution etc)

water

2 2

CO (tCO ). However, where the record of fuel purchase is NOT

Transport types

Motor cycles

Cars

Buses

Hire &Drive car

Lorry/Trailer

Pick-up

available, the total litres of annual fuel consumption can be

calculated as a product of the total annual distance travelled and

the fuel efficiency of the vehicle type as given below:

total annual distance travelled

Total fuel Consumption=

fuel efficiency of vehicle

퐓

퐓퐅퐂 =

(1)

퐟퐟

Other vehicles (may be identified such as mobile

machinery, agricultural and

or other transport modes within the city.

The columns of measured parameters include category of

construction equipment

where, TFC is total annual fuel consumption, T is average

distance travelled and ff is fuel efficiency of vehicles. The

calculation of total fuel consumption was modified based on the

formula adopted for the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory in

Hobart and William Smith Colleges (Clayton and Thompson,

uses, fuel types (Petrol/ Gasoline, Diesel and Natural Gas where

applicable) for transport and the annual electricity consumption

measured in kWh for all category of uses. Using the imbedded

constant values, the calculator automatically converts the total

annual inputs of electricity and fuel into tons of carbon dioxide

008). The standard emissions factors for gasoline is given as 2.3

kilograms of Carbon dioxide equivalent (kCO ) while the

standard emissions factors for Diesel oil is given as 2.7 kilograms

of Carbon dioxide equivalent (kCO ) [36].

(

tCO ) displayed under each column. The last section of the

columns constitutes the columns of percentages of CO

contribution by each element within the sector to the overall total

carbon emission. The values can be observed and compared at a

glance, upon which informed decisions can be made based on the

values and emission targets can be set using the results. The tool

Figure 9: Sources of data for energy use and carbon emission for Johor Bahru)

Source: Researcher’s field work (2015)

249

.2 Major sources of energy use data

The major sources of data for energy use and carbon emission

Johor Bahru include data from meter readings of total purchased

electricity for all buildings categories and use types as well as data

from fuel consumption for the total transport energy use or the

total distance covered within Johor Bahru by vehicle types as

shown in Figure 9.

The data required for testing the tool was not available from

a primary source. The study relies on secondary source of data

whose reliability could not be ascertained. Similarly, it was not

possible to obtain data on annual fuel consumption for energy use

for all categories of vehicles because such records were not kept

by vehicle owners. It was also not possible to obtain accurate

meter reading for electricity consumption for categories of use in

Johor Bahru. For the purpose of this study data from the Load

growth scenario for Iskandar Malaysia (Table 1) and the total

number of registered vehicles by typereferences (Table 2) were

used to test the tool. It was noted that the highest 59 percent of

carbon emission comes from the industrial sector while the street

Figure 11: Percentage of Carbon Emission from Transport Sector in

Johor Bahru (Source: Researcher’s field work (2015))

Conclusion

Cities worldwide are taking advantage of urbanization and

building on economic growth for wealth generation. Carbon

emission will also continue to built-up as long as economic

growth and wealth generation in the cities rely on fossil fuel based

energy sources. Low carbon development could change the trend,

but this will depend on better management of cities’ emission

particularly from energy use sources that contribute significantly

to carbon emission.

Promoting low carbon development through carbon emission

reduction measures in Johor Bahru will require a movement

towards a mix of low-carbon power generation to achieve its

goals. This will involve utilizing renewable energy sources to

replace the fossil-fuel based energy in transport and electricity

and providing incentives for specific sectorpolicy reforms in

urban transport policies.

Unless there is an efficient measuring system and the

mobilization of stakeholders through strengthened partnerships

towards a low carbon future, effective management could be

difficult. What is being measured and why, must be understood

by all stakeholders, while additional financing is also required to

support low-carbon power generation, via zero-emissions

technologies for the electricity sector and the implementation of

lighting emits about only 1percent and

commercial sectors have 23 percent and 17 percent respectively

Figure 10). Therefore, emission reduction policy focused on the

residential and

(

industrial sector could reduce overall carbon emission in Johor

Bahru. The Percentage of Carbon Emission from Transport

Sector in Johor Bahru is presented in Figure 10. Cars and

Motorcycles produced the highest levels of CO emission of 47

percent and 43 percent respectively, while the Buses, Taxis and

Hired & Drive vehicles registered in the city have very negligible

amount of emission. This is probably due to high levels of Cars

and Motorcycle ownership in the city. Therefore, encouraging

policies that target these sectors could achieve significant

reduction in level of carbon emission.

Domestic/

Residential

Street

Lighting

strategies to eliminate transport CO emission.

Major policy implications to achieve low carbon development in

Johor Bahru will be to substitute the fossil fuel components of the

electricity generation by introducing Biogas and Biomass energy

source which the country has in very large quantities (Palm oil

plantation) so as to reduce the emission factor of the electricity

supply and carbon emission from the electricity sector.

Industry

Commercial

17%

The high energy-intensive transport sector in Johor Bahru has

higher global warming potentials. Focusing on policies that

encourage investments in energy efficient transport system and

improving the public transport sectors, such as using modern

technology to retrofit existing stock of public buses could make

the sector attractive. Promoting ‘low–interest-loans’ that favor the

purchase of hybrid cars and other conventional best practice

strategies could also favor emission reduction in the city.

Figure 10: Percentage of CarbonEmission from Electricity Sector in

Johor Bahru (Source: Researcher’s field work (2015))

MUCET is user-friendly, less complicated and less

cumbersome compared to its counterparts. The challenge of data

collection especially for transport can be overcome by

encouraging transport owners to keep log-books that record

vehicular movements throughout the year. Some reduction in

vehicle license fees can be arranged as incentives in exchange for

submission of such records. Finally, the tool could be improved

further such that vehicle owners can send information online as

soon as the vehicle is fuelled so as to update the data continuously

similar to the online carbon calculator.

Among other strategies to achieve energy efficiency in the

transport sector is the ‘Clean Fuels and Vehicles’ which may

involve converting to compressed natural gas (CNG) to reduce

CO emissions. Lower energy intensities are experienced in

countries with high energy prices [37], therefore, Integrated

Urban Road Pricing may equally be promising in Johor Bahru.

Similarly, the ‘Bus Rapid Transit Systems’ is popular and is

revolutionizing the bus systems around the world. Promoting the

Bus Rapid Transit Systems in Johor Bahru will improve

250

reliability and convenience of the public bus transport systems,

increase capacities and attract high ridership levels and also assist

to promote low carbon development in a profitable and efficient

manner. Similarly, investment in the pedestrian and bicycle

facilities by building more infrastructures dedicated to

pedestrians and bicycles will encourage a safer and healthier

Authors’ contribution

All authors of this study have a complete contribution for data

collection, data analyses and manuscript writing.

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