Converting Biomass to Energy A Low Carbon Development Strategy for Malaysia
[MUSIC PLAYING] NOR AISHAH SAIDINA AMIN: Since the Industrial Revolution began 250 years ago, people have been burning fossil fuels like coal and oil to generate electricity. Hi, I'm Professor Nor Aisha Saidina Amin, professor of chemical engineering, and a visiting fellow with the MIT UTM Sustainable Cities Program. My research is focused on renewable energy, and today I am going to talk about climate change and renewable energy. The primary product of burning of fossil fuels is carbon dioxide. For centuries, the amount of carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere was 300 parts per million. But carbon dioxide have increased dramatically and reached an unprecedented value of about 400 parts per million. High levels of carbon dioxide emissions are linked to climate change, which has led to increasing temperatures, melting glaciers, rising sea level, changing rain and snow patterns, and also drought, floods, and other extreme events. Climate change is an important issu...