Chairman of the Geography Department, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA), Universitas Indonesia (UI) Dr. Supriatna, M.T., argues that Indonesia is currently experiencing major challenges in handling climate change issues, including global warming which includes increasing global temperatures, sea level rise, greenhouse effect and other hydrometeorological disasters. Gases produced mainly from vehicles and industry, such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and carbon monoxide (CO) are released into the earth’s atmosphere and re-emitted from the process of solar radiation in the form of heat absorbed by the earth’s surface.
The issues of climate change and global warming have become a concern for all levels of society in the world. To protect the environment, April 22 is designated as Earth Day in more than 175 countries.
The impact of the use of fossil energy can cause pollution, greenhouse gas effects, acid rain, and global warming. Additionally, said Supriatna, the combustion of fossil energy also has a negative impact on health. Meanwhile, changes in land use from vegetated to built-up land use also contribute to deteriorating the earth’s condition.
There are several factors that cause the greenhouse effect, which is the use of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas for energy and transportation purposes. One of them, the continuous use of coal can produce greenhouse effect gas emissions, especially carbon dioxide (CO2) gas. “About 80% of electricity in Indonesia is still produced with coal, this means the excessive use of electricity will cause the ozone layer to deplete quickly due to excessive coal production.”
Then, excessive water use will also impactly the environment. Excessive consumption of surface water and or groundwater will result in damaged and polluted soil layers. Not only does this impact the environment, it will also impact human health because the production of clean water (PAM) from polluted surface water (rivers/lakes) will be consumed by humans. Consuming polluted groundwater (industry/intrusion) is bad for human.
Furthermore, Dr. Supriatna mentioned the steps to save electricity and water at home and at work. There needs to be discipline from individuals, especially parents, in supervising the use of electricity by their children, as well as taking steps to turn off electrical appliances when not in use. Water savings should also be applied in daily activities, such as when washing dishes and washing clothes. This applies to the office environment as well, and even large estates/institutions need to implement water-saving policies in the use of electricity in the room and the use of water taps.
Currently, Indonesia has made actions to utilize renewable energy by utilizing sunlight captured by solar panels to produce electrical energy. Then, wind power as air movement with the potential to drive turbines used to produce kinetic energy and electrical energy. Then, biomass which includes biodiesel, biotaenol, and biogas. However, renewable energy does not provide a constant nature and is only available in certain areas so its use remains limited, such as energy sources from geothermal.
Therefore, Dr. Supriatna hopes that the government can establish policies and programs annually or monthly to promote energy and water conservation activities, such as conducting power blackouts at certain hours. In addition, it is necessary to increase awareness and discipline in protecting the environment by managing waste, electricity and water efficiently to save resources. Educational actions can be done by individuals through community service programs.
