Understanding perception and interpretation of Malaysian university students on renewable energy

Abstract

Contribution of renewable energy (RE) in current Malaysian energy mix is limited despite of the abundant biomass from its agriculture and sufficient sunshine and rainfall throughout the year. As future leaders, the acceptance of young generation towards RE reflects the most important public decision and policy especially in reducing dependency on fossil fuels. In order to optimise the successful of an awareness program, a set of questionnaire has been used to examine the perception and interpretation of university students towards RE. A total of 2,863 completed questionnaire were analysed according to educational background (science and non-science) and family economic status classified as Bottom 40 (B40), Middle 40 (M40) and Top 20 (T20). The results revealed that most of them have positive perception and optimistic on the usage of RE. Unfortunately, more focus and attention should be given to students with non-science educational background and those who came from Bottom 40 economic group in understanding renewable energy. There is also a gap on interpretation that indicates the need for more intellectual activities that covers information on development, technologies and benefit of RE.

Keywords

• renewable energy
• energy education
• environmental awareness
• university students