Uploaded on 2015-11-25 by IndikaSam

The dominant fossil fuels used in Sri Lanka are petroleum and petroleum products which are imported to Sri Lanka, as we do not have our own oil reserves. Oil imports which are processed in refineries in 2013 were 1795 ktoe, while oil products imports were 2731 ktoe in 2013. **2.Where are the dominant fossil fuels mainly used for in your country**? It is used mainly for transport sector with roads consuming 2472 ktoe in 2013. The country has a diesel power plant as well, which converts to electricity for residential use, but this is minimal. **3.Create a new policy in order to improve the environmental friendly and sustainable sources and consumption of energy of your country. How would you do that? Think of how you can improve the sources and the consumption of energy.** As Sri Lanka has no oil reserves of its own, it must import all its oil requirements which consumes a large percentage of the country’s foreign exchange reserves. The main consumer of oil imports is transportation. Over the past few years, the Government has made it easier for people to own cars, therefore, ownership of private vehicles has increased dramatically, from 400,000 registered vehicles in 2003 to 1.4 million in 2013. This has been enabled mainly by easy finance terms where vehicle leasing has become easier for people making car ownership affordable. However, government investment in public transport has been slow. The operational growth rate of public transport has only been 8% per year. Although public transport investment is low, there is a large private bus service in operation. In fact, the city has more private buses than actually required to meet the demand, thus there is an overflow of buses on the road that contribute towards the increased congestion, CO2 emissions and consumption of fossil fuels. Due to the politicization of many aspects of transport such as providing certificates to operate private buses, and easy payment schemes to purchase 2 and 3 stroke three wheel vehicles, the city has seen an exponential increase in the number of vehicles that are high CO2 contributors. No proper regulation to manage three wheel vehicles, as led to an influx of these vehicles that are used as taxis on to the road. ![Three Wheelers - Require Regulations and Limits][1] In addition, inflated land values in Colombo city , means that more people venture to suburbs to purchase land for housing purposes, but still travel to the city for work, administrative, schooling and health services. Thus, there are close to 5.1 million floating population who travel to the city daily. Hydropower is used mainly for electricity production, with a small contribution from diesel power generators . Electricity consumption is highest for residential use. However, with climate change, and weather patterns changing, our hydro power resources are becoming unreliable, as when there are major droughts, hydropower is unable to meet the electricity demands of the country. Colombo, which is in the western province of the country is the highest consumer, given it is the primate city in the country. Thus the country has turned to coal power to supplement the electricity demand. As we are a tropical climate, in terms of policy I would create policy to look at: - Transport being the major consumer of fossil fuels, look at minimizing private vehicle usage and improving public transport systems, with a multi modal public transport system that makes use of existing rail systems and upgrading of the bus system. Government investment in good public transport system will help reduce the need to commute by private vehicle. This would be coupled with softer measures such as congestion charges to enter the city. Reduce the use of private buses which also contribute towards vehicular congestion. With a Government invested multi modal system, half of the buses that are used in Colombo can be eliminated. A good quality multi modal public transport system will also reduce the demand for three wheel vehicles which are highly polluting. A cap on issuing of three wheel licenses, reducing financing terms for hire purchase of these vehicles, and introducing regulations should be included in as policy to make the multi modal public transport system viable. ![Road Re-design to introduce a BRT System][2] - Promote alternate transport methods such as providing dedicated cycle lanes within the city to promote cycling. - Use of electric vehicles as opposed to petrol based vehicles, however, with a good multi-modal public transport system, the use of vehicles will be miminized. - At the household level provide incentives for the use of solar panels that will reduce the dependency on the grid. Being a country where population is poor, policies should be in place to provide incentives to purchase solar panels at a subsidized rate based on income levels, and include in new building regulations the requirements for buildings to reduce their ecological footprint in electricity consumption with the use of renewable energy sources such as solar panels. With the increase in building construction, energy consumption for cooling systems will increase, and therefore building regulations must include the requirement for buildings to generate their own energy requirements, and also use materials and design to reduce energy consumption. ![Incentives for Buildings to use Solar Panels][3] - Waste management is an issue in Colombo, with the majority of waste generated being wet waste. Therefore, look at waste to energy technologies. This will require policies that promote research and development that can be translated into practical use. - Planning the city to be more compact. Currently the city is sprawling due to rising land prices, therefore, to reduce commuter travel, the city must develop a good affordable housing policy that will enable people to live in close proximity to work. Transport oriented developments need to be planned as well. Currently, the dependency on the car is high and thus with TODs that are planned in line with a multi modal public transport system will reduce the need to use private vehicles for travel. [1]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14484091252583024.jpg [2]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14484095408031247.jpg [3]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14484096032812486.jpg