Overview of the Decarbonization Options for the Electricity Sector: Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

The energy demand has grown alongside increasing population growth globally. Unfortunately, the utilization of fossil fuels, especially coal, has dominated the energy sectors, including power generation. Fossil fuels have no place in the sustainability future due to the limitation of these resources and the potential environmental impacts that may arise. Therefore, the decarbonization of the electricity sector has recently become the world’s attention, including in Indonesia. This study discusses opportunities and challenges of decarbonization initiatives in the electricity sector by conducting traditional reviews of various publications from direct science databases and publications from official websites of other organizations relevant to the research context. The results discuss decarbonization options by replacing coal with renewable energy. Other initiatives are also investigated in this paper to provide alternative possibilities. The study indicated that each option has challenges that can affect the success of each program.