Abstract—In 1995 Sri Lanka produced 95% of the grid electrical energy needs from conventional hydro power plants. But today Sri Lanka’s electricity generation sector is largely dominated by fossil fuel sources. Though the Sri Lanka’s current carbon foot print is much less than the global average, rising energy demand has resulted in escalated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The focus of this study is primarily on Non-Conventional Renewable Energy sector and the challenges that need to be overcome for a clean and sustainable energy future. The study took the form of three phases: primary data-gathering process through literature review, semi-structured interviews, followed by an expert panel discussion. Results show that, as small hydro power potentials have already been utilized, wind has come to the forefront as the most promising energy source. However, technical and infrastructural limitations have hindered the further development of not only wind, but also biomass and solar energy sources.
Index Terms—Climate change, renewable energy, Sri Lanka.
The authors are with the Department of Industrial Management, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka (e-mail: amila.green@gmail.com, julian@kln.ac.lk, chamli@kln.ac.lk).
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Cite:A. S. Withanaarachchi, L. D. J. F. Nanayakkara, and C. Pushpakumara, "Mitigating Climate Change via Non-Conventional Renewable Energy: Case of Sri Lanka," Journal of Clean Energy Technologies vol. 3, no. 5, pp. 372-377, 2015.