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Switching to renewable energy resources as an alternative is critical for developing countries in order to ensure energy security and diversify their energy supply. Malaysia is endowed with biomass, solar, waste-to-energy, wind, and hydro energy potentials, although these have not been fully explored. This is because the country continues to rely extensively on conventional fossil-fuel energy sources such as coal and petroleum to generate power and consume energy. On the other hand, demand for energy is increasing as a result of population growth and a booming economy. Thus, this study intends to identify suitable potential renewable energy resources that can benefit Malaysia by analysing the outcomes of Focus Group Discussions (FGD) using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) as an analytical technique. Five renewable energy resources were evaluated: biomass, solar, waste to energy, wind, and hydro energy while five criteria were identified: carbon production, operational costs, location characteristics, energy, and availability of renewable energy resources. The outcome suggested a strategic focus on solar energy for Malaysia due to consideration in carbon production. This information will assist decision-makers in strategizing the most suitable renewable energy resources for Malaysia.

In 2015, the United Nations initiated the Sustainable development goals (SDGs) to address the global changes while ensuring better and sustainable actions for the future. Among Asian countries, Malaysia has also made an effort to integrate the SDGs into its national development plan. In this study, the awareness level of youth from high schools in Greater Kuala Lumpur towards Sustainable Development Goals has been assessed through questionnaires with 60 questions given to 421 respondents. Sufficient levels of feedbacks for the whole population were acquired (Confidence level: 95%, Margin of error: 5%). Five schools were selected and grouped into 3 types: high-performance school (national merit of excellence), cluster school (state level merit of excellence), and daily school (normal achievement). The results of the Spearman Rho correlation showed a significant but weak relationship [r= 0.435] between attitude and practice for all schools. Interestingly, the statistical test showed a negligible relationship between knowledge and attitude, and knowledge and practice, indicating a low attitude to practice SDGs amongst youth although equipped with adequate knowledge. The study also found that high-performance schools showed the highest score for all knowledge, attitude, and practice.