The paper assesses the rising interest in Circular Economy (CE) within ASEAN countries, revealing varying levels of progress, with Vietnam showing promise and Brunei, Laos, and Myanmar lagging, providing insights for investors, the public, academia, and policymakers.

This chapter explores the potential of a transnational energy approach in South Asia and Southeast Asia, focusing on how integrated energy markets can promote international cooperation, enhance regional integration, and reduce carbon emissions, with a comparative analysis of institutional frameworks and a SWOT analysis to evaluate the prospects of such networks, ultimately aiming to foster regional cooperation and contribute to a sustainable, zero-carbon future in Asia.

The power generation mix of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is dominated by fossil fuels, which accounted for almost 80% in 2017 and are expected to account for 82% in 2050 if the region does not transition to cleaner energy systems. Solar and wind power is the most abundant energy resource but contributes negligibly to the power mix. Scalable electricity production from wind and solar energy faces tremendous challenges due to system integration practices in ASEAN. Investors in solar or wind farms face high risks from electricity curtailment if surplus electricity is not used. Technologies for battery storage (lithium-ion batteries) have been developed to handle surplus electricity production from wind and solar energy but they remain costly. Hydrogen produced from electrolysis using surplus electricity, however, has numerous advantages that complement battery storage, as hydrogen can be stored as liquid gas, which is suitable for many uses and easy to transport. Employing the policy scenario analysis of the energy outlook modelling results, this paper examines the potential scalability of renewable hydrogen production from curtailed electricity in scenarios of high share of variable renewable energy in the power generation mix. The study intensively reviewed potential cost reduction of hydrogen production around the world and its implications for changing the energy landscape. The study found many social and environmental benefits as hydrogen can help increase the share of renewables in decarbonising emissions in ASEAN.

Solar energy is a renewable source that can help the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region realise its 23% renewable energy target by 2025. However, its development is slow due to a lack of awareness and funds. Many financial institutions are willing to invest in renewable energy projects, but data reliability has been a concern. Approaches that can be used to gather and to analyse data, therefore, should be identified to attract investors towards renewable energy. Quantitative analyses could also help governments more accurately develop reusable energy plans and integrate the procurement of reliable renewable energy systems into them. This study aims to provide a comprehensive assessment of the environmental and economic impacts of various types of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems (e.g., stand-alone, rooftop, and solar farm) by using sustainable quantitative approaches, such as life-cycle analysis and life-cycle cost analysis. Data normalisation was also conducted to compare the performance of each system. It was found that the solar PV rooftop system has the lowest greenhouse gas emissions, life-cycle cost, and levelised cost of energy. This study then offers policy recommendations to attract high, sustainable green investment to the region.