Cities are responsible for about three quarters of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The overall aims of this research were to quantify citywide GHG emissions and explore the feasibility of mitigation options and their contribution toward supporting Thailand’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) and the 1.5 °C limit pathway. The results obtained using the Global Protocol for […]

Since the development of the service sector and renewable energy reduce fossil-based energy consumption which mitigates CO2 emissions and this nexus provides a better understanding of the environmental sustainability. Considering the substantially increasing contribution of service sector and tremendous potential for renewable energy in ASEAN5 countries, leaning forward from ASEAN’s energy and growth nexus, this study examines the impact of service sector contribution and renewable energy on the environmental quality of ASEAN5 using annual data from 1990 to 2018. The results of the fully modified ordinary least squared, dynamic ordinary least squared, and canonical co-integrating regressions depicted that the service sectors of Thailand, the Philippines, and Singapore augment CO2 emissions; however, the service sectors of Malaysia and Indonesia could reduce CO2 emissions. The increasing share of renewable energy can enhance environmental quality, but its magnitude varies in ASEAN5 economies; non-renewable energy, population, and economic development deteriorate the environment. Our results confirm the existence of environmental Kuznets curve in all the ASEAN5; the Gregory-Hansen test confirmed that results are robust. Finally, the Granger causality designated that economic development and non-renewable energy have a significant causal relationship with CO2 emission of ASEAN5 countries. These findings suggest that the ASEAN5 economies need to optimize their economic structure for promoting sustainable development in the long run.

This paper mentions to an application of new type of small wind turbine to power for a safety drinking water disinfection system. In Vietnam, as well in other emerging and developing countries such as in ASEAN, there are considerable problems to realize a safe drinking water supply in rural, removed and island areas. Such regions are characterized by insufficient infrastructure, e.g. there are often no drinking water connection, no wastewater treatment and an unreliable energy supply. As a main problem in water quality, the available surface water is often polluted with germs and coliforms. For an efficient drinking water treatment or disinfection at present and in the medium-term, the needed equipment and requirements for a comprehensive improvement of water quality are not available (e.g., missing chemicals, financial resources, energy capacities). With regard to germ load problem, there are additional difficulties due to microbial recontamination, as well as biofilm formation during water storage at the given climate conditions. The idea for carrying this study is to develop a Safety Drinking Water Disinfection System for rural areas in Vietnam as such as in ASEAN developing countries where the national electric grids may be lacked. The study will focus to develop two main parts: development an energy-efficient UV treatment technology (e.g. LED-lamp irradiation) as main disinfection step with a small-scale electrolysis cell (using MOX electrodes) and development a small Mixture Axis Wind Turbines (MAWT) for supporting the electric to the UV treatment and MOX electrodes. The MAWT wind turbine will works with both horizontal and vertical axis principles of wind turbines. Research found that the safety drinking water disinfection system that powered by wind energy is very suitable with the life standard condition in rural and removed areas in Vietnam.

Worldwide primary energy needs are satisfied basically from non-renewable sources that are limited in supply and innately hazardous to the environment. Biomass-based power systems are very much potent to address the environmental issues fostering sustainable development, while being able to provide a secured and uninterrupted power supply at the same time. Biomass-based power generation systems not only reduce the GHG emissions but also have enormous opportunities of job creation and promote biomass re-growth through sustainable land management practices. This paper overviews the biomass scenario in Southeast Asian and EU countries to give an overview of the potential and scalable energy harnessed from biomass resources. Economic analyses presented on biomass gasification-based power generation have been evaluated with three specific cost estimations, namely low, average and high. Key economic performance metrics of biomass gasification-based dual-fuel internal combustion engine generator with low investment estimates are as follows: a positive net present value of USD 7.5 million; internal rate of return 14.45%; and a payback period of 5.45 years. A review of the technologies can provide a base for strategic energy policy for the next generation of sustainable energy policies and helps policymakers to frame strategies aiming for clean technology and sustainable development. Biomass integrated gasification combined cycle-based systems are found to be most suitable for power generation or biofuel synthesis.