Research Database

This chapter investigates how, and under what conditions, growth strategies can include attempts to moderate the negative effects of their strategies on climate change. In particular, it focuses on the possibilities for developing countries seeking to industrialise to make use of the current focus on renewables in order to meet climate change targets while continuing with their industrialisation strategies. The main argument is that a shift to renewable energy is not inconsistent with an industrialisation process if the latter is export-oriented and some or most of the initial costs of switching to renewable energy are borne by the state.

The Greater Mekong Subregion is a transnational area bound together by the Mekong River basin and its immense hydropower resources, historically seen as the backbone of regional economic development. The basin is now punctuated by several dams, successful in attracting both international investors and fierce criticisms for their environmental and societal impacts. Surprisingly, no attention has been paid so far to the actual performance of these infrastructures: is hydropower supply robust with respect to the hydroclimatic variability characterizing Southeast Asia? When water availability is altered, what are the implications for power production costs and CO2 emissions? To answer these questions, we focus on the Laotian–Thai grid—the first international power-trade infrastructure developed in the region—and use a power system model driven by a spatially distributed hydrological-water management model. Simulation results over a 30-year period show that production costs and carbon footprint are significantly affected by droughts, which reduce hydropower availability and increase reliance on thermoelectric resources. Regional droughts across the Mekong basin are of particular concern, as they reduce the export of cheap hydropower from Laos to Thailand. To put the analysis into a broader climate-water-energy context, we show that the El Niño Southern Oscillation modulates not only the summer monsoon, but also the power system behavior, shaping the relationship between hydroclimatological conditions, power production costs, and CO2 emissions. Overall, our results and models provide a knowledge basis for informing robust management strategies at the water-energy scale and designing more sustainable power plans in the Greater Mekong Subregion.

A large potential exists in the Southeast Asia region for deployment of high-efficiency, low-emission (HELE) electricity generation technologies. A cost–benefit analysis of HELE technologies compared to the less efficient subcritical electricity generation plants is thus carried out to find a persuasive scenario supporting quicker transition from subcritical stations towards HELE technologies in the region. A levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) analysis is carried out for both technologies under four potential policy scenarios. Scenario 1 does not take into consideration any carbon pricing or costs associated with the desulphurization (deSOx) and denitrification (deNOx) facilities. Scenario 2 (Scenario 3) incorporates carbon pricing (costs associated with the deSOx and deNOx facilities), and Scenario 4 includes both carbon pricing and costs associated with the deSOx and deNOx facilities. Under each scenario, a sensitivity analysis is performed to evaluate the uncertainty affecting the future coal prices. This study demonstrates that HELE technologies are competitive against the subcritical plants under all four scenarios and both the technologies derive benefit from lifetime extensions and low coal prices. It is revealed that future deployments of HELE technologies can be best expedited by factoring in carbon pricing in LCOE costs of coal-fired power plants under Scenario 2.

Over the past few decades, universal electricity access has grown together with an increasing awareness of the need to combat global warming. Nevertheless, electricity access remains a critical driver of economic growth and poverty reduction for developing countries. This study characterizes the demand for solar energy and its impact on electricity consumption in Myanmar. We estimate discrete choice models for solar device ownership (or usage) using the World Bank multi-tier framework (MTF) global survey for Myanmar. We estimate a binary choice model for solar device usage, and find that individuals who are married and living in their own houses in rural areas without access to the national grid are more likely to become solar device owners. Using a multinomial logit model estimation, we find heterogeneous characteristics of the demand for solar device ownership by payment method. Finally, we estimate an electricity consumption function with solar device ownership as an endogenous selection using Heckman’s selection model estimation. The estimation result indicates that there is no substantial rebound effect due to solar device ownership.

Cement manufacturing is an energy-intensive industry which uses a large amount of resources and contributes environmental impacts at both small and large scales. The growth of key world economies has led to an increase in the use of construction materials and therefore in the demand for cement, particularly in the Asian region. With increasing interest on sustainability issues, environmental concerns posed by the cement industry in Myanmar were investigated in order to explore options to mitigate emissions and subsequent environmental impacts. Comparative life cycle assessments were conducted including a base scenario (existing cement production scheme) and five alternative scenarios developed mostly with a focus on energy efficiency and the use of alternative fuels and materials. A cradle-to-gate system boundary was considered, limiting the scope of the study to raw material extraction, transportation and manufacturing. The impact assessment was performed based on the ReCiPe (2016) method. The results showed that the mitigation options employed in specific scenarios led to a significant reduction in major emissions and consequent environmental impacts in comparison with the base scenario. Above all, the ideal scenario (combination of all possible mitigation options) showed the best results enabling a decrease in emissions of CO2 by 10–50%, NOx by 5–23%, SO2 by 4–20% and PM2.5 by 6–22% compared to a base scenario. This resulted in a reduction of major environmental impacts by 10–50% for climate change, 6–27% for photochemical oxidant formation: ecosystem quality, 7–22% for particulate matter formation, 6–22% for terrestrial acidification and 8–64% for fossil resource scarcity.

The ASEAN is currently trying to mitigate the amount of CO2 emissions per country. This is not only to contribute to the worldwide goal of lessening greenhouse gases, but to also ensure the safety of its member states by combatting the effects of climate change. The effects as stated by the IPCC, such as rising water levels, rising ambient temperature, and an increase in the frequency of tropical storms, can greatly endanger members of the ASEAN. It must be noted that a majority of its members are archipelagic, have areas of extreme poverty, and rely on agriculture for production. Therefore, the temporal logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) has been conducted in order to determine the possible drivers that cause the changes in CO2 emissions per year for all ASEAN member countries. The drivers of CO2 were divided into the population, economic activity, energy intensity, and energy structure effects. CO2 emissions per fuel type were calculated using their respective emission factors. Knowing which drivers constitute the most CO2 emissions in a country would help pinpoint which areas could be worked on. It was found that Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam, and Lao PDR had the most impressive decrease in CO2 emissions due to energy intensity and structure effects. A majority of the other countries have either stayed constant or even increased CO2 emission output per year from each effect. Therefore, general policies based on the success of these countries that could be applied for each member country are recommended in this study.

Indonesia is known as the largest economy in South East Asia and as one of the emerging lower-middle-income countries. Before the pandemic Covid-19, Indonesia forecasted its GDP growth to increase to 5.5% in 2020. However, this never happened following the pandemic it decreased to 2.97% in the first quarter of 2020. This paper focuses on the renewable energy role in accelerating the economic recovery in Indonesia by emphasising the role of justice in the transition process. We conduct systematic reviews from different sources, both primary and secondary resources. We qualitatively analyse the energy regulation and energy road map in Indonesia as well as some academic research articles. Indonesia has developed its general energy plan related to the energy mix demand and supply, which includes a long-term plan on developing renewable energy sources and reducing the use of fossil fuels. As the fourth most populated country in the world, Indonesia still focusses on cheap energy supply and energy access to fulfil the energy demand. Therefore the transition process in Indonesia is considered slow compared to the OECD countries. There is a significant role of energy in economic growth, both energy consumption and energy resources. Until now, fossil fuels have dominated the Indonesian energy supply and demand. This paper highlights the role of renewable energy in the economic development of the country. This paper suggests that the pandemic has highlighted the energy transition movement in Indonesia. The Covid-19 has driven more research on the role of renewable energy project to the economic development and demonstrate that a transition to a low-carbon economy could contribute to the economic recovery in a justice way in many sectors. Renewable energy development contributes directly to human resources development, and this development also contribute to health sector improvement. Finally, this renewable energy development could accelerate the economic recovery in Indonesia and reach 5.2 to 5.6% in 2021.

Southeast Asia faces one of the fastest growths in electricity demand in the world, driven by increasing incomes, urbanization and industrialization. Development and deployment of green energy technologies offer a natural conduit to meet the growing electricity needs of the Association of Southeast Asian Economies (ASEAN) region while also serving as a viable strategy to adapt to climate change. The aim of this study is to formulate the policy lessons for the ASEAN economies and governments in facilitating the development and deployment of green technologies and alternatives energy options based on a specific case review of the ASEAN. The ASEAN economic region is prioritizing sustainable economic growth while minimizing the regional impacts of climate change through decarbonization. The study undertakes a case-specific analysis in reviewing green energy deployment in the context of green growth and energy transition using secondary data sources and discusses the current status and future options of renewable energy development in the ASEAN. We find that carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies will allow the ASEAN to continue to use fossil fuels while achieving sustainable economic growth as coal demand increases in the region. The deployment of CCS technologies will also act as an enabler of hydrogen energy as a green energy solution in the region in the longer term. Boosting public acceptance to nuclear energy, implementing energy efficiency improvement policies and eliminating fossil fuels consumption subsidies are feasible short-term and medium-term policies. Increasing both the public and private sector energy investments and development of CCS technologies in the longer term are necessary complementary policies to maximize the benefits of greater deployment of renewable energy sources in the region and combat climate change.

As we know, nowadays financial sector is waking up the climate change. Therefore, the aim and novelty of the paper is to show the link between energy efficiency, sustainable economic growth, population and financial development in ASEAN 5 countries. Panel data analysis was employed and results shows that factors such as financial development, economic growth, population and renewable energy found to be important factors in influencing climate change in this study. Based on the results, increasing financial development, more energy use, high population and increasing economic growth will generate more CO2 emissions and cause climate change. Thus, there are several policies suggested to balance the relationship between financial development and the carbon emission levels and these policy implications should be considered and carried out by government and policy makers in order to improve the environmental quality in ASEAN countries. In conclusion, in the 5 ASEAN countries, financial growth plays an important role in waking up the issues of climate change. Many past literatures focused the impacts of renewable energy consumption, population, economic growth and foreign direct investment on climate change. Thus, this study narrows the gap that exists in literature.by focusing on financial development which able to foster vigorous economic growth especially in ASEAN countries. Overall, results from the fixed effect estimates show that financial development is significant factor and has a positive contribution towards climate change.