Research Database

The enhancement of the financial sector significantly drives a nation’s economy and thereby increase energy intensity. Considering this situation, the current study aims to examine the link between globalization and financial advancements with the energy intensity of the top 5 ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) economies. The development structure of the ASEAN region is considered significant for having stable growth. The authors used the annual data from 1990 to 2018 for five of the largest ASEAN economies: Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines. The present study used novel methodology, the Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS), to examine the nonlinear behaviour among globalization, financial development, and energy intensity in the top 5 ASEAN countries. The study results using ANFIS confirm that globalization and financial development are positively correlated and have a significant impact on the energy intensity level in the top ASEAN countries. The results further suggest that globalization and financial development increase the level of energy intensity more in the countries that are developed relative to their peers in the top ASEAN countries. Moreover, the outcomes of ANFIS also suggest that those countries, which are more globalized and financially developed, have more potential to increase the level of energy intensity. Therefore, the government needs to focus more on projects that involve renewable energy and are environmentally friendly.

Biogas technology to support rural livelihoods and low-carbon development has been developed in different projects and programs in the Global South over the last few decades. However, the existence of multiple projects, actors and designs involved may lead to so-called fragmentation in governance. This research addresses the fragmented governance amongst the biogas programmes in Indonesia to study their impact on the implementation; the numbers of biodigesters disseminated and knowledge transferred. Drawing on concepts of fragmentation, regime effectiveness, and policy output, the research uses data from interviews with relevant actors, supplemented with documents review. Findings show that the governance architecture of biogas regime in Indonesia consists of different types of biogas programmes championed by different types of actors pursuing different objectives. There had been patterns and periodical shifts of configuration within the Indonesian biogas regime, i.e., from administrative fragmentation (2007–2009), to conflictive fragmentation (2010–2012), to cooperative fragmentation (2013–2016), and reduced fragmentation (2017). Shifting from administrative to cooperative fragmentation resonates with the increase of the number of biodigesters dissemination more than fourfold in ten years, from 800 in 2007, to 37,999 in 2016. The distribution of power within the governance architecture among government bodies, NGOs, and the private sector influenced the speed of implementation and innovation of the biogas programs. This suggests that a higher degree of distribution of power and cooperation within a governance architecture contribute to increasing policy output of the regime complex of renewable energy

The current energy supply trajectory in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region is not sustainable. Factors such as rising standards of living and demographic patterns, including population growth, lead to continuous increase in power demand, which is difficult to meet using limited fossil fuel resources. Thus, a transition toward clean energy sources is needed in the region. While ASEAN member countries are rich in clean energy resources, such resources are located far from demand centers; thus, allocation of clean energy is necessary to increase its utilization. In this study, power demand is forecasted using a combination of prediction methods. A model to evaluate the installed capacity and power exchange potential is proposed to deal with mismatch between the location of the clean energy base and the load center. Furthermore, the concept of cross-regional allocation of clean energy between the ASEAN region, China, and South Asia is presented. A power interconnection scheme among the ASEAN member countries as well as neighboring countries is proposed based on the power exchange potential. The proposed grid interconnection scheme contributes to the utilization of clean energy in the ASEAN region, increasing the proportion of clean energy in the generation mix, which ensures that the region becomes a sustainable and resilient society with a clean and low carbon development route. Furthermore, the proposed power interconnection scheme will generate valuable economic, social, environmental, and resource allocation benefits.

"Climate change and land are linked – politically. Climate change politics intersects with the global land rush in extensive and complex ways, the impacts of which affect villagers profoundly. These interconnections occur in direct and indirect ways and are often subtle, but that does not make them less important; it only makes the challenge of governing such dynamics in the interests of marginalized working poor people even more difficult. In this paper, we focus our analysis on indirect and subtle interconnections. Examining empirical cases in Northern Shan State in Myanmar, we conclude that these interconnections occur in at least three broad ways, in which climate change politics can be: (i) a trigger for land grabbing, (ii) a legitimating process for land grabs, or (iii) a de-legitimating process for people’s climate change mitigation and adaptation practices. These interconnections in turn stoke old and provoke new political axes of conflict within and between state and social forces. "

China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as the engine of world economic development, are facing tremendous challenges concerning the balance between economic growth and low-carbon development. Nevertheless, previous studies on the relationship between economic growth and carbon emissions have seldom been contextualized in this region. The paper analyses the decoupling elasticity between carbon dioxide (CO2), the gross domestic product (GDP) and energy consumption in China and the ASEAN countries over the period 1990–2014. Based on the Log-Mean Divisia Index (LMDI), it explores the effect of four factors on the total changes in CO2 emissions, namely the carbon density effect, energy intensity effect, economic effect in terms of per capita GDP and population effect. The study shows that the economic effect in terms of per capita GDP is the dominant driving force for the increase in CO2 emissions. The carbon density and population effects also play a role in this regard. Energy intensity has contributed significantly to the decrease in CO2 emissions in most of the examined countries. To decouple economic growth from environmental pressure, energy policies in China and the ASEAN countries need to scale up the share of renewable energy, increase the efficiency of energy use and implement green development as long-term targets in the region.

Vietnam has experienced an economic growth accompanied by increasing energy demand and inadequate supplies. Like most developing countries, the increased inefficient use of energy in Vietnam leads to increased greenhouse gas emissions and high energy costs for consumers. Also, the traditional sources of energy are not sufficient to satisfy the demand of the economic sectors. With the negative impact of climate change on water resources and the depletion of coal, oil and gas reserves, Vietnam must diversify and integrate other forms of renewable energies into its energy mix. The efficient use of renewable energy resources can boost economic development. Thus, the policies for endorsing renewable energies and energy efficiency are playing a vital role in ensuring the sustainable development for Vietnam’s future. This paper examines the legal and policy framework influencing the deployment of renewable energies and energy efficiency in Vietnam. The paper also attempts to identify major barriers to a large scale deployment of renewable energies and energy efficiency technologies and offers some possible solutions.

ASEAN’s energy demand is projected to expand 2.4 times by 2040 according the 5th ASEAN Energy Outlook. In 2040, ASEAN’s GDP is projected to have a threefold increase from only USD 2.56 trillion in 2015 and the region’s total population grows to over 760 million with 0.7% per year on average comparing to 630 million […]

As both China and India are moving away from coal in the power sector, Southeast Asia has emerged as arguably the most important region for future growth in coal-fired power generation. Here we use data from the January 2017 edition of the Global Coal Plant Tracker to understand coal’s fortunes in the region. More specifically, we manipulate three key policy levers – attrition rate, capacity factor, and plant lifespan – to provide a timely update on the future of coal in Southeast Asia. Using improved estimates of the attrition rate for planned power plants and capacity factors in different countries, we find that status-quo trends in Southeast Asian coal-fired power generation would significantly hamper the region’s ability to contribute to global efforts to limit warming to 1.5 or 2.0 degrees Celsius in line with international agreements, namely the 2009 Copenhagen and 2016 Paris Agreements. Though meeting these targets may be possible if policymakers limit the entry into service of new coal power capacity and reduce use of existing units, qualitative evidence suggests that there may be a lack of political will to do so.

The promotion of the energy security condition is one of the main aim of the cooperation between ASEAN and EU within the Plan of Action 2018-2022. The implementation of a regional integrated energy market among Southeast Asian countries will be the main driver to realize the ASEAN Economic Community, providing regular energy supplies (without disruptions) in order to meet the growing energy demand which will support the expected economic growth in the ASEAN region. We can observe that ASEAN and EU share the same approach in terms of diversification of the energy mix and the development of a regional energy grid, mainly fuelled with renewable sources (RES): as a matter of fact, the project to create an ASEAN Power Grid follows the EU attempt to create an EU-Mediterranean electricity ring, developing regional interconnections and producing “clean electricity” through RES (mainly solar and wind). Moreover, ASEAN initiatives to increase energy interconnectivity through the implementation of the Trans-ASEAN Gas Pipeline and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) regasification terminals are conceived as a way to reduce their dependence on coal (using gas as a transit fuel) as well the promotion of clean coal technologies. The aim of this paper is to analyse the potential evolution of this ASEAN-EU cooperation in the energy field and how sharing best practices and promoting a bilateral dialogue will support ASEAN countries to enhance a long-term renewable energy cooperation. ASEAN has set a target of securing 23 percent of its primary energy from renewable sources by 2025 and the EU initiatives and policies on RES (which accounts for 17 percent of energy consumed and 30 percent of the energy mix necessary to produce electricity) will be an interesting framework to work together on the achievement of the common goal of combating climate change.