Ever since Myanmar undertook a series of political, economic and administrative reforms in 2011, the country’s economy has steadily improved. According to data from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Myanmar is enjoying some of the highest growth rates in the region.
Similar to many other growing Southeast Asian countries, Thailand is facing an increase in energy demand. According to the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE), energy demand in Southeast Asia in 2040 is expected to increase between 110- to 130 percent. Meanwhile, due to Thailand’s good economic performance and population growth, energy demand is forecasted to rise by almost 80 percent in the next 20 years. At the same time, Thailand is now facing a fossil fuels crisis.
In tandem with a renewable energy policy, energy efficiency will be key to building a reliable and sustainable energy system for the future of Southeast Asia. Energy efficiency refers to the reduced rate of energy consumption in order to produce the same amount of output.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has set an ambitious target of securing 23 percent of its primary energy from renewable sources by 2025 as energy demand in the region is expected to grow by 50 percent.
In the past decade Asia has emerged as a booming market for nuclear energy. According to the World Nuclear Association, over half of the world’s nuclear plants under construction are in Asia. Most of them however are in China as they account for nearly 40 percent while the rest of Asia makes up 60 percent of nuclear plants under construction.
At the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, world leaders at last seemed to recognize the reality of climate change. But the response they are pursuing is fundamentally flawed, given its dependence on “renewable energy sources” – such as solar, hydro, and wind power, as well as biofuels – that actually damage nature.
As Southeast Asia becomes one of the fastest developing regions in the world, concerns over its energy security is fast growing. Southeast Asia has a combined population of over 600 million people and an economy worth nearly US$3 trillion. Furthermore, the World Economic Forum forecasts that the region will have the fifth largest economy by 2020. With the region developing rapidly, demand for energy is now higher than ever.
Climate change undoubtedly poses a potent – even existential – threat to the planet. But the current approach to mitigating it, which reflects a single-minded focus on cutting carbon dioxide emissions, may end up doing serious harm, as it fails to account for the energy sector’s depletion of water resources – another major contributor to climate change.“Water is at the heart of both the causes and effects of climate change,” a National Research Council report declares.
An impressive period of sustained economic success has seen energy demand in Southeast Asia increase beyond twofold. These trends emerge against the backdrop of evolving global energy dynamics, in light of rapid urbanisation among ASEAN member states. This situation has created a challenging environment for policymakers in navigating bilateral and regional relationships, even though a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on ASEAN Energy Cooperation was ratified on the 24 June, 1986.
According to a World Bank report on Lao in 2017, the country pleasantly surprised many by becoming one of the fastest growing in the region. The World Bank even ranked Lao as the 13th fastest growing economy of 2016. Bloomberg forecasted last year that the country will continue to grow, sustaining at least 7% growth until 2019.One of the contributors to the country’s rapid growth is its expanding energy segment – most notably the hydroelectric sector.
