Winds of Change: East Asia's Sustainable Energy FutureEast Asia has experienced the fastest economic growth in the world over the last three decades, accompanied by a 10-fold gross domestic product increase and rapid urbanization. Energy consumption has more than tripled during this period and is expected to double over the next 20 years. This remarkable trend has led to twin energy challenges in the region environmental sustainability and energy security. Written for an audience of energy policy makers and practitioners, Winds of Change explores the region s energy future over the next two decades through two energy scenarios. It outlines the strategic direction East Asia s energy sector must take to meet its growing energy demand in an environmentally sustainable manner, and presents a pathway of policy frameworks and financing mechanisms to get there. The six East Asian countries China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam examined in this book could, with the right policies and financing, stabilize CO2 emissions by 2025, improve their local environment, and enhance energy security without compromising economic growth. They must move their energy sectors toward much higher efficiency and more widespread use of low-carbon technologies, while obtaining substantial financing and low-carbon technologies from developed countries. This clean energy revolution requires major policy and institutional reforms, including energy pricing reforms, regulations such as energy efficiency standards, financial incentives such as feed-in tariffs for renewable energy, and accelerated research and development. Finally, building low-carbon cities will be key to containing the rapid urban energy growth through compact urban design, public transport, clean vehicles, and green buildings. The window of opportunity is closing fast delaying action would lock the region into a longlasting high-carbon infrastructure. The technical and policy means exist for such transformational changes, but only strong political will and unprecedented international cooperation will make them happen. |
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appliances Asia Asia’s average Bank’s billion biomass building capacity capital carbon financing carbon tax China China and EAP5 clean energy Climate Change CO2 emissions coal coal-fired power concessional financing consumers decades developing countries EAP5 countries East Asian countries economic growth energy consumption energy demand Energy Development energy efficiency energy efficiency improvements energy intensity energy savings energy security energy supply energy technologies ESCOs feed-in tariffs figure financial costs financial incentives fossil fuel fuel costs fuel prices Fund geothermal geothermal power global government’s household hydro hydropower increase incremental costs Indonesia industrial investment costs low-carbon technologies Malaysia master plan ment needed nuclear power oil and gas percent Philippines potential power plants programs public transport reduce region renewable energy risks scale SED scenario Source sustainable energy path targets Thailand upfront urban vehicles Vietnam World Bank 2009a World Bank Group