Energy Conservation In East Asia

East 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.

As East and Southeast Asia continue to modernize and urbanize, their demand for energy will soar. Besides seeking to import fossil fuels from the Middle East, Africa, the Caspian Region, Russia, Latin America, Australia, etc., it is imperative for these Asian countries to cooperate in substantially raising the efficiency with which energy is consumed. This book offers a comprehensive examination of East and Southeast Asia's energy conservation policies. It begins with a summary of the current and projected energy supply and demand patterns in the region, and a discussion about the need and basis for cooperation in energy conservation. This is followed by an examination of the energy conservation policies and progress to date in seven ASEAN countries and in China, Japan and Korea.

This book looks at institutional reforms for the use of energy, water and resources toward a sustainable future in East Asia. The book argues that developments in the East Asian region are critical to global sustainability and acknowledges that there is an increasing degree of mutual reliance among countries in East Asia – primarily China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. It analyzes environmental impacts stemming from the use of energy, water and mineral resources via economic development in East Asia in the medium to long term (through 2050) through theoretical and empirical modelling. The book also evaluates the ripple effects of environmental and resource policies on each country’s economy and clarifies the direction of institutional reform in energy systems, resources and water use for a sustainable future.

This book presents a blueprint for transforming East Asian cities to global engines of green growth by choosing energy efficient solutions for their infrastructure needs, with case studies in Cebu City (the Philippines), Da Nang (Vietnam), and Surabaya (Indonesia) illustrating the use of sustainable urban energy and emissions planning (SUEEP).

This report draws lessons to date from recent international experience in applying public financing instruments to unlock commercial financing to scale-up clean energy in East Asia. It addresses the following issues: when to use public financing instruments; which instrument to select; and how to design and implement them most effectively.

The authors thank the Institute of Energy Economics of Japan; Energy Research Institute of China; and the Korean Energy Research Institute for co-hosting and participating in the workshops. [...] Page xi Cooperative Climate: Energy Efficiency Action in East Asia Executive Summary The purpose of this book is to identify a promising modality of energy effi- ciency cooperation within East Asia.1 Energy efficiency is of interest to all countries in the region, and a key pillar for climate change mitigation. [...] Furthermore, after coming into force in 2005, the importance of Kyoto over the long term is not necessarily the designation of specific emission targets or the expansion of the number of Annex B Parties in the agreement, but that it has set the stage for international discussions regarding emissions. [...] Asia has been the growth center of the world economy and energy consumption in the last two decades, and energy consumption may grow even faster in the coming two decades (Figure 2.1). [...] Policy and legal system Energy conservation has been an important element of the political agenda in China for over two decades, and the focus on energy efficiency has yielded 1 Under the Reference Scenario of the IEA (2004), by 2030 China and India will account for 48 per cent of global coal demand.

This report was produced under the technical assistance project Promoting Renewable Energy, Clean Fuels, and Energy Efficiency in the Greater Mekong Subregion (TA 7679). It reports on energy efficiency targets and developments in five countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS): Cambodia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam. The GMS countries envisage substantial energy efficiency savings over the next 15 to 20 years, with overall energy efficiency savings amounting to almost 60 million tons of oil equivalent annually by 2030. Most GMS governments have established plans for reaching these targets and have implemented policy, regulatory, and program measures to lower energy intensity and achieve energy efficiency. GMS countries project that their energy needs will double or triple over the next 15 years and greater energy efficiency offers a win-win public-private sector partnership for reducing unsustainable reliance on high-carbon (coal and oil) fuels.