ASEAN’s renewable energy challenges
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. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), this objective entails a “two-and-a-half-fold increase in the modern […]
ASEAN’s shift to biogas
The push towards renewable energy has seen biogas emerge as a viable option for Southeast Asian countries looking to diversify their energy mix. Biogas refers to the mixture of various gasses – usually methane, carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen sulphide – that are produced as a result of the breakdown of organic matter like municipal […]
Asia must quit ‘coal addiction’: UN chief
The UN chief on Saturday warned Asia to quit its “addiction” to coal, as climate change threatens hundreds of millions of people vulnerable to rising sea levels across the region. The warning follows fresh research this week predicting that several Asian megacities, including Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City and Mumbai, are at risk of extreme […]
Asia Refiners Face Battle With Fuel Glut Dwarfing Demand Rebound
(Bloomberg) — Asian refiners may have hit a brick wall in their recovery from the virus-driven slump with the rebound in fuel demand not big enough to clear a massive glut built up over the last few months. Processors are unlikely to increase operating rates much further until the surplus is cleared and margins improve, with […]
Asia’s Central Banks Must Rise to the Challenge of Climate Change
Climate change is already a reality. The deadly bushfires in Australia, ferocious flooding in Indonesia and extended droughts in Vietnam have led to the destruction of infrastructure, investments and livelihoods. Yet across Asia, acceptance of this reality has not yet changed consumer behaviors across the region.
Asia’s renewable energy future
Minghui Zhang, Head of Section and Benoit Nguyen, Head of Department at DNV, describe Asia’s renewable energy future. Asia has experienced some of the worst impacts of COVID-19 which have caused major disruptions in the energy sector. Despite the work that remains to contain the pandemic, most Asian countries have embraced the challenge to change […]
Asia’s thirsty coal-fired power plants face water scarcity
Asia’s reliance on coal-fired power may prove unsustainable in the long run because thermal power plants need to be cooled down with large quantities of water, the sources of which are drying up because of climate change, says a new study. Coal-fired power plants in India and South-East Asia are most likely to be affected by future water shortages, says […]
Asia’s US$350 billion gas buildout intensifies clean energy debate; allows the Philippines, Vietnam and China avoid coal energy
MANILA, April 5 (Bloomberg): Asia is pumping billions of dollars into new gas infrastructure, making the region pivotal in a debate over the role of the fossil fuel as the world aims to curb emissions.
Asian automakers compete for EV market in Southeast Asia
In late March, the Bangkok International Motor Show was held in Thailand, known as the “Detroit of Asia” due to its high concentration of automobile industries. Companies competed to introduce EVs, demonstrating that the age of the electric vehicle has arrived. At the booth of China’s Great Wall Motor Co., Narong Sritalayon, the managing director […]
Asian Countries Gear Up for COP26 Climate Summit
Asian leaders are heading to Scotland where COP26, the most important global summit on climate change since the one that produced the 2015 Paris agreement, opens this weekend, after being postponed last year by the coronavirus pandemic.