ASEAN’s 10 members met the whole thing of area’s rise in electrical energy demand final yr via fossil fuels, report says.
Southeast Asia is prone to deepening its dependence on fossil fuels because it tries to satisfy surging demand for electrical energy, an environmental assume tank has warned.
The ten nations of the Affiliation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met the whole thing of the area’s 3.6 p.c rise in electrical energy demand final yr via fossil fuels, the United Kingdom-based assume tank Ember mentioned in a report launched on Tuesday.
ASEAN’s share of power generated by renewables, in the meantime, fell to 26 p.c in contrast with 28 p.c in 2022 amid a decline in hydropower manufacturing resulting from droughts and different excessive occasions, the report mentioned.
Carbon emissions grew by 6.6 p.c final yr, representing a further 44 million tonnes of CO2 within the environment, in response to the report.
High coal polluters included Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines, whereas Singapore and Thailand’s emissions largely got here from pure fuel, in response to the report.
Ember mentioned the area’s gradual power transition means it’s lacking out on the advantages of renewables, together with the declining price of photo voltaic and wind energy, which at the moment are cheaper than fossil fuels.
“Persevering with at this tempo of transition dangers ASEAN changing into extra depending on fossil fuels, lacking alternatives introduced by rising clear power applied sciences and economics, and failing to satisfy local weather targets,” the assume tank mentioned in its report.
“In the meantime, electrical energy demand continues to develop quickly, making it extra essential than ever to satisfy this demand with clear power.”
Ember mentioned two of essentially the most promising long-term options are solar energy and wind energy, as hydropower faces growing reliability points resulting from droughts and altering rain patterns.
The report got here because the Worldwide Power Company (IEA) on Tuesday warned that Southeast Asia would want to take a position $190bn – or 5 instances its present fee of funding – to attain its local weather targets by 2035.
Even with clear power sources projected to satisfy greater than one-third of the expansion in power demand, the area remains to be on observe to extend its carbon emissions by 35 p.c between now and 2050, the Paris-based intergovernmental organisation mentioned in a report.
Demand for electrical energy in Southeast Asia is about to develop at an annual fee of 4 p.c, in response to the IEA report.
“Clear power applied sciences aren’t increasing shortly sufficient and the continued heavy reliance on fossil gasoline imports is leaving nations extremely uncovered to future dangers,” the IEA’s govt director, Fatih Birol, mentioned.
Courtney Weatherby, the deputy director of the Stimson Heart’s Southeast Asia programme, mentioned that renewables like solar energy have nice potential however there are nonetheless many institutional roadblocks in the way in which.
Many ASEAN nations try to modernise and develop their power technology capability on the identical time, resulting in conflicting priorities, Weatherby mentioned, whereas renewables nonetheless face issues like storage, grid administration and the lack to provide energy on demand throughout peak hours.
“Most nations in ASEAN are coming from a comparatively low start line for photo voltaic/wind deployment and because of this even speedy growth won’t result in a full transition in a well timed method,” Weatherby informed Al Jazeera.
“Extra importantly, the mandate for energy utilities is to make sure that the ability provide is steady and dependable with the intention to guarantee each entry to energy for customers and in addition assist ongoing financial growth via attracting funding, typically in manufacturing,” she added.
