Julian Kirchherr and Matthew J. Walton The beginning of the year is always a time of prediction and thus peak season for pundits. Twelve months ago, many pundits on Myanmar predicted the National League for Democracy-led government would, once it assumed power, quickly scrap the controversial Myitsone dam project. Three reasons were provided for this prediction. First, […]
Tag: energy
The top 5 water stories in 2016
Water is an irreplaceable component in the fight against climate change but it is also its biggest victim. The World Economic Forum named water the number one threat in 2015 and it was also ranked a top risk in 2016.
Over the last 12 months, the world was given a sneak preview of the global water wars scientists have predicted for the century ahead, and tensions surrounding dams and the control of water within drought situations were flashpoints for conflict. Companies can expect water use to hit their bottom lines harder and prices of electricity are likely to go up as hydropower comes under threat.
Experts warn about environmental pollution’s impacts on GDP growth
Natural disasters and environmental pollution can reduce GDP by 0.6 per cent per year from 2016-20, according to the National Centre for Socio-economic Information and Forecast (NCIF) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
Therefore, changes are needed to reduce the economy’s reliance on non-renewable energy.
Decisions due on coal, gas, petroleum auctions
After a year of changes in the global and domestic energy market, Thailand can expect further challenges in the years ahead.
Of these, the most crucial issues are the development of two coal-fired power plants in the South, the retirement of the Erawan and Bongkot gas blocks and the long-delayed 21st round of new concessions for 29 petroleum blocks.
The Mekong Part III: Scaling Back Lao Dams
Farmers and fishermen in downstream countries are complaining about the impact of Mekong River dams located upstream in both China and Laos.
But a think tank now has a plan to reduce the damage done to crops and fish stocks by hydroelectric dams. Its focus is on Laos, Southeast Asia’s poorest country, which it says could benefit from scaling back on some of its planned dams.
Laos’ Xekaman 3 Dam Break Shuts Off Power to Vietnam
A break in a critical waterway shut down a hydro-electric dam in southern Laos and raised questions about the quality of construction at the facility that sends most of the power it generates to Vietnam.
While officials said the Dec. 16 break in the Xekaman 3 facility’s penstock posed no threat to people living downstream, it marked the second breakdown in the tunnel that channels water to the power turbine, RFA’s Lao Service has learned.
Uncertain path for Vietnam’s wind power sector
Although Vietnam has great potential for renewable energy, and the government has put forward many plans advocating it, actual policies to secure investment and develop the sector have been slow to evolve. “Development [of renewables] has not grown strongly because power prices are too low to accommodate it,” says Le Tuan Phong, the Vice Director of Energy Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT): “Renewable energy investm
CSOs urge cancellation of coal, large hydro projects
Hundreds of civil society organisations have urged the government to formally abandon plans for coal power plants and large-scale hydropower projects and instead embrace renewable energy.
Some CSO leaders have also criticised the National League for Democracy for excluding the public from a review of the country’s energy policies.
China’s clean-energy giants on an overseas shopping spree
Chinese state-funded renewable energy firms are spreading the net overseas, as quality new projects become harder to come by at home, and have already been successful in snapping up some prime operational projects, while bidding for others, both in developed and emerging markets.
The two most active are China General Nuclear Power Group, the nation’s largest nuclear reactor developer, and China Three Gorges, the country’s biggest hydro power projects developer.
Will Vietnam launch a “Resolution 10” on renewable energy?
Vietnam has strongly committed to develop renewable energy. Experts expect implementation of these commitments will create a “Resolution 10” for the energy sector. Resolution 10 is the name of a critically important Vietnamese reform in 1988. This policy helped to liberalize the freedom and the production potential in rural and agricultural economies.