The energy challenge in Asia – to meet massive energy demand growth, while drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions in line with targets under the Paris Agreement – is the eye of the needle for the world’s climate challenge. For regardless of decarbonization efforts in the U.S., Europe, or elsewhere, the world will not reach net zero without Asia playing its part. Energy transition technologies - including Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), low carbon hydrogen, and biofuels - have a unique role to play in reducing emissions from hard-to-abate industries, some of which are intrinsic to energy access and affordability, as well as economic growth.
Though interest and support for energy transition technologies in Asia is growing, developing viable pathways for the technologies’ value chains is a complex Rubik’s-cube with intersecting technical, commercial, and policy challenges. In the absence of widespread climate policies to provide a strong carbon price incentive, and with 2030 climate commitments coming into view, clear and practical policy support is urgently needed to drive clean energy investment and solutions that can help forge an accelerated decarbonization pathway.
