Main Challenges

Based on the presentation and discussion at two of our workshops (Appendix A) and the collected data of the energy situation of Asian countries for 2006–2007 (Appendix B), the energy development in Asia is facing many challenges, of which some are listed below: (1)

To provide an adequate, reliable and a sustainable energy supply to meet the fast growing energy needs

. Reliable energy supply is the basis for healthy and fast social and economic development for every country. Therefore, special attention should be diverted to the extension of basic energy services to the people who currently lack access to modern forms of energy to solve the global poverty problem. It is estimated that the global energy demand will be about 60% higher in 2030 than 2000, while the average demand per capita in Asia will approach in 2030 the world average (presently is 71.5%). The total Asia demand will be 2.2 times higher than today, i.e. almost 11.9 billions toe, which is quite a big challenge. Sustainability depends on many factors such as: the available primary energy resources, the production capability, the environment protection, the climate change, the import and export possibility etc. so its strategy and policies may be different for different countries.