It makes sense for South-east Asia to go for clean energy

PERHAPS the most striking aspect of the International Energy Agency's (IEA) new analysis of South-east Asia's energy outlook is its revelation of the impressive pace of growth and emerging economic opportunities in this culturally rich and technologically cutting-edge region.

To take one headline figure: primary energy demand grew in Asean countries by 60 per cent between 2000 and 2015, and the region's economy is expected to triple in size by 2040, reaching almost the same size as China's galloping economy of today.

To achieve this staggering projected growth, while at the same time ensuring access to electricity for the 64 million people in the region who are still without it, the IEA says that nearly US$3 trillion dollars will need to be invested in power generation between now and 2040. That is a big number, but it can produce very different outcomes depending on the choices made by the governments and investors working to build South-east Asia's energy future.