Analysis on Energy Saving Potential in East Asia Region

Energy security and climate change are very important issues in the world. At the 2nd East Asia Summit (EAS) in Cebu Island of the Philippines, January 2007, the leaders of the region declared that East Asia could mitigate these problems by strong leadership on several countermeasures. These include: a. promotion of energy conservation, b. utilisation of bio-fuels and cleaner use of coal. Two groups were designated to assist in implementing the countermeasures mentioned above: the Energy Cooperation Task Force (ECTF) and Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA). ECTF is charged with supporting the efforts of the EAS and its Energy Ministers Meeting (EMM) to promote cooperation on policies to implement these countermeasures. ERIA is in charge of studying the potential impacts of the countermeasures. ERIA is focusing on energy studies in two areas: first, promotion of energy conservation and, second, utilisation of bio-fuels. This report was prepared by the Working Group for Analysis of Energy Saving Potential in East Asia under the ERIA Energy Project. The report covers all research activities of the Working Group from August 2011 to May 2012, including methodology, estimated impacts of current energy saving goals, and policy recommendations to the ECTF. This report extends and enhances the analysis of the working group undertaken annually from 2007 to 2010.The structure of this report is still similar to the previous versions in view of the application of similar methodology but it should be noted that one of the important accomplishments of this research study is the development of energy efficiency targets for the countries that did not have targets when this project started in 2007. It could be said that these countries started taking energy efficiency as an important energy policy as a result of this study. This report hopefully contributes to mitigating problems related to energy security and climate change through increasing understanding of the potential for energy saving of a range of energy efficiency goals, action plans and policies. A number of key insights for policy development are also discussed