Asian Energy at the Crossroads

In two centuries since the Industrial Revolution, energy-based technological change conferred living standards on Western economies that are beyond the imagination of their ancestors. Around the world, however, this progress has been more uneven. Asia came later to industrialization, and it remains unequally distributed around the region. Rapid and sustained growth over the last generation, however, has begun a dramatic transition for this region. Average per capita energy consumption is low in Asia today, but rising inexorably with incomes. Given the underlying demographic scale, this will place unprecedented demands upon the global energy system, with profound implications for the environment and, depending on innovation processes, real living standards. Unless energy becomes less carbon-intensive and remains affordable, Asian economic emergence will challenge the prospects for sustained global growth and prosperity. To support more sustainable Asian energy development, this book collects expert perspectives on the salient aspects of the regional and global energy economy. The authors synthesize the state of knowledge on conventional and alternative energy development with the latest information on evolving energy use technology, demand patterns, and markets.