Bangkok - If Asian-Pacific governments follow a more sustainable energy paradigm they can shave 766 billion dollars off the estimated 9 trillion dollars needed to improve their energy infrastructure by 2030, a United Nations report concluded Monday. The cost of expanding and modernizing energy systems in the Asia-Pacific region to meet soaring demand between now and 2030 is expected to reach 9 trillion dollars, but this could be cut to 8.3 trillion if the region follows a sustainable energy scenario, said a UN study on "Energy Security and Sustainability Development in Asia and the Pacific."
Over the next 22 years, for instance, China will need to spend 1 trillion dollars on transmission and distribution networks alone and India will need to spend 700 billion in the electricity and oil sectors, said the report, which was issued at the 64th session the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
This year's ESCAP session, which ends Wednesday and has drawn more than 100 ministers and country representatives to Bangkok, will focus on sustainable energy development in the region, home to two-thirds of the world's poorest 1 billion people.
"Some 1.7 billion people in the region are using bio-mass fuels, and 1 billion people still lack access to electricity," said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon in an opening address to the ESCAP session.
Asia also has the highest death toll resulting from indoor air pollution caused by burning biomass - such as wood and animal dung - amounting to nearly 1.3 million a year in India, China and South-East Asia.
The region's governments face a double challenge of meeting their people's growing energy needs while doing so in a more sustainable manner, to result the adverse impact of global warming.
"Between 1990 to 2004, per capita energy use in the region more than doubled," said Ki-moon, in a speech delivered by ESCAP Exectuive Secretary Noeleen Heyzer. ""As a result CO2 emissions has increased dramatically."
The UN Secretary General urged the region's governments to meet development targets while promoting sustainable and efficient energy use.
Between 2006 and 2030, coal production is likely to increase 70 per cent in the region, mainly driven by consumption in China, India and Indonesia, predicted the UN report on sustainable energy.
The report urged these countries to switch from coal to natural gas, or at least adopt more sustainable practices in coal consumption, such as using coal beneficiation (washing), and more efficient coal burners.
Regional governments will also need to seek more innovative means of financing their huge energy infrastructure investments over the next two decades, warned the UN.
"The way ahead will rely on using innovative financing and greater regional and sub-regional cooperation to develop energy infrastructure which promotes equitable economic and social development without compromising the environment," said Heyzer, who heads ESCAP.
ESCAP comprises a massive region, stretching from Central Asia to the Pacific islands, including the world's two most populous countries China and India.
