Toward a low-carbon and just energy transition in developing Asia

Coal stands out as the most carbon-intensive energy source, making its combustion a major contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Additionally, coal combustion emits significant amounts of air pollutants. Coal is consumed by households, power plants, and industries. We focus only on power plants, and the energy transition for households and industries is outside the scope of this book. Thus, there is considerable focus on reducing coal combustion through measures such as retiring existing coal-fired power plants and halting the construction of new ones. In November 2023, the 28th United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) agreed to accelerate efforts to phase down unabated coal power and transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems while tripling renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency to advance a just and sustainable green transition (IRENA 2023a). The phase out of coal power requires discontinuing the use of coal in energy systems, while the phase down requires a significant reduction in energy generation and production. However, this poses challenges for Asia and the Pacific, as the region relies heavily on coal and hosts roughly three out of four coal plants on the planet (ADB 2023; IEA 2023). Coal accounts for 57% of the regional energy mix, and coal production has nearly tripled (increased by 181%) since 2000 (IEA 2021a; World Bank, 2023). More than half of electricity generation in India (75%), the People’s Republic of China (PRC) (60%), Indonesia (61%), Kazakhstan (67%), the Philippines (60%), and Mongolia (85%) stems from coal (Our World in Data 2024). Moreover, the region’s fleet of coal-fired power plants (CFPPs) continues to expand (IEA, 2023).

source :

https://www.adb.org/publications/low-carbon-just-energy-transition-developing-asia