Friday October 03, 2008

IEA says Southeast Asian nations must kick natural gas habit

peakoil.com -> bangkokpost.com :

Southeast Asian nations rely too heavily on natural gas and must diversify their power generation to ensure long-term fuel supply, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said. The IEA, in collaboration with Southeast Asian countries, will hold a workshop on the joint development of fuel diversification in Bangkok. The workshop will also discuss nuclear power, clean-coal technology, renewable energy and demand-side power management.

IEA has advised that too much dependence on one fuel risks future energy shortages. "Most fuel reserves here [Southeast Asia] are natural gas, therefore the countries here mostly rely on what they have, but it will run dry very quickly since demand is growing but few new reserves are being discovered," an IEA representative said. Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam are all heavily dependent on natural gas to fuel their electricity generation. Thailand is 67% reliant on gas, Malaysia more than 70% [and Singapore is over 80%].

- It's way past time that somebody brought this up. Putting your country's long-term energy future in a rapidly depleting fossil fuel isn't exactly a very good long-term strategy. Encouraging your citizens to switch their cars over to CNG only makes a bad situation worse.

The Asian nations have to think of something else. In fact, it's not just one thing, but many things. They have to think of going nuclear, solar, wind. Every alternative energy source will have to do its part to help.

See also :

1. Indonesia's LNG supremacy wanes as Chevron's fields run short
2. Indonesia to cut LNG supply to 6 million tons after 2010
3. Indonesia to speed up CNG vehicle conversion, using up more of its natural gas
4. Work on Singapore's first LNG terminal to start by early 2009
5. LNG at best an interim measure, alternatives must be looked into
6. Betting billions on liquefied natural gas

(2008-10-03 22:32:22 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

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