ADB to accelerate Asia's energy efficiency investments

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Wednesday it will boost investment in end-user energy efficiency to help Asia and the Pacific tackle surging power demand and growing environmental threats from greenhouse gas emissions. "There is huge potential for saving energy by making buildings, vehicles, machinery, and water pumps more energy efficient to the benefit of consumers and the environment, and the time is right for the ADB to do more in this area, " ADB's Vice-President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development Bindu Lohani said at the 8th Asia Clean Energy Forum in Manila, according to a press release from the bank. "We want to promote demand-side energy efficiency through public and private sector partnership, with the ADB taking a lead role in providing customized policy advisory services, technical assistance, and innovative financing support in developing member countries," said Lohani. According to a new ADB study, Asia's share of primary global energy consumption is set to rise from 34 percent in 2010 to as much as 56 percent in 2035. By then, most Asian countries will produce less than half of the energy they need, forcing substantial fuel imports, the Manila-based lender said. Using energy more efficiently reduces the need to build power plants and lowers imported fuel bills, potentially freeing up government funds for spending elsewhere, the study said, adding this spending could include provision of electricity to the estimated 628 million people in the region who currently have no supply. The ADB has been expanding investment in clean energy, including in renewable energy and energy efficiency, providing USD 2.3 billion in financing in 2012. A growing number of countries such as China, India, and Thailand are already implementing energy efficiency initiatives as a least-cost solution to meeting rising power demand, and the ADB is keen to support such efforts, it noted. The ADB is a multilateral development finance institution dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific. Established in 1966, it has now owned by 67 members, mostly from the region, as well as the US, Britain and Germany.