Energy security of three selected Asian countries

ABSTRACT

Energy security has become of importance to many countries that are facing the developmental challenge. In this regard, this paper analyses the effect of CO₂ mitigation measures in the power sector on the energy security of three developing Asian countries, namely Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. This paper contends that energy security consists of three important themes, namely oil security, gas security, and sustainability. The energy systems of the three countries were modeled using an integer programming-based optimization model called “Model for Energy Supply Strategy Alternatives and their General Environmental Impacts” (MESSAGE), and the time frame of analyses was 2007–2030. Results show that there is significant increase in the sustainability of the energy systems due to CO₂ mitigation measures in all three countries whilst oil security and to a lesser extent gas security were not significantly enhanced.

KEYWORDS:

• Energy security
• gas security
• oil security
• Sri Lanka
• sustainability
• Thailand
• Vietnam

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology, Thammasat University, and Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) for their support. The authors would also like to thank the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for providing the MESSAGE software.