Agricultural Land in the GMS (thousand hectare) in ... - GMS-EOC

equirements that marked the previous decades ofeconomic growth. Such trends are likely to persistwell into the future.The development of physical infrastructure forthat energy supply will have a significant localenvironmental impact, or footprint, in addition toincreased greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fueluse. Renewable energy and energy efficiency areimportant means to moderate these impacts andform an important part of the energy mix portfolio.Nevertheless, the local footprint must also be wellunderstood and managed.Energy access remains uneven across thesubregion, with a high dependence in somecountries on traditional energy sources, such asfirewood and agricultural residues. Rising energydemand without adequate access to commercialenergy will add to already growing environmentalpressures. The subregion depends heavily on oilimports and significant increases in demand willaggravate already existing energy concerns.Ensuring Improved Access toModern EnergyOne of the key challenges in the GMS will beto ensure that quality modern energy reacheseveryone. Electricity will be of particularimportance. One quarter of the GMS population,some 74 million people, currently lacks accessto electricity. The problem is particularly acutein Cambodia and Myanmar, where only abouta quarter of the population have access toelectricity. These countries, along with the LaoPDR and Viet Nam, are aiming to achieve 100%electrification by 2020.Even in areas with access, electricity consumptionis very low. In 2008, the average per capitaelectricity consumption for the subregion as awhole was 1,156 kilowatt hours, less than onesixth that in Organisation for Economic Cooperationand Development (OECD) countries.At the household level, Thailand has thehighest annual per capita household electricityconsumption in the subregion at only 409kilowatt hours. Households in OECD countriesin Europe consume three times as much, whilehouseholds in the United States consume morethan 10 times this amount.Dependence on traditional energy is high,particularly in rural areas: 83% of householdsin Cambodia, 80% in the Lao PDR, and morethan 50% in Viet Nam use firewood and othertraditional energy sources for cooking. In additionto health problems from poor indoor air qualityarising from the use of biomass, continuedreliance on biomass will worsen existing localenergy vulnerability.Per capita Electricity Consumption and Share of Biomass Use in TotalEnergy Use in the GMSElectricity consumption,kilowatt hours2,5002,0001,5001,000500-100806040200Percent (%)Upper: Coal-fired (thermal) power plantin Xuanwei, Yunnan Province, PRC.Lower: Hydropower dam construction,central Annamites, Viet Nam.Annual per capita electricityconsumption (kWh)Annual per capita householdelectricity consumption (kWh)Share of biomassin total energy use (%)GMS = Greater Mekong Subregion, Lao PDR = Lao People’s Democratic Republic, PRC = People’s Republic of China.Note: Per capita electricity consumption is for 2008; share of biomass in total energy use is for 2006.Source: ADB. 2009. Building a Sustainable Energy Future: The Greater Mekong Subregion. Manila; National Bureau of Statistics of China. 2010. China Statistical Yearbook for RegionalEconomy 2010. Beijing; Lao PDR Ministry of Energy and Mines; World Data Bank. World Development Indicators and Global Development Finance. http://databank.worldbank.org/ddp/home.do?Step=1&id=4Energy 187