As a result, the Asia Least-cost
Greenhouse Gas Abatement Strategy
(Algas) project therefore concludes that Thailand should place renewed
emphasis on reforestation efforts and switch from coal-fired power
plants to burning more natural gas in order to help prevent climate
change.
The Algas results, unveiled
at the climate change summit taking place
in this Japanese city, also reveal that Asia as a whole emits relatively
small amounts of GHGs per capita, but relatively large amounts
considering the size of the region's economies.
The study was financed by
the Global Environment Facility and
examined twelve countries in all - including Bangladesh, Mongolia,
Myanmar,
Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Pakistan, the Philippines, China and North
and South Korea - but Thailand stood out for the impact of its deforestation.
Forestry and land use changes
contributed 35 per cent to
Thailand's total GHG emissions, roughly equal to the emissions generated
by the
energy sector, according to Sitthanon Jesdapipat of the Thailand
Environment Institute, which carried out the Thai study.
By comparison, in China the
energy sector accounts for 85 per
cent of that country's GHG emissions.
Agricultural activities produced
another 24 per cent of
Thailands GHG emissions, with industry, livestock, waste and soils
producing the
remainder, said Sitthanon.
The study used data from
1990, but is due to be updated with
1994 data next year, according to a Thai official.
"Unsurprisingly, the emissions
from the energy sector are
predicted to grow to the point where they will dominate total emissions,
although
these forecasts were made before the onset of tom yam kung disease
[the
financial crisis]," said Sitthanon.
"But we expect emissions
from the land use change and forestry sector
to decline dramatically with reforestation efforts," he added.
The priority investment projects
recommended by the Algas study to help
prevent climate change include fuel switching from coal to natural
gas,
micro-hydropower projects, improved forestry management and
private-sector reforestation.
Methane accounted for a quarter
of all Thailand's emissions, carbon
dioxide 73 per cent, and nitrous oxide the remaining two per cent.
If the various strengths of these
three main greenhouse gases are
taken into consideration, the total amount of GHGs emitted by Thailand
in the year 1990 equalled four million tonnes of carbon dioxide per
person, according to the study, two-thirds of the world average.
By comparison, India emitted
the equivalent of 1.1 million
tonnes of carbon dioxide per person per year in 1990; China 2.1 million
tonnes/person/year; South Korea 6.0 million tonnes/person/year; Japan
9.0 million tonnes/person/year/; the US 20.4 million tonnes/person/year
and Australia 32.2 million tonnes/person/year. In Indonesia, meanwhile,
the presence of vast forests helped it to absorb half a million tonnes
of carbon dioxide per person per year.
But if greenhouse gas emissions
are compared to the size of economies,
the picture changes drastically.
Thailand emitted the equivalent of nearly three million
kilogrammes of
carbon dioxide for each US dollar of GDP it produced in 1990, far more
than most developed countries. Even when purchasing power parity is
taken into consideration, Thailand produced 0.9 kilogrammes for each
dollar of GDP, roughly equivalent to the emissions of Germany and the
US, but still more than Japan's.
The same is true for much
of Asia. With purchasing power parity
factored in, China, India, the Philippines and Korea all emit the
equivalent of about 1.0 kilogramme of carbon dioxoide for each dollar
of
GDP.
The Algas study, which was
executed through the Asian
Development Bank and the UN Development Programme, also makes several
recommendations for cost-effective measures that Asian countries can
carry out to help prevent climate change.
In the short term, it recommends
rehabilitating and upgrading
the efficiency of power plants and electricity transmission systems;
switching to combined-cycle natural gas-based power plants; constructing
bagasse and biomass cogeneration facilities; using compressed natural
gas as a fuel for vehicles; and promoting energy efficient equipment,
appliances and building standards.
Wind energy, solar photovoltaics
and advanced biomass power will
all be medium-term options, along with more efficient mass transport
systems, electric and fuel cell vehicles.
In the agriculture and forestry
sector, the study recommends
carrying out afforestation projects, improving forest conservation
and
promoting urban forestry, improving water management in rice
cultivation, using organic fertilizers and low-methane rice cultivars,
and improving feed for livestock.
Many of these measures would
also provide local environmental
and economic benefits as well as helping to prevent global warming.