Searching for sustainable energy in the Mekong

Southeast Asian governments are starting to wake up to the vast potential of solar energy, under pressure from civil society groups that insist it is time to get on board with a global revolution in renewable energy.

[…]This global change has lessons for Southeast Asia, especially the countries joined by the Mekong River, the world’s greatest inland fishery and a crucial source of food security. Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam especially are plagued by inefficient national electricity grids dependent on coal and hydropower, delivering high-priced but erratic supply. The Mekong has too many dams for electricity generation and has suffered rapid depletion of nutrient-rich sediment, making a switch from hydropower to solar power an urgent necessity.

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Tom Fawthrop