Energy
Oil spill threatens corals in eastern Thailand
Authorities are rushing to prevent an oil spill in eastern Thailand from damaging fragile corals, after officials said on Sunday (Jan 30) the leak that began last week was drifting towards more coastal areas. Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Varawut Silpa-archa said it was ...
Reuters/vc
Bac Lieu Province strives to become Vietnam’s clean energy center
Bac Lieu Province in southern Vietnam is striving to become the national center of clean energy, with multiple wind power projects being implemented and put into operation. Bac Lieu Province currently has the most wind power projects in commercial operation in the Mekong Delta. Many vast land ...
Data exposes flaws in Mekong Delta resilience plans
For generations, Vietnamese communities have used the ample water resources and fertile soil of the Mekong Delta to feed the nation. Fuelled by the Mekong’s constant supply of rich sediment, the fisheries and paddy fields of Vietnam’s southernmost region have long been the bedrock of Vietnam’s ...
Nhin Tan Thuan
Authorities in Laos Draft Law on Hydropower Safety
The law will cover dams and hydropower installations and set standards or quality control procedures for each phase of construction, Lao National Radio reports. Deputy Minister of Energy and Mines, Mr. Sinava Souphanouvong, spoke during a conference held to discuss the draft law on hydropower safety that ...
Phayboune Thanabouasy
Asean needs a Middle Path
Despite the economic downturn during the Covid-19 pandemic, China-sponsored infrastructure, trade and cooperation initiatives with Southeast Asian nations have been moving forward consistently — amplifying the presence of Beijing in one of the world’s fastest growing regions. One recent landmark event was the inauguration of the ...
PARITTA WANGKIAT
MRC says bold actions needed to address low Mekong flows
China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam have all been urged to take steps to address regional low flows, water fluctuations and drought as the Lower Mekong River experiences record low flows for the third consecutive year. The Mekong River Commission (MRC) Secretariat has said that ...
Unraveling the Mystery of Laos U-Turn from Renewables to Coal to Power the Battery of Southeast Asia
After years of hydropower supercharging Laos’ successful ambition to become the key power exporter in the region, Laos’ energy export market has taken a surprising turn towards coal. According to most international analysis from Carbon Tracker to Bloomberg, carbon is dying. Yet in Laos, energy carbon production went ...
Kannikar Petchkaew
New megadams threaten world’s biggest fish
There was a time when scores of some of the world’s largest freshwater fishes swam up the Mekong River, past the Laotian town of Luang Prabang, now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Giant catfish the size of grizzly bears, seven-striped barb, giant pangasius, and other huge fish once made ...
STEFAN LOVGREN
A water diversion project that China is funding in Thailand is raising eyebrows
Plans for a new water diversion project in Thailand are alarming environmentalists. And a Chinese state-owned firm offered to finance it, raising flags with those who fear China’s growing influence. ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: In Thailand, plans for an ambitious water diversion project are raising lots of questions ...
MICHAEL SULLIVAN
Tigers, jaguars under threat from tropical hydropower projects: Study
The flooding of land for hydroelectric dams has affected more than one-fifth of the world’s tigers (Panthera tigris) and one in two hundred jaguars (Panthera onca), according to the findings of a new study published Dec. 9 in the journal Communications Biology. Seen by some as a low-carbon solution ...
Carolyn Cowan