Asia to lead in energy use

Asia to lead in energy use

JAKARTA (AFP): Asia and the Pacific will overtake western countries as the world's largest energy-consuming region in 10 years time, a United Nations official said on Wednesday.

"Demand for energy services is bound to grow and current projections estimate an annual growth rate of 3.4 percent," said Kim Hak-Su, executive secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

"In 10 years that will make Asia Pacific the largest energy- consuming region in the world," Kim said at the opening of a meeting on the region's energy and sustainable development in Indonesia's resort island of Bali.

Kim said it was estimated that by 2005 the annual investment requirements of the energy sector in East Asia alone would be in the range of $150 billion to $200 billion.

UN figures indicate that while the world's primary energy consumption had increased by 1.6 percent annually during the past 25 years, the Asia Pacific region recorded an increase of 2.5 percent per year.