UNITED NATIONS ESCAP

Review of the Kazakhstan transition

to the Green Economy scenario through increasing the share of

renewables in energy balance – Converting agricultural residues to

bio-heat

Katazina Andrukonyte 4.12.2019 01-250519

UN ESCAP 1 (14) 4.12.2019

Table of contents

1 Acknowledgement .................................................................................................... 2

2 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 2

3 Existing potential of converting agricultural residues to bioenergy .................................. 2

4 Mapping of currently available and proven bio-heat technologies and deployment

opportunities in Kazakhstan ...................................................................................... 6

5 Kazakhstan bioenergy policy review ........................................................................... 9

6 Evidence-based examples ........................................................................................ 10

7 Policy recommendations and conclusion ..................................................................... 13

UN ESCAP 2 (14) 4.12.2019

1 Acknowledgement

We would like to express our sincere appreciation and gratitude to all

stakeholders participated in the journey of producing this report. Now, the report

is a part of Evidence-based Policies for Sustainable Use of Energy Resources in

Asia and the Pacific Project implemented by the Energy Division of the United

Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) under

the leadership of Mr. Michael Williamson, Chief of Energy Division, and his team,

especially Ms. Alexandra Prodan, Mr. David Ferrari, and Mr. Faran Rana. We are

thankful for their true partnership, intellectual commitments and invaluable

contribution.

Herewith, we express our special gratitude to all energy experts, representatives

of the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Ministry of Industry and

Infrastructural Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan, other governmental

officials, UNDP Regional Office in Kazakhstan, environmental and energy sector

policymakers, state authorities and other stakeholders who supported the

development of this report and made it possible to deliver the high-quality

solutions.

The report was prepared by Ms. Katazina Andrukonyte, an Independent

Renewable Energy Expert, in strong consultations, productive workshops and with

constructive feedback provided by the stakeholders.

2 Introduction

Kazakhstan has one of the largest agro-based economies in Central Asia with

extensive crop cultivation that generates large volumes of agricultural residues. A

large share of agricultural residues is used for soil mulching, as fertilizer, animal

feed and bedding. However, still a rather large share of the residues remains

unused. One promising option for these remaining and unused residue volumes is

to convert them into bioenergy for heating, cooking and electricity production.

Today, the Kazakhstan market for converting agricultural residues to heat is

absent, with an exception of few biomass-based boiler plants commissioned in the

past 2 years. However, integration of renewable energy into energy balance is

considered to be the key factor ensuring the realisation of the Green Economy

strategy of Kazakhstan. Conversion of unused agricultural residues to energy can

play a significant role in increase of the share of renewable energy. Thus, in

future renewable heat from agricultural residues has the potential for expansion.

This report aims to provide information about what identified potential exists and

what are the best available technologies and practices for converting agricultural

residue to bio-heat, as well as to provide practical examples of benefits from

different proven technical solutions to environmental and energy sector

policymakers, authorities and other energy business sector stakeholders in

Kazakhstan.

3 Existing potential of converting agricultural residues to bioenergy

An agricultural residue is the term to describe all organic matter that remains

after harvesting crops and processing those crops to obtain certain agricultural

products, as well as organic matter that remains after livestock farming. A major

share of agricultural residues in Kazakhstan comes from:

• Crops cultivation - harvesting and processing of wheat, barley and sugar beet.

Typical residue types include stalks, stumbles, straw, leaves, husks, bagasse,

roots and others.

• Animal husbandry – farming of pigs, cows, horses, chicken and other animals.

Typical residue types include slurry, manure, animal husbandry wastewater,

animal litter, silage, slaughter, bedding leftovers and others.

UN ESCAP 3 (14) 4.12.2019

The recent study completed by the EBRD “Bioenergy Opportunities in the Kazakh

Agribusiness Sector” summarized the potential of available crop residues for

energy conversion in Kazakhstan. The report covered the following aspects:

• In Kazakhstan, the total volume of available crop residue is 5.1 million

tons of dry matter. The largest share is from wheat (54%) and sugar beet

(30%), barley (8%) with other crops accounting for 8%.1

• In Kazakhstan, the total available volume of manure is approximately 1.5

million tonnes per year of dry matter. The available part of residues is

17% of total residues production. The largest share of manure available is

from cattle (74%) and poultry (23%) and very minor share from pigs

(3%). The key factors for the available potential are the amount of large

size farms and the number of animals on those farms.2

The study identified 4 major regions with the largest residues’ availability –

Akmola region, Kostanay region, Almaty region and East Kazakhstan region.

Figure 1 summarizes the review of the available residues in the identified regions

and the conclusions of the study are on the map in Figure 2.

1 EBRD study “Bioenergy Opportunities in the Kazakh Agribusiness Sector”, 2019 2 EBRD study “Bioenergy Opportunities in the Kazakh Agribusiness Sector”, 2019

UN ESCAP 4 (14) 4.12.2019

Figure 1: Summary of Kazakhstan´s agricultural residues3.

HP type Total available capacity

Shares of residue types Capacity potential of different districts Energy density of districts

Akmola region

258 MWfuel

• crops 80% • manure 17% • slaughter 1% • MSW bio fraction 2%

Akmola overall has 19 districts of which: • 8 districts have 15 – 25 MWfuel capacity, • 9 districts have 5 – 15 MWfuel capacity, • the rest of the districts have the capacity under 5 MWfuel.

Best energy density was identified: • Sandyktau (3.1% kW/km2) • Arshaly (2.8 kW/km2) • Burabay (2.7 kW/km2)

Kostanay region

244 MWfuel

• crops 80% • manure is 16%

slaughter 1% • MSW bio fraction 3%

Kostanay overall has 20 districts of which:

• 1 district has over 35 MWfuel capacity,

• 5 districts have 15 – 25 MWfuel capacity,

• 9 districts have 5 – 15 MWfuel capacity

• the rest of the districts have fuel capacity under 5 MW.

Best energy density was identified: • Sarykol (3.1 kW/km2)

• Fedorov (3.1 kW/km2)

• Karasu (2.9 kW/km2)

Almaty region

135 MWfuel.

• manure 64% • crops 23% • slaughter 7% • MSW bio fraction 6%.

Almaty overall has 19 districts of which: • 1 district has over 25 MWfuel capacity, • 1 district has 10 – 20 MWfuel capacity, • 10 districts have 5 – 10 MWfuel l capacity, • the rest of the districts have fuel capacity under 5

MWfuel.

Best energy density was identified: • Karasai (3.3 kW/km2) • Ili (2.9 kW/km2) • Uigur (1.9 kW/km2)

Eastern Kazakhstan

122 MWfuel.

• manure 47%. • crops 46% • slaughter 6%

• MSW bio fraction 1%.

Eastern Kazakhstan overall has 19 districts of which: • 4 districts have over 10 MWfuel capacity, • 5 districts have 5 – 10 MWfuel l capacity,

• the rest of the districts have fuel capacity under 5 MWfuel.

Best energy density was identified: • Shemonaiha (2.8 kW/km2), • Borodulikha (2.3 kW/km2)

• Ulan (1.5 kW/km2).

3 EBRD study “Bioenergy Opportunities in the Kazakh Agribusiness Sector”, 2019

UN ESCAP 5 (14) 4.12.2019

Figure 2: Summary of Kazakhstan´s agricultural residues on the map.

UN ESCAP 6 (14) 4.12.2019

4 Mapping of currently available and proven bio-heat technologies and deployment

opportunities in Kazakhstan

In Europe, converting agricultural residues to energy has been actively developed

for over 20 years, and there are quite a lot of proven adopted technologies that

can utilize a wide range of residues and operate in different climatic conditions.

Biomass for energy (bioenergy) continues to be the main source of renewable

energy in the EU with a share of almost 60%. The heating and cooling sector is

the largest end-user using about 75% of all bioenergy. For example, direct

combustion, pyrolysis, gasification, biogas, upgraded biogas and many others.

However, as in Kazakhstan the technology of converting agricultural residues is in

an early phase, the proposed potential solutions are the following:

• Crops residues combustion in biomass heat only boilers;

• Crops residues co-firing in the existing large only boiler plants;

• Crops residues and livestock residues anaerobic fermentation; and

conversion to biogas, lastly biogas burning for bio-heat production.

A more detailed description of each technology, its inputs and outputs

characteristics and a summary of advantages and disadvantages are provided in

Figure 3. Each recommended technology is applicable to the climatic conditions of

Kazakhstan and technically feasible.

In Kazakhstan, the deployment of energy conversion systems can lead to several

benefits:

• Even though agro-residue handling requirements and volumes differ

among regions and farms/industries, volumes can be captured and

combined across the different farms in a single specific facility, where

residues can be processed and converted to energy;

• Unused agricultural residues conversion ensures production of useful heat

that can be used in local domestic/industrial sector and/or electricity that

can be delivered to a local grid;

• In the biogas technology option, the residues mix after anaerobic

processing can be used as fertilizer and absorbed much better by the

plants due to its characteristics, thus this fertilizer increases farm yield;

• Less GHG emissions, CO2 and nitrous dioxide;

• Conversion process allows recirculation of the organic and green waste

from farms;

• Less odour inconveniences with slurry/manure/organic waste, as residue

processing ensures immediate handling of waste residues;

• Reduction of the contamination of surface water, groundwater and

drinking water with residues;

• Waste management improvements in farms and industries.

Moreover, clean energy technology can help in the achievements of the

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)4:

• Access to clean energy such as biomass and biogas energy can minimise

gender inequalities and the variations in energy access across different

gender dimensions, social and culture context. For example, in rural areas

where society needs to transport fuel for long distances, residues are

available locally at the places where they live.

• Introduction of cleaner energy, more efficient and renewable fuel sources

can bring training, employment, and entrepreneurial opportunities for men

and women.

4https://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/gender/Gender%20and%20Environment/TM4_AsiaPacific_Capacity.pdf

UN ESCAP 7 (14) 4.12.2019

• Improved and modern energy services improve women´s socio-economic

status by reducing the time and efforts involved in household chores, e.g.

biogas/ biomass can be used for domestic hot water, heating and clean

cooking, thus women do not need to spend extra time for hot water

preparation, and have an access to clean cooking.

• Possibility to incorporate gender perspectives into energy projects, policy

planning when introducing new technologies in the market.

Currently, Kazakhstan farmers benefit from the captured agricultural residues

schemes in different ways, for example, manure is used as fertilizer, thus it

reduces expenditures on organic fertilizer. Secondly, small parts of residues are

used as animal feed and bedding. However, a large share of unused residues

potentially could help farmers to benefit with the production of additional

alternative energy volumes and revenue streams and high-quality fertilizer (for

biogas cases).

Even though Kazakhstan has a large potential of unused agricultural residues

resources, these resources are not sustainably captured and deployed due to a

few technical barriers as outlined below.

Key technical barriers:

• Firstly, agricultural residues types, volumes and current uses vary

significantly between different regions, different farms, industries and

agro-companies. Thus, capturing, processing and technology selection is

rather complex and case-specific.

• A low share of cultivated land, highly variable between the regions, low

yield leads to low densities of crops and difficulties in the collection

process.

• To keep transportation costs at an acceptable level and due to the

converting technology requirements, additional processing of the residues

is needed, that, as a result, carries additional costs:

o For example, crops need to be balled, crushed, even pelletized

before they can be fed to energy systems, thus additional

infrastructure is required.

o Manure can be transported only for very limited distances.

o Temporary storage locations might be necessary.

o Different unloading, pulling and transporting machinery may be

required in addition to typical harvesters.

• Lack of infrastructure and machinery that would help capture agricultural

residues more effectively. Generally, collection strongly depends on the

machinery available both for harvesting and processing.

• Lack of information as to actual waste residues streams and their

characteristics in the regions.

• There are knowledge gaps in technology facilitation and know-how transfer

in these areas. Limited research and laboratory investigations have been

done for the sector.

UN ESCAP 8 (14) 4.12.2019

Figure 3: Agricultural residues conversion BAT description

HP type Technology description Inputs Outputs Advantages/Disadvantages

Biogas plants

Biogas plants produce methane gas during the organic matter fermentation process. The feedstock is transported to plants and after anaerobic process biogas is generated. CAPEX – 1 400 000 EUR/MW of installed capacity with investment in CHP for heat and power production.

• crop residues • manure • slaughter • MSW bio fraction • other organic

residues

• Biogas (with typical methane share of 50-75%)

• digestate, for use as fertilizer

Advantages: • Various and different types of residues can be mixed • Can be easily built locally in remote areas • Biogas can be utilized for heat and electricity production, or

directly as gas for clean cooking and other purposes. • The fermented waste mix can be used as fertilizer • Fewer GHG emissions from methane, CO2 and nitrous

dioxide • Fewer odour inconveniences with slurry/manure Disadvantages: • Lower production volumes of energy compared to direct

combustion. High CAPEX and OPEX

Crops residues combustion in biomass heat only boilers

Combustion of the agricultural resides in a standalone biomass boiler and production of heat. The feedstock is fed to grate boilers and after the combustion heat is used for local purposes. CAPEX – 700 000 EUR/MW of installed capacity.

• crop residues • dry organic residues

• space heating

• domestic hot water

Advantages: • Low CAPEX • An alternative solution is to use of coal or natural gas • Fewer GHG emissions due to the utilisation of renewable fuel Disadvantages: • End of biomass reuse cycle • Lower GHG effect • Moisture sensitive technology • Limited types of agricultural residues can be used • Additional transportation costs

Crop residues combustion in existing boiler plants

Combustion of the agricultural residues in an existing boiler, by feeding a limited amount of biomass into the furnace and production of heat. The feedstock is crushed into dust in large crushers and fed to existing boilers and after the combustion heat is used for local purposes. CAPEX – case-specific

• crop residues • dry organic residues

• space heating

• process heat of higher

temperatures

• domestic hot water

Advantages: • Utilization of the existing system more efficiently • GHG reduction

Disadvantages: • End of biomass reuse cycle • Limited types of agricultural residues can be used • Limited amount of residues can be fed to existing boilers

(less than 30%) without significant investments into technology upgrade

• Very complex technology • Additional processing and transportation costs

UN ESCAP 9 (14) 4.12.2019

5 Kazakhstan bioenergy policy review

To promote renewable energy development, Kazakhstan has adopted the Concept

for Transition to the Green Economy until 2050. The main strategic policy

document is a response to the existing environmental concerns of the country and

a pledge to the Paris Agreement to deal with GHG emissions mitigation. The key

direction of the strategy is establishing a regulatory framework for the

development of the renewable energy priorities and sustainable clean energy

goals, as well as targets towards energy efficiency and reduction of energy

dependency on fossil fuels.

The major Green Economy transition strategy is divided into 3 main stages (i)

Phase I 2013-2020, (ii) Phase II 2020-2030 and (iii) Phase III 2030 – 2050, as

demonstrated in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Summary of the Kazakhstan Green Energy transition strategy phases

Source: Kazakhstan 2050 strategy – Our Power

Kazakhstan’s transition to the “Green Economy” in the energy sector has

the following targets:

• Reduction of CO2 per capita by 25% (2030) and 40% (2050)

• Reduction of energy demand in the energy sector (heat and electricity) by

10% (2030) and 15% (2050)

• Rehabilitation of 45% to 60% of the energy facilities (including energy

facilities and industry)

• Share of renewables consists of 30% generated electricity by 2050

• Reduction of emissions of SO2, NOx and PM

The Green Economy concept was followed by a new Law on Green Economy in

20165 and the Program for Development of the Agricultural Sector for 2013-2020,

“Agrobusiness 2020”6, that also promotes the development of new sustainable

technologies in the agricultural sector.

5 https://online.zakon.kz/m/document/?doc_id=38547342 6 https://egov.kz/cms/ru/law/list/P1600000668

UN ESCAP 10 (14) 4.12.2019

Kazakhstan has also adopted the Energy conservation and Energy Efficiency

policy,7 which is a strategic document that sets targets to significantly decrease

municipal and industrial energy consumption and suggests the framework for

future development, shifting the Green Economy growth. The Law of the Republic

of Kazakhstan of January 13th, 2012 No. 541-IV “On Energy Saving and

Improving Energy Efficiency”. The Policy also proposes investments and incentives

for modernisation of the existing municipal and industrial infrastructure, as well as

sets rules and guidelines for the Energy Efficiency priorities, targets, standards for

appliances and building standards, and introduction of clean energy technologies.

In addition, the National Parliament has also approved the Law on the Regulation

of Production of Energy from Biomass Resources and National Tariffs for Energy

Produced from Biomass Resources, that promote biomass and agricultural

residues as renewable energy.

Established policies in Kazakhstan ensure that the Government implements

programmes for the clean energy sector development and boosts a wide range of

activities in the national energy policies, as well as the development of clean

energy concepts targeting the green transition, energy conservation and

improvements in efficiency, however, there is still a heavy policy and economic

barriers in the sector, that hinder conversion technologies development, as

following:

• Green tariff and green tariff guarantee levels are not enough to cover

investment costs according to the today’s regulatory framework;

• Lack of guarantee in timely and regular payments of the green tariff by the

Government of Kazakhstan for costs related to acquisition of the renewable

technologies;

• Artificially low electricity prices, subsidised up to 60% by the Government

of Kazakhstan, turn renewable electricity into an uncompetitive business;

• Limited financial schemes for such technology deployment and pilots;

• Lack of financial resources in comparison to needed investments;

• High CAPEX and OPEX of the technology and value chain of residues

processing;

• Lack of certification schemes for renewable projects;

• Lack of overall standards for support of the consumers, energy producers

and distributors.

Clean energy technologies deployment, especially technologies related to

agricultural residues conversion to energy could transit the energy sector towards

less energy intensive, more sustainable and climate-friendly market. However, it

is essential to create an effective policy and incentive mechanisms to ensure that

investors see the biomass conversion sector as an attractive and competitive

business area.

6 Evidence-based examples

Each mid-size and large-scale farm/enterprise in Kazakhstan has the potential to

utilize unused agricultural residues and convert them into useful energy. The best

way to demonstrate benefits and deployment opportunities for a specific farm is

to demonstrate a conceptual solution for a typical farm. Below, there are

presented two conceptual solutions for the utilisation of unused residues for

Kazakhstan conditions from technical, economic and environmental perspectives.

Cases are based on the actual farm and statistical information and give a brief

7 Закон Республики Казахстан от 13 января 2012 года № 541-IV «Об энергосбережении и повышении энергоэффективности»

UN ESCAP 11 (14) 4.12.2019

understating of required inputs, possible outputs, used technology and produced

energy competitiveness with energy produced from traditional fuel.

The demonstrated calculation below represents a typical large size dairy farm of

Kazakhstan. The farm produces dairy products such as milk, yogurt and similar

products. The farm has about 4000 heads of cattle in their livestock, and for

feeding the livestock farm has 48 000 ha of cultivated land of mixed crops.

Such a farm has a sufficient number of unused residues for conversion to

renewable energy. The farm is 100km from the closest large city and is located

next to farmlands and small villages, thus, it could be considered as a typical

remote facility. However, due to working places in the farm, the neighbouring

village has close to 1500 inhabitants that could potentially benefit from the

renewable energy.

Considering the market readiness and novelty of technology in the region, there

are two major possibilities for such farms:

• Concept A – Biogas Technology plus Combined Heat and Power Plant

(CHP). In this case, the farm would utilize both manure residues and crop

residues as an organic mix. This mix would be sent to biogas plant for

anaerobic digestion and as a result, the farm would get two major outputs:

digestate and biogas. Digestate can be used as a clean and high-quality

fertilizer that can be returned to the fields, while biogas with CHP unit

would generate both electricity and heat for the farm and neighbouring

buildings. However, this option without economic incentives is not enough,

as a required investment in infrastructure and equipment is high, and the

cost of production becomes 60% more expensive than utilizing traditional

fuel (coal) for heating and purchasing needed electricity from the grid.

Figure 5a: Concept of conversion of agricultural residues to biogas8

• Concept B – Biomass-based Heat Only Boiler Plant. In this case, fuel mix

would mainly include dry matter and crops residues. The fuel mix would be

incinerated in a biomass boiler to produce heat and domestic hot water.

This option has fewer benefits than the biogas option, but due to lower

8 The source of pictures: https://www.toorodina.com/, https://www.wartsila.com/

The source of calculations and initial data is based on consultant’s experience in the region and based on previous projects.

UN ESCAP 12 (14) 4.12.2019

investment cost seems to be more feasible, but still by 30% more

expensive than the use of traditional fuel.

Figure 5b: Concept of conversion of agricultural residues to bio-heat9

Both conceptual solutions are technically feasible and bring a few benefits to the

farmers. Also, such solutions can contribute to the overall green energy targets of

the Kazakhstan economy. However, without subsidies, the renewable solutions

are uncompetitive in comparison to traditional solutions. As a result, farmers have

neither incentives, nor motivation to invest in similar technologies. Thus,

economic incentive schemes and an adequate policy framework would be required

to ensure the deployment of similar solutions in Kazakhstan.

9 The source of pictures: https://www.toorodina.com/, https://www.wartsila.com/ The source of calculations and initial data is based on consultant’s experience in the region and based on previous projects.

UN ESCAP 13 (14) 4.12.2019

7 Policy recommendations and conclusion

In Kazakhstan, a large share of agricultural residues is used for soil mulching, as

fertilizer for lands, as animal feed and bedding. However, still a rather large share

of the residues remains unused, especially in wheat, barley, sugar beet harvesting

and processing, from 30% to 50%. In animal farming, there are up to 80%

available volumes of unused residues. One promising option for these remaining

and unused residue volumes is to convert them into bioenergy for heating,

domestic hot water and electricity production, as well as clean cooking

gas/biogas.

Established policies in Kazakhstan ensure that the Government implements

general programmes for the clean energy sector development and boosts a wide

range of activities in the national energy policies, as well as the development of

clean energy concepts targeting the green transition, energy conservation and

improvements in energy efficiency. However, there still exist significant policy and

economic, technical and market barriers, that hinder deployment of agricultural

residues conversion technologies as presented in the report. Following are key

recommendations for the sector improvement:

• Create additional investments on the governmental level to boost various

national renewable energy programs, however, investments focused on

biomass and agricultural residues utilisation, biogas technologies, as the

latest investments were focused mostly on wind, solar and hydro energy.

• Establish incentive programs that provide grants and loan guarantees for

biomass/biogas projects and energy efficiency programs dedicated

specifically to agricultural sector stakeholders.

• Create specialized sustainable agriculture programs with clean

energy/waste minimisation targets, that motivate farms to convert their

heating and power systems to use agricultural residues, biomass, rather

than fossil fuels. Large and medium size farms can convert their residues

through proven technology solutions, for example, incineration and biogas,

to useful energy, such as renewable gas, electricity and heat. Typical

large/medium farm that has livestock and/or crop fields, has sufficient

unused volumes of unused residues that could be converted to useful

energy and cover from 50-70% of its electricity demand, and a large share

of its heating/process heat demand. Farms even have the potential to

supply excess heat to nearby village buildings and provide space heating

and domestic hot water if there is a centralized heating network for

distribution of energy, or to provide gas for clean cooking. In addition,

digestate from biogas plants can be used as bio-fertilizer and be fully

returned to the field.

• Strengthen regional cooperation in the sustainable agriculture sector with

the target to:

o Increase knowledge exchange that offers the opportunity to speed up

the clean energy deployment progress at national and regional levels,

by sharing best practices and trainings in the region;

o Strengthen policy analysis and feasibility studies to align with the

Kazakhstan Green Economy targets and overall regional policy,

including the agricultural sector to the scope of the framework;

o Develop national renewable strategy so that it addresses links in

ongoing regional and sub-regional initiatives, by joining common

programs and cooperation initiatives in the agricultural field;

UN ESCAP 14 (14) 4.12.2019

o Establish clear linkages of renewable energy policy, strategy and action

plan with other sectors, especially agricultural sector, energy efficiency

sector and overall Green Economy targets;

o Develop institutional arrangements with inclusion of agricultural sector

stakeholders, so that it provides private and institutional investors’

confidence in a long-term commitment, aligned with Asia-Pasic charter

and legislative framework;

o Promote public-private dialogues to encourage investment partnerships

on a regional level in the agricultural sector.

ESCAP provides a unique platform to link national and regional efforts, promoting

collaboration. ESCAP can support a transformative partnership, ensuring that

regional cooperation creates incentives and tools to deliver the energy transition.

UN-ESCAP’s Energy Division implemented a number of projects and in particular

the project “Evidence-based policies for the sustainable use of energy in Asia and

the Pacific” under the Development Account to promote policy dialogues, to

establish strategies, and to forge arrangements on sustainable energy

development.

The project helped the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan to highlight the priority

areas that shall be improved by policymakers: making the transition to the Green

Economy, increasing the share of renewables in the energy mix, the

implementation of respective incentive mechanisms using global best practices

and reduction of GHG emissions through the energy transition.

The transition to sustainable energy in the Asia-Pacific region has already begun

and adapting to the new reality requires transition to innovative policies, system

thinking and advanced business models. ESCAP, as the regional arm of the United

Nations in the Asia-Pacific region, can play a role in the development of regional

and national approaches for sustainable energy.

The energy transition is not only essential in order to reach the SDG 7, but many

other SDGs can benefit from the effects of cleaner, environmentally friendly

energy, affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.