Sustainable energy transition in Southeast Asia: Energy status analysis, comprehensive evaluation and influential factor identification

Abstract

Southeast Asia, one of the world's most vibrant economies, faces significant challenges in enhancing energy security and mitigating carbon emissions. This study provides a holistic view of the energy security status in Southeast Asia by presenting energy facts from six aspects and identify the critical factors affecting sustainable energy transition in this region with the techniques of political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal (PESTEL) Analysis and fuzzy Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods. It indicates that: (1) Southeast Asia performs well in enhancing energy supply but awkwardly in sustainable energy transition, and great divergence exists among different countries; (2) The economic aspect is the most important in sustainable energy transition, followed by the technological, environmental and political aspects; (3) Important factors influencing sustainable energy transition in Southeast Asia include political instability, backward economy, uncertain social acceptance, insufficient energy infrastructure, restrictions of geographical conditions, and limited government efforts.