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Carbon emissions efficiency and abatement potential are calculated.2. Two perspectives of resource dependence and endowment are considered.3. The direct and indirect effects of natural resource abundance are analyzed.4. The carbon abatement potential in resource-based regions is still large.5. Promoting the transformation of industrial structures can obtain a double dividend.

After China launched its "Belt and Road" (BR) initiative, the international community became concerned that it may worsen the environmental performance of the BR countries. Due to a lack of data for empirical testing, this paper addresses this concern through an indirect method and draws the implications of the potential impacts of China's BR initiative. This method empirically examines the effects of trade integration and regional cooperation, two major functions of the BR initiative, on energy efficiency (EE) convergence, a concept that describes the catching up process of EE across countries. A sample of 89 countries was selected to analyse the process of EE convergence from 2000 to 2014. The results indicate that although the gaps in EE among countries around the world become larger after 2010, regional cooperation may lead to a convergence process. It also finds that trade integration has a positive influence on convergence across the countries, especially among middle-and low-income countries. The results suggest that the BR initiative, through its roles in trade integration and regional cooperation, may promote EE convergence among countries. This is a desirable environmental outcome. This research also provides policy implications for both China and the other BR countries.

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Energy prices are often distorted by government control, which is usually justified on the grounds that such control will help mitigate the negative impact of price volatility from oil imports, and thus positively affect the domestic economy. In this paper, we show in a two-sector growth model, that regulatory price distortion can negatively affect the economy, and then, based on the model, we empirically estimate the impact of the price distortion on output growth in China, using monthly, time series data from 2005M1 to 2012M12. In contrast to the usual argument for regulatory control to mitigate price volatility, we find that regulatory price distortion negatively affects output growth in China during both the short and long term, because it is robust to different measures of output and price distortion. Hence, the argument that using price regulation to protect economic growth is undermined, and subsequently, this study lends its support to energy price deregulation. A market oriented, energy price regime may improve the resilience of the domestic economy to global, oil price shocks.

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This paper assesses competing outlooks for energy mix in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), highlighting the paradox of its fossil fuel-dominated outlooks when contrasted with its aspirations to move toward a green energy mix, and reviews green energy strategies using the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis method. The paper argues that despite the looming brown outlooks due to the expected surge of coal, the ASEAN region has many advantages in providing cleaner energy for its green vision. However, reduction of CO2 emissions has not been explicitly set in the region's policy agenda and thus green energy potential is underdeveloped. To achieve a greener energy mix, ASEAN needs to make further efforts such as cleaner use and removal of subsidies of fossil fuels, promotion of renewables and energy efficiency, regional market integration and connectivity, and execution of existing plans by nations. Ultimately, each of these strategies will require sustained leadership, political determination, and concrete actions from stakeholders, in particular, national governments across the region.Key Words: Southeast Asia; ASEAN; Energy Mix; Energy Outlook; SWOT Analysis 1.IntroductionThe current outlooks for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) energy mix are brown: coal will have a growing share and CO2 emissions are expected to almost double between 2011 and 2035. With a rising population of 571 million in 2010 and economic growth resulting in an increasing share of global Gross Domestic Production (GDP), Southeast Asia is seeing rapid growth in its energy demand and is consequently shifting the center of gravity of world energy demand towards Asia, along with its neighbors China and India [1]. Such dramatic and rapid shifts create challenges in terms of providing for energy supply, energy security, and environmental management [2]. Consequently, conflicts between increasing energy use to sustain economic growth and mitigating adverse impacts on the environment-are emerging concerns in Southeast Asia that will linger on in the near future.Paradoxically, ASEAN has stated its aspiration to be "Green". Notably, however, actions that directly reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions have not been incorporated in the current 1 Energy Studies Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore.Email: xunpeng.shi@gmail.com 1 energy sectorial action plan. In place of direct abatement policies, ASEAN has undertaken various actions to approach a green energy mix indirectly, with some of these programs going well but require continued progress, and others insufficient to meet their stated goals. This paper applies the "SWOT" analysis, which is popular in strategy studies, to examine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, of the ASEAN energy sector with regards to achieving green energy in the future. To the best of the Author's knowledge, such a strategic analysis of the ASEAN energy mix in the context of de-carbonization has not been presented in the...