Decarbonizing East Asia
Description
The global fight against climate change cannot be understood without taking East Asia into account. Home to the world's largest share of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, the region also leads in investment in renewable technologies and low-carbon infrastructure. Decarbonizing East Asia provides the most comprehensive comparative account of how China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan are reshaping their energy systems in response to the climate crisis.
Through interdisciplinary and detailed case studies, the volume examines the policies, technologies, and political conflicts shaping the region's transition away from fossil fuels. Governments across East Asia are pursuing different pathways--expanding renewables, promoting electrification, and experimenting with nuclear and hydrogen technologies--while balancing competing priorities of economic growth, energy security, and environmental protection. The book also highlights the social and political tensions embedded in the shift to green energy as infrastructure projects generate new forms of environmental injustice.
Combining comparative analysis with grounded case studies, Decarbonizing East Asia reveals how one of the world's most dynamic regions is redefining the possibilities--and the challenges--of decarbonizing modern economies.
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Persons
Joanna I. Lewis is professor of energy and environment at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Her works include Cooperating for the Climate: Learning from International Partnerships in China's Clean Energy Sector. Stevan Harrell is professor emeritus of anthropology and environmental and forest sciences at the University of Washington. His publications include An Ecological History of Modern China. Ashley Esarey is associate professor of political science and East Asian studies at the University of Alberta. His works include The Xi Jinping Effect, coedited with Rongbin Han. Mary Alice Haddad is professor of government, East Asian studies, and environmental studies at Wesleyan University. Her publications include Environmental Politics in East Asia.