Low Carbon Scenario for an Energy Import-Dependent Asian Country: The Case Study of Sri Lanka

AbstractThe energy sector of a country is the backbone in which a country's industrial competitiveness is built. It is imperative that a well-functioning energy sector is present to facilitate the growth of a country. That being said, the environmental wellbeing of the country and the entire world is important. The energetic analyses of the power, transport and industrial sectors of Sri Lanka are presented in this paper, along with possible Low Carbon scenarios (LCS). The Low Carbon scenarios are assessed for the CO2 mitigation, energy consumption reduction and also for co-benefits such as energy security and productivity. The Sri Lankan energy sector is modeled using Asia-Pacific Integrated Model AIM/Enduse. Results show that Low Carbon activities in Sri Lanka increase energy security of the country. Mitigations of 41.3%, 25% and 37% are achieved in the most ambitious LCS, when compared to the business as usual (BAU) case in 2050, in the power, industry and transport sectors, respectively. Along with this, in all LCS, the diversity of the fuel share increases, while increasing the renewable fuel share. This also reduced the oil dependency of these sectors, thus reducing the cost burden of the Sri Lankan economy