Public Attitudes Towards Energy Policy and Sustainable Development in ASEAN Countries

Abstract

This study examines the willingness to pay (WTP) for RE in ASEAN countries. It reports the results of the second research phase. In 2020 (phase one), we conducted a household survey in Myanmar, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Viet Nam, and Thailand; the WTP for RE was investigated based on the discrete choice experiment and contingent valuation method (Yoshikawa, 2020). This study targets Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand. Given the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on 2020’s investigation, we renewed the survey in Thailand for this study. In addition to REs, this study also surveyed electric mobility, especially electric motorbikes. It compared gasoline-powered and electric motorbikes in Viet Nam to ascertain how WTP depends on various attributes in the discrete choice experiment. Unfortunately, like in 2020, the pandemic impacted the survey this year. Some refused to take the survey for fear of infection, and the WTP was undeniably affected by the short-term COVID-19 factor. Thus, the WTP amount revealed in this report is probably within a certain minimum value for future policy design implications regarding RE and electric mobility. The report is structured as follows. Chapter 2 summarises the policy trends regarding RE. Chapter 3 presents the methodology and survey design. Chapter 4 summarises the sampling strategies adopted for each of the cities included in this research. Chapter 5 provides an overview of the descriptive statistics of the responses. Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 analyse the results of the survey on the WTP for renewable energy in the five ASEAN cities, and the WTP for electric motorbikes in Ho Chi Minh City, respectively. Chapter 8 provides policy implications and conclude this report.