Suchergebnisse

As the regional financial and economic crisis has bottomed out and the ASEAN countries are on the recovery path, this volume seeks to carry out a post-mortem on the crisis to evaluate the sustainability of the recovery and the long-term direction of the ASEAN economies. It also examines the challenges and competitiveness of these economies which have become significant issues in the post-recovery process. Since it is not sufficient to address the economic and financial aspects, the volume also looks at the human and social dimensions, such as food security, poverty, and cross-border pollution. Furthermore, in the wake of the regional crisis, ASEAN has been criticized as being ineffective. This has prompted a re-examination of the relevance of the regional grouping in its present form, evaluating ASEAN's performance, challenges and opportunities and assessing whether there is a need for change

Biogas systems from solid waste landfill and their pipeline network have been constructed with a total biogas capacity of 1000 m3/day in two villages in Bantan subdistrict in northern Thailand. Two hundred households in two villages receive the benefits from biogas technology in many ways. It requires 217 m3/day of biogas to cover amounts of 100 kg/day of LPG that has been previously used. The heat energy cost is decreased from previously paid of 400 baht/month (12 USD/month) on LPG down to 100 baht/month (3 USD/month) with the existence of biogas as a cooking fuel. Biogas not only is used as energy source for cooking, but also contributes to the reduction of environmental pollutions produced by municipal solid waste. It helps in reducing methane (CH4) release to atmosphere by 400 kg equivalent to 10,000 kg CO2. Local communities gain new knowledge in biogas technology and its benefits. Major success to the biogas program comes from the collaboration between the solid waste disposal center, households, and government department. Biogas energy surely offers an alternative source of heat energy for households and agricultural applications.