ABSTRACT
Geothermal energy is derived from terrestrial heat stored in or discharged from fluids and rocks tapped over varying depths below the earth's surface. Geothermal is also able to provide constant energy streams and generate electricity and heat, and applications range from small household-level devices to sizeable grid-connected power stations. The Philippines first emerged as East Asia's sector leader by the 1980s, around the time that South Korea and Taiwan began to also establish their own geothermal energy industries. However, the sector's long-term future in East Asia depends very much on the state support. The chapter focuses on number of policy-related barriers that continue to impede East Asia's huge geothermal potential, including those of a regulatory, financial incentive mechanism, agency coordination, and infrastructural nature. It examines how state policies and strategies introduced by East Asian governments in the 2000s often lacked substance and sufficient incentivisation for catalysing new investment.
