Commentary: Oil shock will hit Asia harder than the 1970s

CLEAN ENERGY THE WINNER?

All this is driving a rush for alternatives – and the winner each time is clean energy.

In India, shortages of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) – widely used in cooking – have sparked lengthy queues, fights at retailers, and a run on electric induction stoves that cost the same as roughly three gas bottle refills. Consumption of LPG in March fell 13 per cent compared to a year earlier.

In Australia, auction sales of used electric vehicles doubled in March. At the Bangkok International Motor Show earlier this month, Chinese EV brands accounted for about two-thirds of bookings, overwhelming Japanese automakers used to dominating the local market. Vietnamese EV-maker Vinfast Auto plans to sell about five times more cars in overseas markets this year than in 2025.

Battery-only models have already reached around 50 per cent market penetration in recent months in Singapore and Thailand, and about a third in China, Indonesia, South Korea and Vietnam. Even before the war, billions of drivers in Asia were looking for an alternative to the cost and pollution of petrol power, and in numerous markets electric models were already as cheap as conventional vehicles.

In the Philippines, imports of solar panels from China during March alone were sufficient to increase total solar capacity by half, relative to levels at the end of 2025. In Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Pakistan, trade was sufficient to boost installations by a quarter or more. One Manila-based solar installer told local news site Rappler that they were signing as much as 10 times more contracts per month than they were before the war.