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Innovations for a low-carbon economy and carbon neutrality are the focal points of technology development in the energy sector. This paper aims to investigate the progress of technology and advancements in the energy sector and the implications for Indonesia via two routes, viz., renewable energy and energy efficiency. The methodology employed in this research is divided into two parts. Firstly, an extensive literature review was conducted to identify prevalent research trends within the energy sector. Second, a case study method was performed to gain a comprehensive understanding of energy transformation within the electricity and steel sectors. The study presents two key findings. First, the energy sector has experienced significant technological disruption, providing the opportunity for Indonesia to transition towards a low-carbon development. This includes smart grids, energy-intensive industries, electric vehicles, and storage (pumped storage and battery). Second, lessons from the steel industry show that the technology selection is sensitive to parent company, and this is not easily captured in literature studies. Indonesian has gained many benefits from the global technological disruption, but this is not sufficient without developing changes in support system and consumer behavior., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

The Indonesian government is incorporating Low-Carbon Development (LCD) into its National Medium-Term Development Plan 2020-2024. In the future, the energy sector will become the largest carbon emitter unless the government commits to dissolving barriers to renewable energy expansion. Literature studies indicate four barriers to LDC namely socio-cultural, economic, technology, and governance. This research aims to examine the barriers that hinder the implementation of LCD in Indonesia and to analyze which barriers are most significant. This study uses mixed methods. Qualitative and quantitative data were generated during fieldwork in DKI Jakarta, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, and Bangka Belitung provinces. The Partial Least Square - Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) approach was used to measure the direction and strength of the relationship. The qualitative approach is useful for further deepening the provincial context that was not captured from the previous approach. This study indicates that among those four barriers, technological and governance barriers have negative significant and direct effects on LCD, and governance needs to be treated as the most critical barrier. This study emphasizes the importance of collaboration between central and local governments in implementing LCD. Shared vision, equal responsibilities, commensurate governance roles, development of fiscal instruments, can improve the coherence and continuity of renewable energy development programs and activities., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2022 The Authors.)