Energy is at the heart of most critical economic, environmental and developmental issues facing the world today. Clean, efficient, affordable and reliable energy services are indispensable for global prosperity.
Developing countries in particular need to expand access to reliable and modern energy services if they are to reduce poverty and improve the health of their citizens, while at the same time increasing productivity, enhancing competitiveness and promoting economic growth.
Current energy systems are inadequate to meet the needs of the world’s poor and are jeopardizing the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). For instance, in the absence of reliable energy services, neither health clinics nor schools can function properly. Access to clean water and sanitation is constrained without effective pumping capacity. Food security is adversely affected, often with devastating impact on vulnerable populations.
Worldwide, approximately 3 billion people rely on traditional biomass for cooking and heating, and about 1.5 billion have no access to electricity. Up to a billion more have access only to unreliable electricity networks.
The “energy-poor” suffer the health consequences of inefficient combustion of solid fuels in inadequately ventilated buildings, as well as the economic consequences of insufficient power for productive income-generating activities and for other basic services such as health and education.
In particular, women and girls in the developing world are dis- proportionately affected in this regard.
A well-performing energy system that improves efficient access to modern forms of energy would strengthen the opportunities for the poorest few billion people on the planet to escape the worst impacts of poverty. Such a system is also essential for meeting wider development objectives.
Economic growth goes hand in hand with increased access to modern energy services, especially in low- and middle-income countries transitioning through the phase of accelerated industrial development. A World Bank study indicates that countries with underperforming energy systems may lose up to 1-2 per cent of growth potential annually as a result of electric power outages, over-investment in backup electricity generators, energy subsidies and losses, and inefficient use of scarce energy resources.
At the global level, the energy system – supply, transformation, delivery and use – is the dominant contributor to climate change, representing around 60 per cent of total current greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Current patterns of energy production and consumption are unsustainable and threaten the environment on both local and global scales.
Emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels are major contributors to the unpredictable effects of climate change, and to urban air pollution and acidification of land and water. Reducing the carbon intensity of energy – that is, the amount of carbon emitted per unit of energy consumed – is a key objective in reaching long- term climate goals. As long as the primary energy mix is biased towards fossil fuels, this would be difficult to achieve with currently available fossil fuel-based energy technologies.
Given that the world economy is expected to double in size over the next twenty years, the world’s consumption of energy will also increase significantly if energy supply, conversion and use continue to be inefficient. Energy system design, providing stronger incentives for reduced GHG emissions in supply and increased end-use efficiency, will therefore be critical for reducing the risk of irreversible, catastrophic climate change.
The scale and nature of the access gap and locations involved means that electricity will need to be provided through both centralized and decentralized energy technologies and systems, combining the following three general models.
■ Grid extension. An extension of the existing transmission and distribution infrastructure to connect communities to power.
■ Mini-grid access. Linking a local community to a small, central generating capacity, typically located in or close to the community. The power demand points are linked together in a small, low-voltage grid that may also have multiple smaller generating sources.
■ Off-grid access. Generating capacity provides power for a single point of demand, typically a solar household system (SHS).
Providing global energy access is not a luxury, but a necessity. Lack of access to modern energy services is one of the main factors that constrains development for the poorest populations.
Providing access to reliable and affordable energy services is critical for development, and increasing the reliance on clean energy sources for energy access is also important for the climate agenda.
Access solutions will vary by geography, by setting and over time. There are many successful examples of access expansion to demonstrate that the ambitious goal of universal energy access by 2030 is achievable.
Source: AGECC Group
