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New CSTPR Publication
Defining Energy Access for the World’s Poor
by Roger Pielke, Jr. and Morgan Bazilian
Excerpt: The poorest three-quarters of the global population still use only about 10% of global energy—a clear indicator of deep and persistent global inequity. Modern energy supply is foundational for economic development, yet discussions about energy and poverty commonly assume that the roughly 2 to 3 billion people who presently lack modern energy services will demand or consume them only in small amounts over the next several decades. This assumption leads to projections of future energy consumption that are not only potentially far too low, but that also imply, even if unintentionally, that those billions will remain deeply impoverished. As we argued in our article in the Summer 2013 Issues, such limited ambition risks becoming self-fulfilling. Here we provide some supporting data.
Not all “energy access” is the same
What counts as energy access? Answering the question is not simple. World Bank data show the wide range of what can be meant by “energy access” and how per capita consumption differs among countries at “full electrification” and among those with much lower access rates. Countries that are classified by the Bank as having 100% household access to electricity services vary in their electricity consumption by more than seven-fold. Yet for a household of five, annual electricity consumption of less than 2,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) per year would be far less than the typical household energy services would imply in even the least energy-consumptive wealthy countries, such as Bulgaria or Greece. Thus, “full” energy access does not necessarily mean access to a full array of modern energy services. Read more …
