Is there a universal human right to electricity?

Löfquist, Lars

doi:10.1080/13642987.2019.1671355

Cited by 36 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 10 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…It is vital to acknowledge here that the final contours and content of a right to energy, will and should not be shaped only by law and policy disciplines. In fact, works from philosophy, ethics, and political theory have also begun to develop conceptual ideas on what a ‘right to energy’ may entail, and which vital questions must be asked [66] , [67] , [68] , [69] , [22] , [25] . Such questions invariably include: what are people’s universal or specific essential needs for energy services in their lives, i.e.…”

Section: Momentum On Right To Energy In Policy and Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Energy poverty in the COVID-19 era: Mapping global responses in light of momentum for the right to energy

Hesselman

Varo

Guyet³

et al. 2021

Energy Research & Social Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article presents the results of the COVID Energy Map, a novel, global mapping exercise tracking emergency responses undertaken by governments, regulators, utilities and companies in the Global North and South to mitigate energy poverty by keeping energy affordable and available. The map constitutes a comprehensive open access evidence-based database, so far collating 380+ emergency measures, in 120+ countries. This paper particularly shows and discusses how the response has been developing until early 2021, highlighting various emerging longer-term concerns and strategies across Global North and South. The global COVID-19 response merits close attention in our view, as it reveals both the universal importance of household energy services access and important underlying existing narratives and policy-making questions about securing energy services access as a vital basic need, and even a ‘basic right’. In fact, the paper additionally evaluates whether and how COVID-19 responses seem to fall in step with a nascent global trend of (legal) recognition of ‘rights to energy’ in international, regional and national policy, including for example in the EU, India, Philippines, and Colombia. We conclude that while the COVID-19 response clearly reflects broad recognition of the vital importance of affordable, continuous energy services access for basic human well-being and capabilities during the pandemic, a right to energy perspective could additionally lay bare or give shape to important concerns about some households’ too minimal (insufficient) forms of modern energy access, questions of equity, and the role of the state and other actors. In terms of equity the article particularly raises issues with the manner in which support was made available only to some consumers (e.g. on-grid, off-grid, regulated, or non-regulated, post-paid or pre-paid), or only for specific fuels, and not others. In addition, the lack of attention to clean (renewable) (off-grid) energy services in COVID-19 responses is striking, and worrying, both in terms of immediate response, and green recovery from COVID-19. We argue that a right to (clean) energy perspective would help to reflect on, and inform, both shorter-term and longer-term responses to energy poverty and COVID-19, and should aid the realization of sufficiently equitable, robust, modern energy systems in line with universal UN Global Sustainable Development Goal 7. Specifically, it should also help to fulfil SDG7.1.’s promise of ‘leaving no one behind’.

show abstract

Section: Momentum On Right To Energy In Policy and Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Energy poverty in the COVID-19 era: Mapping global responses in light of momentum for the right to energy

Hesselman

Varo

Guyet³

et al. 2021

Energy Research & Social Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…With the growth of the world population, there has been a hasty increase in the demand for power to be able to meet basic human needs [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. This has led to the exploitation of electrical energy based on fossil fuels, which are non-renewable, and directly impact the environment, generating pollutants which are emitted into the atmosphere and contribute to global warming [ 4 , 5 , 6 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimal Design of PV Systems in Electrical Distribution Networks by Minimizing the Annual Equivalent Operative Costs through the Discrete-Continuous Vortex Search Algorithm

Cortés-Caicedo

Molina-Martin

Grisales-Noreña

et al. 2022

Sensors

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper discusses the minimization of the total annual operative cost for a planning period of 20 years composed by the annualized costs of the energy purchasing at the substation bus summed with the annualized investment costs in photovoltaic (PV) sources, including their maintenance costs in distribution networks based on their optimal siting and sizing. This problem is presented using a mixed-integer nonlinear programming model, which is resolved by applying a master–slave methodology. The master stage, consisting of a discrete-continuous version of the Vortex Search Algorithm (DCVSA), is responsible for providing the optimal locations and sizes for the PV sources—whereas the slave stage employs the Matricial Backward/Forward Power Flow Method, which is used to determine the fitness function value for each individual provided by the master stage. Numerical results in the IEEE 33- and 69-node systems with AC and DC topologies illustrate the efficiency of the proposed approach when compared to the discrete-continuous version of the Chu and Beasley genetic algorithm with the optimal location of three PV sources. All the numerical validations were carried out in the MATLAB programming environment.

show abstract

“…Electricity is a fundamental right worldwide, and all national governments and multiple independent organizations strive together to make this public service universally accessible [1,2]. However, this involves a colossal challenge: most countries use fossil fuels to generate electricity, which directly affects us, as the emission of environmental pollutants into the atmosphere leads to global warming [3,4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimal Investments in PV Sources for Grid-Connected Distribution Networks: An Application of the Discrete–Continuous Genetic Algorithm

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The problem of the optimal siting and sizing of photovoltaic (PV) sources in grid connected distribution networks is addressed in this study with a master–slave optimization approach. In the master optimization stage, a discrete–continuous version of the Chu and Beasley genetic algorithm (DCCBGA) is employed, which defines the optimal locations and sizes for the PV sources. In the slave stage, the successive approximation method is used to evaluate the fitness function value for each individual provided by the master stage. The objective function simultaneously minimizes the energy purchasing costs in the substation bus, and the investment and operating costs for PV sources for a planning period of 20 years. The numerical results of the IEEE 33-bus and 69-bus systems demonstrate that with the proposed optimization methodology, it is possible to eliminate about 27% of the annual operation costs in both systems with optimal locations for the three PV sources. After 100 consecutive evaluations of the DCCBGA, it was observed that 44% of the solutions found by the IEEE 33-bus system were better than those found by the BONMIN solver in the General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS optimization package). In the case of the IEEE 69-bus system, the DCCBGA ensured, with 55% probability, that solutions with better objective function values than the mean solution value of the GAMS were found. Power generation curves for the slack source confirmed that the optimal siting and sizing of PV sources create the duck curve for the power required to the main grid; in addition, the voltage profile curves for both systems show that voltage regulation was always maintained between ±10% in all the time periods under analysis. All the numerical validations were carried out in the MATLAB programming environment with the GAMS optimization package.

show abstract

Is there a universal human right to electricity?

Cited by 36 publications

References 10 publications

Energy poverty in the COVID-19 era: Mapping global responses in light of momentum for the right to energy

Energy poverty in the COVID-19 era: Mapping global responses in light of momentum for the right to energy

Optimal Design of PV Systems in Electrical Distribution Networks by Minimizing the Annual Equivalent Operative Costs through the Discrete-Continuous Vortex Search Algorithm

Optimal Investments in PV Sources for Grid-Connected Distribution Networks: An Application of the Discrete–Continuous Genetic Algorithm

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About