RURAL ENERGY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: A Challenge for Economic Development

Abstract

▪ Abstract The energy problems of the developing world are both serious and widespread. Lack of access to sufficient and sustainable supplies of energy affects as much as 90% of the population of many developing countries. Some 2 billion people are without electricity; a similar number remain dependent on fuels such as animal dung, crop residues, wood, and charcoal to cook their daily meals. Without efficient, clean energy, people are undermined in their efforts to engage effectively in productive activities or to improve their quality of life. Developing countries are facing two crucial—and related—problems in the energy sector. The first is the widespread inefficient production and use of traditional energy sources, such as fuelwood and agricultural residues, which pose economic, environmental, and health threats. The second is the highly uneven distribution and use of modern energy sources, such as electricity, petroleum products, and liquefied or compressed natural gas, which pose important issues of economics, equity, and quality of life. To address these problems, this paper evaluates some successful programs and recommends that governments support market-oriented approaches that make the energy market equally accessible and attractive to local investors, communities, and consumers. Such approaches ideally improve access to energy for rural and poor people by revising energy pricing and by making the first costs of the transition to modern and more sustainable uses of energy more affordable.

Long-Run Demand for Energy Services: Income and Price Elasticities over Two Hundred Years

“…This suggests that household energy and energy service consumption patterns may, in part, be a reflection of their preferences for certain attributes or characteristics of energy sources or technologies, such as energy density, ease of storage and use, health effects, cleanliness, and flexibility and mobility of the energy source. These different preferences help to explain the 'energy ladder' whereby, as consumers' incomes rise, they shift from using biomass fuels to coal and then from coal to oil, gas and electricity (Barnes andFloor 1986, Sovacool 2011). More generally, transitions to new energy sources and technologies are often associated with new attributes (Fouquet 2010).…”

Constructing Field Expedient Solar Water Pasteurizers from Junk

“…Currently, solid biomass, usually firewood and dried animal dung, is the most prevalent cooking fuel in developing nations [2]. Some estimates indicate that approximately 90% of people living in developing countries do not have access to sustainable fuel sources [17]. Creating a positive impression of solar heaters to those living in developing countries has proven to be challenging in many regions, and several research studies have produced mixed results.…”

Decentralized Energy in Water-Energy-Food Security Nexus in Developing Countries: Case Studies on Successes and Failures

“…In most rural households in low income countries, most of the energy consumption is thermal energy with very little electricity consumption ( Patanothai et al 2011). Thermal energy is the basis to fulfill the very basic human needs (food, heat), while electricity access is dependent on rural households income (Barnes & Floor, 1996). In fact, electricity consumption can be used as a proxy of urbanization or improvement in the energy ladder (ibid).…”