Rural energy planning remains out-of-step with contemporary paradigms of energy access and development (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Integrated Rural Renewable and Sustainable Energy Planning Framework for Low-Income Countries
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2021
Demonstration of the integrated rural energy planning framework for sustainable energy development in low-income countries: Case studies of rural communities in Nigeria. Abstract A consensus is forming that shows that decentralized renewable energy may be the most appropriate method for electrification of rural communities as it enables countries to leapfrog the development of conventional electric grids. This type of energy-based economic development holds great promise and yet there are still unanswered questions of how best to move rural areas to adequate renewable energy. Therefore, this study provides integrated rural energy planning for improving localized renewable energy access in low-income countries. Using rural Nigeria as a case study, this paper presents a new methodology for locating and planning integrable off-grid renewable energy systems. The aim of the method is to illustrate a unified road map for energy planning and system design with renewable energy integration geared towards improving energy access in rural areas. Utilizing GIS-based tools, rural communities are identified, and their viable renewable energy resources are estimated. Adopting the reference building approach, seasonal disaggregated energy demand profiles are obtained at community scale with an hourly time-step. These are obtained markedly in the absence of smart-metering equipment and measured datasets on energy use. This method has wide applicability across areas with similar energy access and rural development issues especially in sub-Saharan Africa and developing Asia.
Participatory rural energy planning in India. A policy context
The problems of fuel insu$ciency, over exploitation of biomass resources and poor reliability and quality of energy services available to the rural masses of India continues despite numerous initiatives by the government. These initiatives have largely been in the form of national level rural and renewable energy programmes aimed at improving people's quality of life and reducing the existing pressure on the natural resource base. The programmes have met with limited success on account of several reasons. One of these is the absence of a mechanism for ensuring the genuine participation of the local inhabitants. With this weakness in mind, the Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI) and the University of Waterloo (UW) undertook a joint research project (1994}1997), aimed at developing participatory planning and intervention design methodologies and tools to facilitate public participation and feature a meaningful role for women in rural energy planning. This paper presents the policy implications and recommendations of the work.
Enhancing Access to Energy Services for Sustainable Development in Rural Communities
Journal of the Institute of Engineering
Access to energy has been based on physical availability, acceptability, adequacy, affordability, reliability, and quality of supply. In addition to physical access, real access to energy services can be limited by the purchasing power of the household, the cost of energy and cost or energy-using equipment. However, ensuring adequate energy for a healthy life implies that the types and amount of energy should meet basic minimum needs without adverse health impacts. The purpose of the paper is to explore the dimensions of energy access to rural communities in developing countries for enhancing sustainable development objectives. The systematic literature review methodology has been used to define approaches of sustainability of energy access and try to understand the linkage between modern energy access to sustainable development for rural communities. The study is stabilized that, redefinition and standard thresholds for sustainable energy services in local community level are cruci...
Energies, 2020
Actors play a crucial role in sustainable energy development yet interaction in different contexts is an area that has not received much scholarly attention. Sustainable energy transitions theories such as the Multi-Level Perspective, for instance, have been criticized for not describing precisely the nature of the interactions between actors and institutions within socio-technical systems. The goal of this study was to empirically examine local actors' engagement and its impact on the planning and implementation of sustainable energy initiatives in the villages and remote areas in Ghana. Using the mixed methodology approach, interviews were performed, focus discussion groups were held, and archival data were collected, and social network modeling and case study analysis was performed. Our findings showed that sustainable energy development at the local level depends on an interplay between local government agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), central government agencies, local communities, and private sector organizations. Despite being the focal point at the local level, local government involvement in sustainable energy planning is limited. In the case of Ghana, sustainable energy planning remains centralized and is manifested in a low level of awareness of local actors on national energy plans. The implication for decision makers is that energy planning functions should be devolved to the local government. Such devolution is expected to ensure the integration of sustainable energies into local government plans for the well-coordinated implementation and effective monitoring of sustainable energy projects.
Structuring decisions about energy in developing communities: an example from Canada's north
Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 2014
Decisions about energy in developing communities are challenging from a technical standpoint, and because of the unique characteristics that typify them, e.g. limited infrastructure and government budgets, complex social and political arrangements, and economic vulnerability. Against the backdrop of these challenges, the government of Canada's Northwest Territories (NWT) is attempting to reform the region's energy system. This paper provides insights from the decision sciences, stemming from our work on the NWT's energy planning process, about how to structure decisions about energy development and delivery so as to effectively meet a range of stakeholders' objectives in a transparent and inclusive manner.
Productive Uses of Energy for Rural Development
Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 2005
▪ This review utilizes the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) working definition of “productive uses of energy,” which states “in the context of providing modern energy services in rural areas, a productive use of energy is one that involves the application of energy derived mainly from renewable resources to create goods and/or services either directly or indirectly for the production of income or value.” The definition reflects the shift toward the aspirations of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Traditionally, the productive uses of energy have been rather narrowly defined. The focus has been on the direct impact of energy use on gross domestic product (GDP) and the importance of motive power for agriculture. This conventional view has some utility in understanding the nature of development at the national and regional level; however, in order to respond to international development goals while maintaining pace with an ever-...
A research agenda for a people-centred approach to energy access in the urbanizing global south
Nature Energy, 2017
M ost people without access to electricity and clean fuels live in rural areas 1. Nevertheless, the challenges of energy access in urban areas are also considerable and attract policy attention. Over 880 million people live in slums in developing regions, in households that suffer multiple deprivations in urban services, space and security of tenure 2. Such households routinely lack access to a reliable and affordable supply of electricity and clean fuels. About 105 million people lack electricity in urban areas in sub-Saharan Africa alone 3. In countries such as Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda or Tanzania, less than half of the urban households have access to an electricity connection 2. People living in urban areas face specific energy challenges, including unreliabil-ity of energy services, lack of affordability, lack of access to micro-finance and insecurities related to tenure issues and the erroneous perceptions of slums 4. Progress towards global objectives for universal energy access has been disappointing since the UN Secretary-General launched them in 2011. According to the Global Tracking Framework 3 , 1.05 billion people worldwide did not have access to electricity in 2014, down from 1.06 billion in 2012. The access rate increased by 0.27% per year, which is not sufficient to achieve the goal of universal elec-trification by 2030. The figures for access to clean cooking are even more discouraging: over 3 billion people still lacked access to clean fuels and technologies in 2014. With a rate of improvement of 0.46% a year, the goal of universal access to clean fuels and technologies by 2030 seems unachievable. The challenge of achieving universal access to modern energy services in urban areas highlights the strong linkages between two Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), SDG7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) and SDG11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities). Both SDGs can be advanced simultaneously through forms of inclusive urban planning that promote energy sustainability and resilience. This requires two changes in policy approaches. First, policies need to address the lack of installed capacity for energy access and limited availability of clean fuels, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa 5. Addressing this persistent challenge will require a substantial amount of public finance while recognizing a diversity of feasible provision models 6,7. Progress has concentrated in Asia, where multi-actor efforts in the context of industrializa-tion have improved the rates of energy access in urban areas. For example, in Indonesia, a national-level programme including governmental institutions, businesses and consumers led to a large shift from kerosene to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and contributed directly to the alleviation of extreme poverty 8,9. In sub-Saharan Africa, in contrast, energy access rates remain stagnant. Energy access rates have even worsened in countries such as Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Second, there is a need to challenge dominant paradigms of energy provision. Unfortunately, the assumption that urbanization is akin to an extension of the electricity grid has long dominated debates of energy access in urban areas. This assumption puts a disproportionate emphasis on electrification at the expense of understanding the need for fuels and technologies for clean cooking 10,11. Moreover, this assumption obscures the complex ways in which energy access barriers manifest in urban areas and, in particular, the specific limitations that emerge in inadequately serviced, informal or peri-urban areas 12-16. Delivering sustainable energy access in urban areas requires a multidimensional understanding of users' needs within diverse urban contexts. These two policy changes call for a renewed research agenda on universal access to sustainable energy in urban areas. In this Perspective, we outline such an agenda. We frame progress towards sustainable energy as a complex, multifaceted challenge in the next section. Delving deeper into why the global energy challenge continues to haunt contemporary societies in the age of urbanization, we then analyse barriers to energy access in urban areas. Finally, Energy access is typically viewed as a problem for rural areas, but people living in urban settings also face energy challenges that have not received sufficient attention. A revised agenda in research and practice that puts the user and local planning complexities centre stage is needed to change the way we look at energy access in urban areas, to understand the implications of the concentration of vulnerable people in slums and to identify opportunities for planned management and innovation that can deliver urban energy transitions while leaving no one behind. Here, we propose a research agenda focused on three key issues: understanding the needs of urban energy users; enabling the use of context-specific, disaggregated data; and engaging with effective modes of energy and urban governance. This agenda requires interdisciplinary scholarship across the social and physical sciences to support local action and deliver large-scale, inclusive transformations. NATurE ENErgY | VOL 2 | OCTOBER 2017 | 776-779 | www.nature.com/natureenergy 776