The Obama administration, the US Congress, the United Nations, and
other international agencies should encourage and plan for far-higher
energy consumption in sub-Saharan Africa and in other regions that rely
on burning wood and dung for energy, say a group of international energy
and development experts in a new report, Our High-Energy Planet, released today.
The report comes at a time of debate about how to help Africa and
other poor nations gain access to electricity. Congress held hearings on
Electrify Africa legislation in March, and the Obama administration is
currently developing a framework to support increased electrification in
Africa.
Today, over one billion people around the world — five hundred
million of them in sub-Saharan Africa alone — lack access to
electricity. Nearly three billion people cook over open fires fueled by
wood, dung, coal, or charcoal. A recent report by the World Health Organization found that 4.3 million people die each year from household air pollution.
All nations need cheap and reliable electricity to develop. But in
recent years, the authors say, the UN and others in the international
community “have come to rely on small-scale, decentralized, renewable
energy technologies that cannot meet the energy demands of rapidly
growing emerging economies and people struggling to escape extreme
poverty.”
Meanwhile, Africa is set to increase the amount of electricity it gets from dams
five-fold, and greatly expand how much of its oil and gas it produces.
With larger reserves of natural gas than even the US, Africa today produces one-quarter as
much as the US. About half of the gas African nations produce is sent
abroad, while the US and Europe consume more oil and gas than they
produce.
With Africa growing rapidly, the energy access targets set for Africa
by the UN are far too low, the report authors say. “The UN’s flagship
energy access program,” the report notes, “claims that ‘basic human
needs’ can be met with enough electricity to power a fan, a couple of
light bulbs, and a radio for five hours a day.”
The report notes that the average European consumes that much
electricity in less than a month. Similarly, the International Energy
Agency (IEA) defines “energy access” as 500 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per
year, or 100 kWh per person, which is about 0.5 percent of the levels
consumed by the average American or Swede, or 1.7 percent of the average
Bulgarian.
If the US and UN are going to both support development in Africa, and
confront challenges like climate change, the authors say, energy access
should be understood not as a charity for rural villages but as an
essential component of national development. Cheap and reliable forms of
modern energy are used to build roads, power tractors, create
fertilizers, and power irrigation pumps, all of which improve
agricultural yields and raises income. Affordable and reliable grid
electricity also allows factory owners to increase output and hire more
workers.
The report highlights the human side of electricity access.
Electricity allows hospitals to refrigerate lifesaving vaccines and
power medical equipment. It liberates children and women from manual
labor. Societies that are able to meet their energy needs become
wealthier, more resilient, and better able to navigate social and
environmental hazards like climate change and natural disasters.
While there is no single or linear path to modern energy systems, the
authors say, there is a common pattern. As countries move from agrarian
to industrial to postindustrial societies, they transition from an
almost total reliance on biomass fuels like wood and charcoal to
reliable, grid-based electricity that relies on a mix of energy
resources such as coal, oil, natural gas, hydropower, nuclear fission,
and to modern renewables like wind and solar.
Technical innovation, economies of scale, government investments, and
competitive markets for energy services improved the performance of
these energy systems, lowered their costs, and enhanced the services
they provide.
Climate change, the authors note, is a significant
concern. However,
it should not be dealt with by attempting to limit or restrict energy
access for Africans. “Climate change can’t be solved on the backs of the
world’s poorest people,” said Daniel Sarewitz,
coauthor of Our High Energy Planet and director of Arizona State University's Consortium for Science, Policy, and
Outcomes. “The key to solving for both climate and poverty is helping
nations build innovative energy systems that can deliver cheap, clean,
and reliable power.”
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