The Challenge of Rural Energy Poverty in Developing Countries
| By | World Energy Council (WEC) |
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| Description | AbstractThe world's population has just reached 6 billion. In the developed world access to commercial energy protects most of the population from the harsher environmental extremes and makes light of many mundane and time consuming tasks. But elsewhere almost 2 billion people are still dependent upon non-commercial, traditional fuels such as wood, dung and crop residue to satisfy their basic energy requirements. Most of these people live in the developing world and their lack of access to commercial energy is a severe impediment to the alleviation of the poverty in which so many of these people live out their lives.This is the message of this new report from the World Energy Council. The report is being published to draw attention to a problem which is often overshadowed by seemingly more immediate problems including health and famine. But energy poverty is inextricably bound up with these problems and addressing the issue deals both the immediate problems of the woman who spends three hours gathering fuel for each meal she has to cook and also the more general issue of creating space and opportunities for people to break out of the cycle of poverty. While the report advocates a gradual transition to more modern energy systems it recognises that, with 95% dependence in some countries, traditional fuels will remain a long term reality. With this in mind the authors have therefore addressed themselves to the problem of how traditional fuels can be managed in a more sustainable way while at the same time improving the lot of rural people. Their response is to advocate an approach which is best summarised as decentralised, integrated and empowered. Decentralised because biomass is essentially a local issue; integrated because biomass management needs to take account of other measures in sectors such as agriculture and health; and empowered because the authors recognise that those best equipped to manage the issue are those who know it best, the local people who understand the issue and the priorties. Full Reference"The Challenge of Rural Energy Poverty in Developing Countries", World Energy Council, London, 1999 |
| File size | 200 kB |
| Date | 24-09-2003 at 11h11 |