Access to Modern Energy

General Importance of Access to Energy

Energy is one of the fundamental pillars of human development. Energy is need for any kind of activities and a key input to all economic sectors such as industry, commerce and agriculture, and important for the provision of social services such as education and health. The wealth of a nation and its inhabitants is closely correlated to the type and dimension of the access to energy. The more usable energy is available, the higher the diversity of primary and secondary energy carriers is, the better are the conditions for development of a society and its economy. Thus, improving the access to energy is a continious challenge of governments and development organisations.

Access to energy plays also a crucial role for livelihood. Modern, affordable and sustainable energy technologies and services address the issue of poverty. Already small amounts of certain energy carriers can have a tremendous impact by helping to satisfy basic needs of poor populations, to improve productivity, competitiveness and employment of marginalised areas and to improve the quality of life. Despite this, approximately 2,7 billion people, almost half the world's population, are deprived from  clean and energy efficient cooking technologies and around 1,4 billion have no access to electricity. The vast majority of those energy poor households live in rural areas where they have to rely on traditional energy carriers and technologies and which are currently not reached by modern energy service and electrification programs.

Defining Energy Access

There is a general agreement that households which use candles, wick and hurrican kerosene lamps as sole lighting source and which cook on three stone fires are considered to be energy poor excluded from access to modern energy services. However, it proved to be difficult to define positively what access to modern energy technologies and services mean. The owner of a torch (or flash-light) which he uses in addition to candles does certainly not have access to modern energy. But what about small solar home systems providing electricity for a few light bulbs and a radio? Can these small systems already be considered as access to modern energy or are they only illuminating poverty? Or do we need at least enough electricity to run refrigerators and other electric equiment?  To answer these questions is not an easy task as there is no evident minimum level of electricity or cooking energy carrier allowing a clear definition of access to modern energy technologies and services. Access to modern energy services is generally be improved continiously. Thus, any definition of a minimum threshold for energy access is in a certain way arbitrary.

Some experts argue that in the case of cooking energy the step from biomass (firewood, charcoal) to LPG, gas or electricity and in the case of other energy needs the connection to the national grid should be defined as threshold for access. However, such definitions would have a tremendous negative impact on the strategy and approaches of poverty oriented programs. They would exclude a large number of people, who will under no circumstances obtain grid electricity and LPG in the near to medium term future. It would make the current discrimination of poor households even worse. In fact, strategies focusing energy access activities on rapidly extending electricity grid supply will favor urban areas as it is easier and cheaper to provide electricity to a densely populated area. Providing grid-based electricity to rural household is much more difficult, slow, and expensive. Rural households with their typical low electricity consumption are not attractive clients for a grid-based electricity utility. Even for subsidized programs, grid extension to those households will often not be an economically, technologically and developmentally appropriate solution. Therefore, new access to electricity through grid extension outside urban areas will not happen in large scale and the goal of universal access would not be realistic for a foreseeable future.
If the majority of energy poor people shall benefit from international programs it is more appropriate to identify and promote other options to provide basic modern energy services at fairly low investment costs without having grid electricity. These options are evolving solutions rather than a final solution focusing on the poverty dimension of energy access. The selection of the "right" option depends on whether they are affordable, sustainable and fit the needs of rural and peri-urban households, institutions, and private firms for a certain period. As a minimum requirement they must improve rural living conditions fairly quickly for a large number of people. The temporary solutions may then shift over time until the conditions are satisfied for grid-based supply to become attractive in the distant future.

If an approach is chosen which intends to end energy poverty fairly quickly for the bulk of the rural and peri-urban population through the use of modern equipment, it is crucial to define minimum indicators that represent a considerable improvement of  living conditions of poor households.  For this purpose the different dimensions of poverty should be considered. According to the OECD-DAC Guidelines on Poverty Reduction  the life of poor households is charactericed by:

• low economic capabilities - the ability to earn an income, to consume and to have assets,
• low human capabilities based on health, education, nutrition, clean water and shelter,
• low political capabilities including human rights, influence over public policies and political priorities,
• low socio-cultural capabilities concern the ability to participate as a valued member of a community,
• low protective capabilities enabling people to withstand economic and external shocks.

Access to energy is relevant to all five dimension.  In many cases an improved energy supply strengthens indirectly the different capabilities. The most immediate impacts are achieved throuhg modern cooking technologies, electric light and electric information and communication technologies. Energy efficient, modern cooking technologies improve food consumption, reduce expenditures and/or collection time for fuels, and reduce indoor air pollution (direct impact on economic, human and protective capabilities). Bright light gives children the possibility to study after dark, parents the freedom to do some of their housework during evening or to participate at social life (direct impact on economic, human, socio-cultural capability). With bright light all household members generally feel more secure from theft, violations, and wild animal attacks. Households having electricity can use more intensively mobile phones, radio and TVs which increases significantly the access to economic, political and cultural information and knowledge (direct impact on economic, human, political, socio-cultural capabilities). Thus, a significant improvement of the living conditions of poor households would be achieved if:

• all household members can work or study or relax under sufficient bright light four several at the same time. A light source with an illuminance of 300 lumens (corresponding to the light of a 30 W incandescent bulb) fullfills this condition.
• sufficient fuel is available to prepare two typical local hot meals for the household,
• households can use whenever needed either a fixed line or a mobile phone and use a radio and/or small TV for 4 hours a day, 
• all energy sources and technologies (lamp, stove) are not hazardous to health especially not emit high amounts of particular matter and fulfill basic safety standards, and
• expenditures for energy do not exceed 10% of the household income or not require more than 10% of the working hours of a household member  

 

Table 1 is summarizing the indicators and translating them into exemplary figures for energy carriers or technologies.

Category	Indicator	energy technology
Light	300 lumen on houshold level for at least 4 hours a day	kerosene  pressure lamp, gas lamp,  9 W CFL lamp, LED lamps of sufficient brightness
	low fire hazard through light equipment	safety tested kerosene and gas lamps, electric lamps
	low level of particular matters (see also cooking) emitted by light device	kerosene pressure lamps, gas lamps, electric lamps
cooking	10000 kilojoule fuel per person per day	1 kg firewood per person per day, or 0.3 kg charcoal or 0.04 kg LPG or 0.2 litres of kerosene or ethanol per person per day
	Annual mean concentrations of particulate matter (PM2.5) < 10 μg/m3 in households caused by stove	smokeless cook stove, cook stoves with chimney, gas cookers, electric cookers
	low fire hazard of cooking equipment	insulated cook stoves, safety tested cook stoves
Information and communications	access to fixed line or mobile phone  use of a radio for at least 4 hours or a small TV for at least 1,5 hours a day.	10 kWh per year and household (7 W x 4 hours x 365 days or 20 W x 1,5 x 333 days )
affordability, accessibility	expenditures for energy do not exceed 10% of the household income or do not require more than 10% of the working hours of a household member	low cost fuels and energy technologies and/or highly energy efficient energy technologies

In extremely hot or cold regions access to modern energy is also urgently needed to regulate the indoor air temperature in huts and houses. In these cases indicators such as maximum or minimum air temperatures have to be defined as basic standard for acceptable living conditions, which may be achieved through fans, ventilators or space heating .

Social welfare institutions like schools and health centers have specific energy needs, which depend from the type of services they are supposed to provide. Consequently, social institutions need specific categorized standards for access to modern energy technologies. The same is true for enterprises. Many shopkeepers only need light to be able to offer their product during dawn. Other may need a refrigators to store perishable products. Blacksmith can provide better services if they can use welding equipment. Thus again, specific access standards have to be defined for the different categories of productive use.

The present paper is focusing on access to modern energy on household level and will therefore not go deeper into the discussion on access to energy for social institutions and productive use.

In addition to the definition of minimum standards there are attemps to develop an energy access index . Such an index would allow to describe different levels of access to modern energy services and to identify energy needs. Based on the index criteria governments and international organizations could decide which energy access level for which target group they want to address with specific programs. The above mentioned criteria would form the threshold beyond which the minimum access to modern energy services starts.  

Distribution of Access

Electrification has the potential to open doors to many essential services such as refrigeration in clinics, lighting in schools and homes, battery charging and diversified livelihoods, yet over a quarter of the world's population lack access. There are over 30 countries where more than half the population are without access.

Of the 32 countries with an electrification rate of less than 50%, 26 are located in sub-Saharan Africa where the average rate is just 26%. This geographic distribution is not only evident on a national level but also within countries, where rural areas have considerably lower electrification rates. In sub-Saharan Africa the rural electrification rate is just 8%.

In South Asia the electrification rate is 60-65%. Nevertheless, the absolut number of unelectrified households is as high as in Sub-Saharan Africa. Most of these households live in India. Per capita consumption of electricity in South Asia is the lowest after Sub-Saharan Africa.

In addition to insufficient access to electricity, over 3 billion people worldwide are reliant on solid fuels, [http://www.who.int/indoorair/en/ including biomass fuels such as wood, dung, agricultural residues, and coal, for cooking. In at least 45 countries, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa and developing Asia, more than three-quarters of the population are dependent on these solid fuels. As with electrification, those in rural areas have far lower access to modern fuels and services.

Benefits of Energy Access

Energy can be a powerful vehicle for the provision of essential services such as education, healthcare and clean water. The time burden associated with essential tasks is an important signifier of energy-poverty yet energy technologies can reduce the disproportionate time spent by poor households on basic activities. Access to energy services can help communities meet basic needs and stimulate social, economic and environmental development.

Livelihood benefits

Energy access has the potential to alleviate poverty through stimulating rural livelihood options. This can occur via the establishment of new energy-based industries, creating employment in manufacture, construction and maintenance. Energy access can allow households to engage in a more diverse range of income-generating activities as well as make pre-existing activities more efficient. In particular, this diversification will make rural families far less dependent on natural resources as their sole form of income. Nearly 60% of the population in low income countries rely on agriculure, forestry and fishing for their livelihoods. This figure rises to over 90% in some countries. With the necessary infrastructure to ensure sustainability, new livelihoods developed via energy access can have a huge impact on long term poverty reduction.

Health

Modern energy access has the potential to improve health in rural areas both directly- by powering healthcare facilities- and indirectly, by providing cleaner fuel sources and reducing debilitating labor.
The inefficient combustion of solid fuels combined with inadequate ventilation contributes to poor health in many households. These high levels of indoor air pollution often result in decreased pulmonary function, particularly amongst women and children. According to the WHO, approximately 1.6 million premature deaths are attributable annually to indoor air pollution, making it the second largest environmental health risk factor in the world. Indoor air pollution is also responsible for 38 million disability adjusted lost years (DALY), where one DALY represents one healthy year of life lost by an individual due to disease or adverse health conditions, which in turn has numerous impacts on income generation, livelihoods and education.
Furthermore, this dependency on biomass resources such as fuelwood and the lack of intermediary means of transportation means that increasingly large distances are traveled with these heavy loads, often resulting in debilitating back conditions, particularly impacting women and children.
This is also having widespread implications for the natural environment in vulnerable regions, with biomass fuel sources rapidly depleting, placing even greater pressure on the poor just to meet basic needs.

Clean Water

Energy based technologies can help ensure that communities have access to one of the most basic necessities, clean water, by aiding in both the distribution and purification of water supplies. 17% of the world's population do not have access to an improved water source with this value rising to over 45% in sub-Saharan Africa.

This lack of a clean and steady water supply limits agricultural activity and results in easily preventable diseases, poor hygiene and inadequate sanitation. The World Health Organization found unsafe water, hygiene, and sanitation to be the world's largest environmental health risk factor annually responsible for over 1.7 million deaths. Energy technologies such as solar, wind and hydraulic ramp pumps can aid in redistributing the water supply to the areas in which it is most needed whilst application of simple solar distillation techniques can improve water purity.

Education

The impacts of energy access on education are often indirect, with one linkage being to the issue of time burden. Improved energy resources can reduce the time and labor required to achieve certain tasks such as collecting fuelwood and water as well as mechanizing many activities. This in turn could lead to increased enrolment of children in schools, since their household roles are no longer as consuming. In addition, access to lighting in the home increases the time available for study and hence may impact on achievement levels. Lighting at the schools themselves can remove restrictions on school times making night classes a viable possibility or allowing schools to double as community centers in the evenings. Electrification can also affect education infrastructure through the integration of modern resources such as computers and internet access.

What is required to improve energy access

In a broad sense almost all energy investments can be considered as contributing to improved energy access. Political reforms of the energy sector reform can enhance investments in power generation and distribution and in other forms of energy which may benefit the poor. Generation and Transmission projects may form the base for rural electrification. However, most of these investments have only an indirect effect on the access rates. In a more narrow sense only those activities can be considered to target on energy access which directly reach households without modern energy services.  
Many of the same elements necessary for any successful development intervention are applicable to the case of sustainable rural energy provisions. Developers should ensure that the technology itself is affordable and appropriate. Participation of the communities in question must be key at all stages and access to energy provisions and services should be equitable. In addition, local capacity should be built in order to ensure the long term sustainability and replicability of the scheme.

Affordability

Affordability and payment mechanisms are key considerations when assessing energy interventions. The poorest households often spend a disproportionate amount of their income on energy. Amongst those earning less than $3000 annually the percentage of total household expenditure spent on energy can be as high as 12%. In most cases it is the capital costs associated with shifting to a new energy carrier or end use technology that present the greatest barrier for poorer households. To remediate this, many payment mechanisms are possible ranging from subsidies to loans to upfront payments. These mechanisms need to be tailored to the specific needs of lower income households.

Most still favor conventional centralized energy schemes such as fossil fuel plants or large scale hydro power. However, for the many residing in rural locations a smaller scale decentralized approach is far more likely to meet their needs. It is often economically unfeasible to extend the national grid to low density rural communities, particularly when combined with the relatively low energy consumption of these populations. In such situations, decentralized sources are the only feasible option. When combined with the drive for "sustainable energy" renewables become particularly attractive.

i.e. energy technologies which do not supply to a national grid, can take a number of forms including diesel generators, micro-hydro schemes, wind turbines and solar photovoltaic. The most suitable technology is dependent on a combination of physical, economic and social factors.

Participation A decentralized approach to energy interventions led by local needs and contexts is important, particularly with smaller communities and rural populations. Starting with the people and not the technology can lead to improved and more widely disseminated energy technologies. Even Principle 10 of the states that "Environmental issues are best handled with the participation of all concerned citizens. Each individual should have (information) and the opportunity to participate in decision making processes." Employing a participatory approach underpins every aspect of ensuring the success of an energy project.

Appropriate Technology Technology in itself is not the cure-all to rural development issues. In fact, installation of the same technology within different contexts can often yield contrasting results. There is no best-fit solution to energy needs, and carriers must be weighed carefully against the local situation, capabilities and preferences.

For example the initial focus should be on modernizing existing needs before introducing new services. In many rural areas the main household energy need is for cooking purposes. The chief use of electricity is for lighting, which, although important, tends to be a much lower priority amongst households. Despite this rural electrification is often higher on the agenda of many governments and international agencies, possibly due to the relatively high profile and kudos of electrification programs compared to cooking.

Access and Equity Access to modern energy services can potentially have a huge impact on poverty alleviation. Despite this not all energy projects have the desired effect on the communities in which they are implemented. Energy planners need to integrate social sustainability factors within projects including: the distribution of households able to access the resources; equality of access within these households; the potential marginalization of certain groups such as women, the young or old, the very poor; and the sustainability of the livelihoods promoted by energy access.

The energy needs of rural communities are not uniform. Income, cultural background, livelihood choices and family structure can all play roles in determining particular requirements and situations.

Intra-household energy use is often just as dynamic as that between households and once again a comprehension of specific needs, situations and behaviors is necessary. Women tend to bear the burden of the human energy crisis taking responsibility for activities such as pumping water, collecting firewood and other fuels, cooking and their family's healthcare (see table below). In addition there are often distinctions in access to credit or land as well as training opportunities. As a result men and women may have very different priorities regarding energy services.

Replicability

The replicability of a particular project is also key to ensuring long term success and proliferation especially in terms of the transfer of technology and knowledge to local communities. For example, has capacity been built sufficiently enough that local people are able to take responsibility for the maintenance and upkeep of the project? Have they acquired the necessary skills which will allow them to act as future facilitators on similar interventions in neighboring areas? Have local industries been developed and appropriate technologies been used such that local communities are not reliant on the import of materials?

Energy for Development

Energy access in itself is not a panacea to rural poverty issues. A successful intervention has the potential to stimulate development by modernizing existing needs and introducing new services. However the long term success of any energy project requires social sustainability to play a central role which can only be achieved by starting from the context of the users rather than the technology.

Further information

UNDP-WHO report on energy access in developing countries: review of LDCs & SSAs (November 2009)

Poor People’s Energy Outlook 2010 by Practical Action