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2012 | Book

Energy for Development: A Key to Long-Term Sustainability Read chapter Read first chapter

Energy for Development

Resources, Technologies, Environment

Editor: Ferenc L. Toth

Publisher: Springer Netherlands

Book Series : Environment & Policy

Part of: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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About this book

This collection of contributions from a diverse group of prominent international scientists and policy makers brings together their in-depth analyses and innovative ideas about how to resolve the ‘energy for development’ predicament. It includes studies quantifying the role of energy in socioeconomic development, analysis of the interplay between supranational and national institutions in policy implementation, the energy implications of demographic trends such as urbanisation, and exploration of supply-side issues such as the potential role of nuclear energy and ‘cleaning’ fossil fuel energy generation through carbon capture.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter
Energy for Development: A Key to Long-Term Sustainability
Abstract
Understanding the broader context in which energy–development ­linkages are addressed is an important first step towards in-depth discussions of energy demand, supply and technologies. Energy-related aspects of international sustainable development targets, programmes and declarations provide increasingly important platforms to address these issues. Statistical causality analyses of the energy–development relationship explore why energy is important for social and economic development (measured as GDP per capita and Human Development Indices, HDI) but the current estimation techniques lead to inconsistent conclusions. The chapter also provides an overview of institutional, supply, demand, ­technology and environmental topics addressed in this volume.
Ferenc L. Toth, Maria L. Videla

International Institutions and National Decisions

Frontmatter
Rethinking Energy Aid Mechanisms: Three Premises
Abstract
This chapter discusses three key premises that characterise the current debate on climate change and the state of the world’s energy economy. First, the developing world is far more susceptible to climate change than the developed world. Second, the best defence for developing nations against climate change will be their own economic and social advancement. Third, the rich countries will need to provide financial support to help the developing world reduce greenhouse gas emissions without disrupting or interfering substantially with their own economies. New global institutions will be needed to mobilise rich countries to provide vital energy aid to poor countries, to represent the larger developing countries to help them decide how to share those resources, and to serve as an effective intermediary to channel the resources and monitor how they are distributed and used.
Thomas C. Schelling
Energy: The Missing Millennium Development Goal
Abstract
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) include eradicating extreme poverty, improving the health of women and children, gender empowerment, environmental sustainability and global partnerships. There are no energy-related targets, such as access to energy, although there is increasing evidence of relationships between energy and the MDGs and development in general. The global community has to commit to eradicating energy poverty within the next few decades. This will require financial resources, knowledge and institutional resources, and stimulating national governments to lead the process of securing energy access for their peoples.
Abeeku Brew-Hammond
Multilateralism and Energy for Development
Abstract
The lack of access to affordable and reliable energy services is a key obstacle to human, social and economic development. Yet billions of people worldwide lack access to electricity and still rely on traditional biomass as their primary source of energy. This chapter presents a vision for scaling up efforts to provide the poor with modern, safe and efficient energy services in the context of energy–­development linkages, climate change and the geopolitics of energy security. Energy for development strategies should aim at transformative changes that bring about sustainable development and address climate change in a holistic manner because a transition to low-carbon economies is a pressing imperative. Energy security and reliable access to relatively inexpensive energy supplies is a prerequisite for economic development and competitiveness. New institutional arrangements are needed to address these challenges.
Kandeh K. Yumkella
The Possible Role of the Energy Charter in Advancing Energy for Development in Africa
Abstract
One of the key challenges facing the world today is to ensure the ­provision of energy services to the poor. Modern energy services are essential for improving productivity, creating enterprises, increasing employment and incomes, and providing effective public services. Yet millions of people in Africa, parts of Latin America and in Asia lack even basic energy services. The Energy Charter is a dynamic and evolving community. Membership of the Treaty can foster investments in the energy sector by giving a positive message to potential investors who can be reassured by the security offered by the Treaty’s provisions on investment protection. The Treaty also provides opportunities to promote cooperative solutions appropriate to local and regional markets and demands. The Treaty is open to all states that are ready to share its basic principles, a very important one for Africa being sovereignty over energy resources.
André Mernier
Resolving Mismatches in Energy Decision Making
Abstract
This chapter discusses the process by which decisions related to the energy sector are made. The complexity of the energy system makes energy decisions difficult. The system involves an interdependent set of supply technologies such as coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear, electricity and renewables, and demand sectors, including the residential, commercial, industrial, agriculture and transportation sectors, each with their own special energy requirements. The energy system is dynamic and changes quickly. Energy decision makers need to look back and learn from past experiences, including the outcomes of previous energy policies and projects. They must look ahead and anticipate what might happen in the future. They also need to look sideways and consider both supply-side and demand-side components, non-energy infrastructures such as transportation, water supply and communication, and the environment.
Richard R. Cirillo

Energy Demand

Frontmatter
Demography, Urbanisation and Energy Demand
Abstract
Urbanisation is a major demographic driver of energy demand. It is ­intertwined with many aspects of human behaviour, including living and working arrangements and the organisation of economic activity. This chapter explores the differences in energy access and use between rural and urban households in developing countries, particularly India and China. The analysis shows the importance of future patterns of migration, urbanisation and changes in urban density for both the household energy mix and the evolution of energy demand in the coming decades. The amounts and types of energy used by rural and urban households will continue to differ significantly. Concerted efforts and investments will be needed to improve the living conditions of low-income urban households and their access to more ­efficient and safer forms of energy.
Shonali Pachauri
Development, Infrastructure and Energy: Exploring the Linkages in Latin America
Abstract
This chapter explores conceptual and methodological approaches to the linkages between economic development, infrastructure and energy in Latin America and the Caribbean. It demonstrates a high correlation between energy consumption and GDP per capita, indicating the effect of economic growth on energy demand. This linkage materialises through infrastructure and equipment technologies, operational characteristics and actual utilisation. The energy infrastructure is also shaped by the distribution of population and the concentration of GDP. Power transmission and ­distribution grids, natural gas pipelines and other infrastructure are oriented to deliver energy products to these major markets. The chapter proposes a new methodological approach to energy planning and modelling that can be linked to infrastructure ­planning for the transportation, water, industry, communications and other sectors.
Nestor Luna, Roberto Gomelsky
Energy Efficiency for Development
Abstract
Improved access to low-cost energy is a key factor in the battle to ­alleviate poverty and achieve basic development goals. The outcomes of combined development and energy efficiency programmes in Senegal, Nicaragua, China and Ukraine demonstrate that better energy efficiency can also contribute to health and ­education, particularly among women and children in developing countries. Improving energy efficiency can significantly increase the returns on rural economic investments and can contribute to energy security and support sustainable economic growth.
Chui-Chui Flora Kan
Externalities in the Global Energy System
Abstract
This chapter addresses externalities in the global energy system and introduces a methodology for assessing environmental impacts and external costs. The health effects due to air pollution and global warming dominate current estimates of external costs. These costs may be substantial and should affect investment decisions, but there are large variations between technologies and locations. Consistent comparisons of technologies must clearly differentiate between past and future technologies. Good technologies, including advanced fossil fuels, have rather low external costs due to air pollution, while climate change contributions may be very high but are subject to very large uncertainties. The external costs of nuclear and renewables are low. The social aspects of energy systems are represented only to a limited extent in current estimates of external and total costs. The inclusion of broader social factors in the multi-­criteria decision analysis framework favours renewables and is a challenge for future nuclear.
Stefan Hirschberg

Energy Supply

Frontmatter
Technology and Innovation
Abstract
The twentieth century has witnessed an extraordinary progression of technologies for both energy sources and energy use. This chapter reviews three ‘enablers of change’ both of supply and demand for energy. The first is ­technological invention and innovation, including basic research, exploration and mining technologies, oil and gas discovery and coal mining. The second enabler is the learning curve, an empirical function depicting declining costs of products with accumulating experience, for example, for renewable energy. The third enabler is the declining marginal costs of production as production units become bigger, but saturation can be observed as the negative externalities of large-scale production overwhelm the capacity of the natural environmental system to absorb unwanted emissions. This is particularly worrying in the case of global climate change and its implications.
John H. Gibbons
Energy Resources
Abstract
Energy resources are abundant. Their actual future availability in the market depends on a variety of constraints: production shifting to smaller deposits in increasingly harsh environments; rising exploration, production and marketing costs; excessive environmental burdens; diminishing energy ratios; and ever more stringent environmental policy and regulation. Energy demand, high prices and associated investments, innovation and technology change tend to increase flow rates to the market. Geological or other natural constraints will not impede the availability of energy resources for socioeconomic development. Mobilising resources might be hampered by inertia, long decision and investment cycles, as well as market uncertainties stemming from both the supply and demand sides. Forward-looking and stable policies are required to avoid abrupt supply and price fluctuations, and to mobilise the necessary investments for a socially optimal, long-term pathway for using energy resources that will foster sustainable development.
Hans-Holger Rogner
Financing Power Sector Investments
Abstract
Global energy demand is projected to increase by about 33% between 2010 and 2030. In non-OECD countries, electricity generation capacity is forecast to grow by 2,900 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, while the OECD countries will add only 1,600 GW. The related investments needed are estimated at US$7.8 trillion and US$5.9 trillion for non-OECD and OECD countries, respectively. Private capital could finance much of this investment but there are major obstacles to private investments in the power sector in developing countries. Reform efforts that move towards competitive markets can help address these risks, paving the way for the injection of much-needed private capital. Power sector reform can contribute to economic, as well as social, development. Successful power sector reform reduces government fiscal responsibilities, improves the reliability of supplies for existing customers, and provides affordable access to energy for the poor.
Carmine Difiglio
Financing Renewable Energy
Abstract
Renewable energy sources are inexhaustible, have minimal adverse impacts and could play a pivotal role in meeting the world’s future energy demands in a sustainable manner. This chapter discusses opportunities and strategies to exploit the potential of renewables, and the market challenges that affect investments. Financing is often difficult for renewable energy projects due to the high risk perception associated with new technologies and the resulting high costs of capital. To overcome these barriers, and to promote the deployment of renewable technologies, the Asian Development Bank has adopted a number of innovative financing mechanisms, including clean energy funds, credit lines and first-loss guarantees.
Sujata Gupta
Fossil Fuels and Carbon Capture and Storage
Abstract
Reducing CO2 emissions, including those from the energy sector, ­presents a major challenge to the world at large. Fossil fuels provide two-thirds of the world’s electricity, with coal, in particular, the fuel of choice for new electricity generation plant in rapidly emerging economies such as China and India. As a result, carbon capture and storage (CCS) is an essential component of any portfolio of measures to reduce CO2 emissions at least cost and to prevent the damaging consequences of climate change. The successful deployment of CCS will depend on progress in many areas – policy, legal, financial, technical, market and organisational – and, not least, on public acceptance of the technology.
Keith Burnard, Sean McCoy
Nuclear Energy
Abstract
The growing global population and the expanding world economy need increasing amounts of energy at reasonable prices. In addition to fossil fuels, other energy sources will be needed, including nuclear and renewables. Today, nuclear energy provides about 13% of the electric power produced worldwide. The installed nuclear capacity of 366 GW could be multiplied by a factor of 3 or 4, reaching 1,200–1,500 GW by the middle of the century. Progress has been made in improving the safety, reliability and economic performance of generation III reactors now being built. Generation IV systems, to be deployed around the middle of the century, should ensure safe, secure and sustainable energy production for a longer time horizon.
Jacques Bouchard
Energy and Food Security
Abstract
This chapter explores the complex linkages between energy and food security. The production of biofuels has increased significantly in view of their ­supposed benefits in terms of mitigating climate change and improving energy ­security. Concerted efforts are being made to develop new forms of biofuels, and to increase the production of biofuel crops over vast areas. Given the current state of the technology, the intended increase raises concerns about their economic and ­ecological viability. The chapter demonstrates that when setting biofuel targets, most governments do not consider the full range of implications. The benefits of biofuels include a 3–8% increase in agricultural value added in the developed ­countries and a reduction in annual greenhouse gas emissions of 12.4 Gt CO2 ­equivalent by 2050. But the costs will be substantial: the loss of 30–45 million ­hectares of arable land to biofuel production and a significant increase in the ­number of people at risk of hunger.
Faris Hasan
Backmatter
Metadata
Title
Energy for Development
Editor
Ferenc L. Toth
Copyright Year
2012
Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Electronic ISBN
978-94-007-4162-1
Print ISBN
978-94-007-4161-4
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4162-1