Energy poverty: global challenges and local solutions

This edited volume constitutes the first authoritative resource documenting all aspects of energy poverty—lack of access to electricity, modern energy services, and mechanical power. Close to one quarter of humanity still lives without electricity or other modern forms of energy¸ while as much as a third of the world’s population still relies at least in part on traditional biofuels such as cow dung or firewood, at great cost to its health, security, and economic welfare. Part I considers definition and measurement issues and takes stock of the problem—surveying the issue, assessing its scope, proposing a methodology to measure the size of the world’s energy-poor population, analyzing the causes and consequences of energy poverty, and outlining an approach to assess the global cost of fixing the problem. Part II focuses on case and country studies and lessons learned, including a detailed look at specific policies deployed around the world by various countries, with mixed results and unequal success, to remove energy poverty. Regions under review include China, India, Brazil, the Middle East and North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Part III weighs challenges and policy options, including the financial engineering tools available to jump start and facilitate investment in energy access, and a discussion of the potential role of various actors and stakeholders, such as developed nations, energy producers, NGOs, private capital, the financial sector, and local entrepreneurs.