| The Spread of Electricity Need Not Harm Climate, Says IEA-UN Report on Energy |
| 27 September 2010 |
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The UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals to end the poverty by 2015 was held in New York last week. Between the main topics discussed during the Summit was the lack of access to modern energy services; according to the “World Energy Outlook 2010†report, the study released by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Development Programme (UNDP) and the Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), over 20% of the global population does not have access to electricity. A consequence of this fact can be seen through the 1.5 million of premature deaths per year due to toxic smoke and indoor fires from unsafe primitive stoves. Moreover, energy services provide an essential input to economic activity and contribute to social development through education and public health. The report also estimated the investments required to achieve universal access to energy and the consequent CO2 emission increase. The resulting increase in primary energy demand and CO2 emissions would be modest. This is due to the fact that the amount of fuel needed to address basic needs is small, and the opportunities for using cleaner energy are great. For example, the IEA-UNDP Report estimates that for the energy-poor who live outside of cities, local energy solutions such as solar or wind energy would be less expensive than connection to centralized power stations by extending electrical grids. If the world takes up this problem, by 2030, global electricity generation would be just 2.9 percent higher, oil demand would rise by less than 1 percent and carbon emissions would be just 0.8 percent higher than the world’s current trajectory. For further information see here." |
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