ENERGY AN ESSENTIAL DRIVE FOR DEVELOPMENT

After the modules of Energy and Development perspective, i have been able to have that feeling of how energy is an essential tool for development. In my discussion we will define “Development” as meeting the basic needs and i shall discuss the link between Energy and the attainment of basic need.

The MDGs are all dependent, to a greater or lesser degree, on access to energy services. Without a reliable, predictably priced source of energy, growth can never flourish. How can we hope for good education without electricity, when children cannot read and do their homework in the evening.  How can universal basic healthcare be achieved?  In 2009 the International Energy Agency estimated that a mere 31% of the population of Sub-Saharan Africa had access to electricity – and an unreliable supply at that. Yet the World Energy Council’s 2010 Survey of Energy Resources does not see a shortage of resources in the world today or in the decades to come. It is the way we are using these resources that has to change to secure a sustainable energy future. This situation is quite simply unacceptable. To pretend otherwise – and claim that, without access to modern energy, people can still pull themselves onto the first rung of the development ladder – is folly. We must act quickly, and act across sectors. Because the whole energy for development argument quickly raises a raft of other issues, not least on climate change, which in itself has the potential to derail development efforts.

Let’s take Malawi, for example.  Malawi has a population of about thirteen Million, and only 8% of this population has access to electricity. However the country has enormous untapped renewable energy resources, while many areas are not yet covered by transmission and distribution infrastructure. In this case it means most of the hospitals, schools have no access to electricity. I was then thinking in line with the definition of “Development” as the attainment of basic needs amongst which are access to basic education and health services. I imagined a hospital without electricity and yet it is supposed to provide good services to the pregnant mothers, or the community as a whole; another situation whereby a has been given homework to do at home but there is no electricity. These two situation can give us a small picture of how essential enegy is for the attainment of basic needs. Many developing countries, have initiated the free primary education, but in situations like this, the results are questionable.

Let us take the situation where, the clinic can not provides some services due to the fact that there is no electricity i.e can not store some medicine or vaccinnes due to the fact that the community has no access to electricity. This should be a horrible situation and then the availability of the facilities do not fullfil thier intended purpose; and then in areas like these the communities members are forced to travel long distances for them to access some services even though they happen to have a clinic nearby. It is obvious that the access to the health services is not all about the building itself but also the associated functions for it to provide good services. Here we can see how energy has affected the attainment of “Development”

Let us also focus on access to basic education, imagine in a situatuation like Malawi’s where most of the schools do not electricity, it is obvious that the children will not be able to read at night, and this might affect their perfomance in class. On the other hand, it is also obvious that the schools like theses will be limited in the services provided like internet, computer lessons since their is no electricity. We are living in a world which is being technology driven , and if the majority of the people in a country do not have basic technology skill, then country might have problems on issues like international or even Regional trade.  Education is supposed to help the people to b creative and innovative to adapt to the changes in the region whether in terms of technology, trade e.t.c However in countries where access to electricity is a challenge then technology will be greatly affected and could cause challenges in connecting with other countries in th region or internationally wher everything is technology based. This means that a country might have good resources but might also fail to penetrate into the market due to lack of communication channels and skills due to lack of energy.

On the other hand i also noticed that this lack energy is also causing some negative effects on the enviroment which in the long have serious problems as regards to development. For example, in Malawi, since 92% of the population has no access to electricity, the majority of this population uses trees and charcoal for cooking, heating e.t.c This has resulted in high deforestration rate, which is increasing daily due to population rise. Most of the poor people cut the trees, burn the charcoal and sell, earning a living from that. This also has an effect on development in the long run.

I therefore feel that when we are talking about development we need also to focus on deveveloping the energy sector of the country.  This is so because most of the services we want in life depends on energy. One solution to this can be for the countries to initiate policies which will allow investors to come and invest in the energy sector. In situations where possible, Aid can be used to help poor countries to subside the energy so as to ensure that majority of the population has access to electricity which is essential for the attainment of basic needs. In this way, we will not only be boosting significantly the competitiveness of renewable generated electricity compared to more traditional forms, we will also be creating jobs and growth.  This will not necessarily be a cure-all, and needs an appropriate technological framework alongside it, including environmental legislation and health and education provision, to guarantee inclusive growth. Moreover, the huge investments needed are not to be underestimated.

I also feel it will be helpful for big institutions like the EU to partner with countries in the developing world to take iswift and concerted action to catalyse change that focuses on renewables and avoids excessive CO2 emissions. The EU is uniquely well-equipped for this. It is the leading producer of renewable energy solutions. It houses some of the major renewable technology companies, and it has the greatest experience in the legal and administrative measures necessary to promote investment in renewable energy. In fact, provided appropriate management and cost-recovery mechanisms are put in place, they can generate a return by themselves.  The catalyst for this change will be financing from development banks and financial institutions such as the European Investment Bank, the World Bank, and the African Development Bank. To make this work, stable regulatory and administrative conditions will be needed, to enable and encourage investment by private companies, together with legal provisions allowing open competition on electricity markets to supply customers. In addition, the EU’s can provide technical expertise and its research and development funding, to developing countries in improving thier energy sectors. Such measures might therefore form the basis of new energy initiatives, between the EU and developing countries or regional groupings, to progressively provide sustainable electricity to every citizen. The opportunities are enormous, and they are achievable. The potential for real and lasting progress on energy in developing world is huge.

I feel developing countries need to assess their energy sector and analyse ways of improving the sector, this will help in improving the service provission as a means of attaining the basic needs.

Refferences

How to achieve Conherence between energy security and Development: http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/piebalgs/multimedia/pdf/speeches/speech_20110209_energy_development.

Leda’s Notes; Beyond Growth

Comments Off on ENERGY AN ESSENTIAL DRIVE FOR DEVELOPMENT / 13 Jan 2012 por Tabithah Mkandawire Kaluwa
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