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It is now widely accepted that geography can have a decisive impact on a country’s potential for economic growth. Countries that are endowed with easy access to the ocean, manageable terrain, an abundance of natural waterways for shipping and commerce, a temperate climate, and a good mix of natural resources have a readymade foundation for development. Those that are landlocked, mountainous, tropical, and resource-poor are at a relative disadvantage. They face formidable hurdles to prosperity, even before they begin to climb the first rung of the development ladder.
Rather than focus on a specific geographical constraint or a particular country, we will examine a social landscape that is common throughout the world, the rural landscape, and its unique constraints on energy usage. Those who live in rural landscapes are, almost by definition, less connected to one another and to the outside world in ways that we would consider fundamental to modern societies. They often lack transportation links and telecommunications links as well as access to the kinds of networks that transmit power and fuels through electricity grids and gas stations. Creative solutions, carefully tailored to overcome the challenges specific to such a landscape, are needed if modern energy services are to contribute to rural development.
A Microhydropower Plant
Source: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/hydro_plant_types.html
Fortunately, recent advances in renewable energy technologies, combined with a greater willingness of governments and private businesses to invest in rural development projects, are giving hope to those without energy throughout the world. As discussed in the section on “Scalable Energy for Development” under “Solar Power,” one of the great benefits of renewable energy is its scalability. That is, renewable energy facilities need not be massive and centralized like traditional power plants. They can be built on a smaller scale in areas close to the consumer and configured for local distribution. An installation of solar panels, for example, can be built on any surface with access to the sky.
The idea that the problem of power supply can be addressed in a smaller, more localized fashion that is still economical has led to the concept of micropower. According to one formulation:
The new power plants of choice the world over are using either natural gas or renewable energy, and are smaller, nimbler, cleaner and closer to the end-user than the giants of yesteryear. That means power no longer depends on the vagaries of the grid, and is more responsive to the needs of the consumer…The argument in favour of micropower is even more persuasive in developing countries, where the grid has largely failed the poor.1
Micropower is one piece of a wave of “micro”-movements that is sweeping across the developing world. This group of development strategies includes financial tools such as microcredit.
It also includes attempts to construct wireless telecommunications networks in many developing countries. It is, for example, much cheaper to erect a single cell tower that provides someone in rural poverty with mobile phone and wireless internet service than to build an entire network of conventional phone lines and cables. What all of these micro-activities share is the goal of empowering individuals directly in a way that makes financial sense for both suppliers and consumers.
Several international organizations are now funding micropower projects, including the United Nations’ African Rural Energy Enterprise Development Project and the World Bank’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Fund to name just two. Many private enterprises, non-profit organizations, and charitable foundations have also joined the effort.
To read more about some specific micropower projects, see Appendix J, “Examples of Micropower.”
Next: The Resource Curse