Over a billion people people worldwide have no access to the electricity that is a crucial facilitator of modern education, human health, economic development, etc.
The UN estimates that universal access to electricity by 2030 could be achieved for less than $50 billion per year – which is roughly equivalent to a $1.5 billion annual investment per OECD member country, 0.3% of 2011 US GDP, or approximately 10% of ExxonMobil’s 2011 revenue. Keep reading →
On a continent with many of the world’s poorest countries, it seems perfectly normal that a smart grid would not be on the plate for those nations’ governments. But Africa, a collection of 48 mainland countries and six island nations, is a far different place from the smart grid hotbeds of the U.S., China and Europe.
A number of those countries are working to adopt several aspects of smart grid to bring their economies out of the muck of troubled histories and into an era of development and smart, sustainable energy futures, even though the odds appear terrible. Several countries on the African continent are taking a chance. Keep reading →
While many countries are trying to wean themselves off expensive and dirty fossil fuel energy, much of the world is still waiting on any type of electricity. Some 1.4 billion people lack access to electricity, and rather than start them down the same path we’re trying to get off, the hope is that they can forgo the journey and just relax at the renewable-energy finish line.
However, as one would expect, it’s not as simple as installing huge wind and solar farms throughout parts of Africa and Asia. Most of the people in need of electricity live in rural areas, lacking infrastructure to connect to a power grid or the upfront money to install solar locally. Keep reading →
Jared Anderson
Conway Irwin
Peter Gardett