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Motivated by the increase in China’s low-carbon technology product exports to Africa and the ongoing challenges of energy poverty (EP) in African countries (ACs), this paper investigates the effects of China’s low-carbon technology trade (CLTT) on access to modern energy (AE) using China’s low-carbon technology product imports of 42 ACs for the period of 2005–2021. We employ the instrumental variable-generalized methods of moments and Lewbel’s instrumental variable-two-stage least squares methods to control for endogeneity concerns. Additionally, a panel threshold regression model is employed to examine the threshold effect of domestic absorptive capacity, controlling for variation in the size of economic development (ED), control of corruption (CC), and financial development (FD) in ACs. Our results indicate that CLTT significantly improves AE in Africa, implying that harnessing low-carbon technology product trade contributes to improving AE and mitigating EP in Africa. Moreover, ED, CC, and FD positively moderate the relationship between CLTT and AE. Besides, the panel threshold results imply that the promoting effect of CLTT on AE increases with the improvement of ED and the FD levels of ACs and optimization of governance quality. These results contribute to achieving SDG-7 and provide policymakers with valuable insights.

Energy access metrics are needed to track the progress towards providing sustainable energy for all. This paper presents advancements in the development of the Multidimensional Energy Poverty Index (MEPI), as well as results and analysis for a number of developing countries. The MEPI is a composite index designed to shed light on energy poverty by assessing the services that modern energy provides. The index captures both the incidence and intensity of energy poverty. It provides valuable insights–allowing the analysis of determinants of energy poverty–and, subsequently insights into policy efficacy. Building on previous work, this paper presents results obtained as a result of both increased data availability and enhanced methodology. Specifically, this analysis (i) includes an increased number of countries, and (ii) tracks the evolution of energy poverty over time of energy poverty in selected countries is reported.

The aims of this research are: to explore the connection between the right to access to modern energy services and children’s rights, as stipulated by the Convention on the Rights of the Child; to analyze how the rights of children are addressed in the energy policy and law of certain EU Member States and Ukraine; and to develop recommendations on how to make national energy policy and law more child-sensitive. To achieve these goals, the following objectives were set: 1) to explore the correlation between the right to access to modern energy services and children’s rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child; 2) to analyze the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) of certain EU Member States in order to find out how children’s rights are addressed in policy and law and to identify the most common practices; 3) to analyze the current and prospective legislation in Ukraine that relates to children’s rights to modern energy services; and 4) to develop recommendations on how to make national energy policy and law more child-sensitive. The main results of this research are: 1) access to modern energy services is vital for children’s enjoyment of their rights (e.g., the right to life, survival, and development, the right to health, the right to education, the right to adequate housing, the right to be protected from any form of violence, neglect, or negligence, and the right to be heard); 2) states shall specifically address issues of children’s rights (in particular, by tackling energy inequality, considering the risks for the concrete category of children, targeting certain rights of children that depend on access to modern energy services, and introducing concrete actions and outcome indicators) in the strategic documents and legal acts that relate to universal access to modern energy services; 3) the social protection of low-income families with children in the form of discounts for energy bills and state support for the implementation of energy efficiency improvement measures in residential buildings (as mechanisms for tackling energy poverty), the encouragement of the energy renovation of pre-school and school buildings, and the development of special educational tools on sustainable energy for pupils are considered the most common practices in certain EU Member States; 4) whilst Ukrainian energy policy and law includes some instruments that relate to children’s rights as energy consumers, it lacks a complete approach; and 5) the energy policy and law of Ukraine should specifically address children’s rights as energy consumers, specifically those based on the common approaches used in EU Member States, in order to consider the peculiarities of children’s energy needs.

Half of humanity about 3 billion people are still relying on solid fuels for cooking and heating. Of that, about 2.5 billion people depend on traditional biomass fuels (wood, charcoal, agricultural waste, and animal dung), while about 400 million people use coal as their primary cooking and heating fuel (UNDP and WHO 2009). The majority of the population relying on solid fuels lives in Sub-Saharan Africa and in South Asia. In some countries in Central America and in East Asia and the Pacific, the use of solid fuels is also significant. The inefficient and unsustainable production and use of these fuels result in a significant public health hazard, as well as negative environmental impacts that keep people in poverty. Strategies to improve energy access to the poor have focused mainly on electricity access. They have often neglected non electricity household energy access. It is, however, estimated that about 2.8 billion people will still depend on fuel wood for cooking and heating in 2030 in a business-as-usual modus operandi (IEA 2010). The need for urgent interventions at the household level to provide alternative energy services to help improve livelihoods is becoming more and more accepted. This report's main objective is to conduct a review of the World Bank's financed operations and selected interventions by other institutions on household energy access in an attempt to examine success and failure factors to inform the new generation of upcoming interventions. First, the report provides a brief literature review to lay out the multidimensional challenge of an overwhelming reliance on solid fuels for cooking and heating. Second, it highlights how the Bank and selected governments and organizations have been dealing with this challenge. Third, it presents lessons learned to inform upcoming interventions. And finally, it indicates an outlook on the way forward.

Bangladesh is one of the world's poorest countries. Nearly 80 percent of the nation's 140 million people reside in rural areas; of these, 20 percent live in extreme poverty. Geographically, many low-lying areas are vulnerable to severe flooding, while other regions are prone to drought, erosion, and soil salinity. Such an unfavorable agricultural landscape, combined with mismanagement of natural resources and increasing population pressure, is pushing many of the rural poor to the brink. Because Bangladesh is such a poor country, it also is one of the world's lowest energy producers. Total annual energy supply is only about 150 liters of oil equivalent per capita (International Energy Agency, or IEA 2003); in rural areas, conditions are even worse. Compared to other developing countries, Bangladesh uses little modern energy. Despite its successful rural electrification program, close to two-thirds of households remain without electricity and, with the exception of kerosene, commercial fuels are beyond reach for many. Moreover, biomass fuels are becoming increasingly scarce. Collected mainly from the local environment as recently as two decades ago, bio-fuels are fast becoming a marketed commodity as access to local biomass continues to shrink. This study, the first to concentrate on Bangladesh's energy systems and their effects on the lives of rural people, drew on these background studies, as well as other World Bank-financed research on indoor air pollution (IAP) and rural infrastructure, to present a rural energy strategy for the country. Much of this study's analytical underpinning was based on several background studies. This study also reanalyzed data from earlier research to better understand the benefits of modern energy use for rural households, farm activities, and small businesses.

India has led the developing world in addressing rural energy problems. By late 2012, the national electricity grid had reached 92 percent of India s rural villages, about 880 million people. In more remote areas and those with geographically difficult terrain, where grid extension is not economically viable, off-grid solutions using renewable-energy sources for electricity generation and distribution have been promoted. The positive results of the country s rural energy policies and institutions have contributed greatly to reducing the number of people globally who remain without electricity access. Yet, owing mainly to its large population, India has by far the world s largest number of households without electricity. More than one-quarter of its population or about 311 million people, the vast majority of whom live in poorer rural areas, still lack an electricity connection; less than half of all households in the poorest income group have electricity. Among households with electricity service, hundreds of millions lack reliable power supply.

Despite the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region's impressive economic growth, over 1 billion of its people still lack access to electricity and modern cooking solutions. To achieve universal access to modern energy by 2030, this book exhorts EAP countries to advance simultaneously on two paths: (1) accelerate programs for grid and off-grid electricity through appropriate policies and innovative technologies; and (2) scale up access to clean cooking fuels and efficient cooking stoves, particularly for biomass in poor rural areas.

Rural electrification can have many benefits-not only bringing lighting, but improving the quality of health care, spreading information and supporting productive enterprises. The extent of these benefits has been questioned, arguing that they may be insufficient to justify the investment costs. This book quantifies these benefits. It finds that the benefits can indeed be high, substantially outweighing the costs, and that consumer willingness to pay is generally sufficient to achieve financial sustainability. However, benefits could be increased further by providing smart subsidies to assist connections for poorer households, promote productive uses and further consumer education.

Most people in rural sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity and rely on traditional, inefficient, and polluting cooking solutions that have adverse impacts on both human health and the environment. Here, we propose a novel integrated agroforestry-bioenergy system that combines sustainable biomass production in sequential agroforestry systems with biomass-based cleaner cooking solutions and rural electricity production in small-scale combined heat and power plants and estimate the biophysical system outcomes. Despite conservative assumptions, we demonstrate that on-farm biomass production can cover the household’s fuelwood demand for cooking and still generate a surplus of woody biomass for electricity production via gasification. Agroforestry and biochar soil amendments should increase agricultural productivity and food security. In addition to enhanced energy security, the proposed system should also contribute to improving cooking conditions and health, enhancing soil fertility and food security, climate change mitigation, gender equality, and rural poverty reduction.

A lack of access to modern energy impacts health and welfare and impedes development for billions of people. Growing concern about these impacts has mobilized the international community to set new targets for universal modern energy access. However, analyses exploring pathways to achieve these targets and quantifying the potential costs and benefits are limited. Here, we use two modelling frameworks to analyse investments and consequences of achieving total rural electrification and universal access to clean-combusting cooking fuels and stoves by 2030. Our analysis indicates that these targets can be achieved with additional investment of US$200565-86 billion per year until 2030 combined with dedicated policies. Only a combination of policies that lowers costs for modern cooking fuels and stoves, along with more rapid electrification, can enable the realization of these goals. Our results demonstrate the critical importance of accounting for varying demands and affordability across heterogeneous household groups in both analysis and policy setting. While the investments required are significant, improved access to modern cooking fuels alone can avert between 0.6 and 1.8 million premature deaths annually in 2030 and enhance wellbeing substantially.