Unit 4 - Concepts Of Energy And Development

Question 1

What are the critics on the energy ladder?

Answer 1

• several fuels are often used next to eachother
• rural rich often have limited access to energy efficient, high quality fuels and transaction costs are high
• urban poor often cannot afford to pay for these high quality fuels.
• Concept based on today’s developed countries progress, however the same linear transition cannot be observed in current developing countries: more modern fuels available, access, costs and technologies.

However there is a clear link between access to electricity and income, as well as prevalence of traditional biomass and income.

Question 2

What is fuel switching?

Answer 2

The process where a hh switches from a fuel that is often inefficient and/or unhealthy to a fuel that is more modern and cleaner, such as switching from charcoal to kerosine or LPG.

Question 3

Heltberg (2004) suggest that fuel switching as conceptualised in the energy laddr involves 3 phases:

Answer 3

1. Universal reliance on traditional biomass
2. Requires fuels switching of households (driven by higher incomes, urbanisation and biomass scarcity) to “transition” fuels (kerosene, coal and charcoal)
3. characterised by hh switching to modern fuels (driven by growing incomes in relation to fuel prices)

In reality it is way less linear, a linear fuel swithc is contested by leading academics.

Heltberg differentiated between:

• fuel choice
• fuel switch

Question 4

What is fuel stacking?

Answer 4

A process whereby hh use a range of multiple fuels at the same time, both more efficient and less efficient ones, as well as cheaper and more costly ones.

Question 5

3 options for fuel switching:

Answer 5

1. No fuel switch happens
2. Partial fuel switching happens
3. Full fuel switch happens

Question 6

What are the key factors that determine fuel choice and fuel switching?

Answer 6

1. Hh incomes and expenditures
2. Fuel prices
3. Urbanisation
4. Access to infrastructure, markets and services - particular in relation to access to electricity
5. Education (heltberg, 2004)

For fuel switching specifically (Heltberg, 2004)
Electrification
Per capita expenditures
Education
Tap water
»> hh size effects fuel choice but not fuel switching

Masera et. Al. (2000):
Opportunity costs for women’s time

Question 7

Average e-consumption in India, EU and USA

Answer 7

India: 2.5 kWh/day
rural India: 0.3-1kWh/day
EU: 10x as much
USA: 30x as much

HOWEVER richer hh in urban areas have a usage that is simular to developing countries as they use cleaner/more efficient fuels.

Question 8

What is the EKC?

Answer 8

Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC)
Pollution is at a low level when countries have very low income and development levels
It increases and peaks when mid levels of income/dev are reached
It decreases when income and development levels increase as people can afford to invest in pollution control technologies

Question 9

Discussion around the EKC

Answer 9

Can it observed in practise? How is it measured?

For SO2 it has been observed, where end-of-pipe technologies are relatively inexpensive.

For CO2 it has not been observed (it continues to increase)

Question 10

What is technological leapfrogging?

Answer 10

A concept that assumes that countries can learn from the mistakes of others and “leap” over the most polluting phases of development, such as teh coal era during the industrial revolution which EU and USA had to go through. Low- and middle income countries may be able to avoid such periods due to cleaner and more advanced low carbon technologies.

Question 11

Technological Leapfrogging depends on:

Answer 11

1. Technology transfer (access to)
2. Building up indigenous innovative capacity inclusing:
   Skills, knowledge and expertise to absorb, deploy and develop modern energy technology. (Local capacity building)

Question 12

what is decoupling of economic growth from energy use and/or emissions?

Answer 12

Requires that at some point in time the growth rate for energy use and/or emissions is lower than the GDP growth rate.

Question 13

Absolut vs relative decoupling

Answer 13

Absolute decoupling requires an absolute cut in energy use and/or emissions - this has not been observed in reality

Relative decoupling: more economic activity is possible with lower energy use and/or lower emissions. This is measured for example in carbon intensity or energy intensity, which is the amount of carbon emissions or energy used per unit of GDP. (Example China and India)

Question 14

5 conclusions of Heltberg (2004) on key determants of fuel switch and fuel coice

Answer 14

1. Modern fuel use increases with higher expenditures, solid fuels reduce
2. modern fuel use increases with access to electricity (solid fuels decrease)
3. Tap water inside the house is linked with fuel switching
4. Larger hh tend to use great number of fuels
5. Education is linked to using more modern fuels and less solid fuels.

Question 15

What are the undesired side effects of fuel price subsidies (Heltberg, 2004)

Answer 15

1. High fiscal costs
2. Poor targeting (especially for LPG)
3. Leakage (in case of kerosine especially)

Schemes with coupons or ration cards have failed in the past

Question 16

What is the Energy Ladder

Answer 16

The concept which assumes that with increasing incomes, households will be able to switch from traditional biomass use to energy carriers that are cleaner, more efficient and easier to handle (as charcoal) and than progress to modern energy carriers as natural gas, biogas and e.

Question 17

Critique on CDM

Answer 17

1. It only generates a transfer of hardware or financial resources rather than contributing to SD
2. Emplified by the fact that the majority of CDM project go to emerging economies like China, India. In SSA it is less than 1%