CONTEXT South Africa is at a crossroads: it is the highest carbon dioxide emitter in Africa, and 90 per cent of the country’s electricity comes from coal. Furthermore, in a comparison of 27 upper-middle-income countries, the IEA concluded that South Africa has the third-highest electricity consumption per capita, just after the Slovak Republic and Russia. … Continued
CONTEXT The Republic of Maldives is a chain of 26 atolls, or around 1190 islands within the Indian Ocean. There are 194 inhabited islands in Maldives and a further 105 resort islands. The Maldives proudly enjoys universal access to electricity. However, demand is currently met almost entirely by imported fossil fuels. Diesel generators operate on … Continued
CONTEXT Access to affordable, modern energy services is essential both for an individual’s health and well-being and for a country’s economic prosperity and development. However, there are currently 1.3 billion people worldwide without access to electricity and 2.7 billion without access to clean cooking facilities. In Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), over 31 million … Continued
CONTEXT Colombia is a country with good coverage of the electric power service, with an average coverage rate nationwide of 96.1 per cent and disaggregated in urban and rural 99.6 per cent and 84.8 per cent respectively. However, two-thirds of the national territory is not served and is referred to as ZNI (Non-Interconnected Zones). In … Continued
CONTEXT 6.9 trillion USD are expected to be invested in air-conditioning alone in the net 30 years according to the IEA Future of Cooling report. Today cooling represents 10 per cent of global electricity consumption – equivalent to 2.5 times the electricity use of Africa – and demand is expected to triple by 2050. The … Continued
CONTEXT Energy efficiency presents enormous investment opportunities for businesses with significant potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, especially in developing countries. However, many development programmes targeting energy efficiency have struggled to catalyse the market, which is one of the main reasons is that energy efficiency is not a priority for many businesses, such as hotels … Continued
CONTEXT Remittance inflows to Tajikistan account for as much as 52 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) or USD 4 billion. In Kyrgyzstan, remittances make up 31 per cent of GDP or USD 2.1 billion. Most of the migrant workers from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan reside in Russia, and both countries face significant energy challenges, … Continued
CONTEXT Bolivian migrants living in Spain send around USD 268 million in remittances home each year. This constitutes a viable source of end-user financing for emigrants’ families. While electrification rates in Bolivia are above 68 per cent, a large percentage of the population, mostly middle-low to low-income families rely on dangerous shower geysers to heat … Continued
CONTEXT Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with an electricity infrastructure that reaches only 12.5 per cent of all Haitians. Access to sustainable energy in Haiti is crucial to fostering improvements in the living conditions of the poor, to provide economic opportunities, to improve health and to support educational goals. Tapping into … Continued
CONTEXT Nearly 70 per cent of the world’s population will live in cities by the year 2050, and cities currently pump out 70 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. Buildings alone contribute nearly 40 per cent of emissions. To limit emissions, the future of urban architecture must be green. This is also true for Indian … Continued