The views expressed in this paper/presentation are the views of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the

views
or policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), or its Board of Directors, or the governments they represent. ADB
does not guarantee the source, originality, accuracy, completeness or reliability of any statement, information, data,
finding, interpretation, advice, opinion, or view presented, nor does it make any representation concerning the same.

The Challenge to Provide Energy for

All:
Examples on what that means for
the Poor

The Environments of the Poor in the Context of

Climate Change and the Green Economy:
Making Sustainable Development More Inclusive
24 – 26 Nov 2010, New Delhi
Jiwan Acharya
Climate Change Specialist (Energy)
Asian Development Bank

1
 Energy poverty persists
in Asia
1.4 billion people worldwide lack access to electricity, 800 million in Asia (IEA 2010)

2.7 billion people worldwide rely

on traditional biomass for cooking
and heating, more than 70% in Asia

2
Source: IEA, World Energy Outlook
 Energy Poverty and the
Environment
• Dependence on traditional forms of energy have
negative consequences for the environment and
human health
• The burning of biomass is the best example of this
– Biomass fires are smoky, polluting and often found
indoors
– WHO estimates that more than 1.6 million people die
from household air pollution
– They are fueled primarily by wood, collected from already
diminished forested areas
• Soil erosion, soil degradation and issues concerning water follow
deforestation

3
Source: IEA, World Energy Outlook
 Energy Poverty and the
Environment
• MDG Goal 7 – “Ensuring
environmental sustainability”
– Modern fuels and more efficient
cook stoves can relieve
pressures on the environment
caused by unsustainable use of
biomass
– Clean energy solutions whether
through energy efficiency or
renewable power can meet
needs without adding to
emissions

4
Source: IEA, World Energy Outlook
ADB’s Energy for All Initiative:
a two-pronged approach

• Internal: mainstream
access to energy for the
poor through:
– Projects
– Policy
– Knowledge
• External: pursue
partnerships to tackle
energy poverty
ADB Investment in Energy Access
(2003-to date )

Energy for All Initiative launched

Energy Access Projects:
Biogas
• VIE: $19 m loan component for
biogas
• Line of credit to local banks to
finance up to 40,000 systems
• Output-based subsidy for20,000
households
• Scaling up existing program
• Replicating in LAO, BHU

Source: SNV
Energy Access Projects: Rural
Electrification
• VIE: $151 m loan for RE
development and network
expansion
• Electrification of 1K
villages through grid
• 5-10 mini-hydro
subprojects in off-grid
mountainous areas where
grid-extension not feasible
• Connecting 105,000 HH
 Does electrification improve the
quality of a rural life?

• ADB evaluated its RE projects in Bhutan, and found

that electrified households:
– Have a higher average incremental income than unelectrified
households, with electrification increasing nonfarm income by
between 50-72%
– Are likely to use about 583 kg less fuelwood per year
– Only around 42% use kerosene for domestic purposes versus
95% of unelectrified households
• Electrified households enjoy a better quality of life
and most of their economic, social, and
environmental outcomes are better

Source: “Asian Development Bank's Assistance for Rural Electrification in Bhutan—Does 9

Electrification Improve the Quality of Rural Life?”
Energy for All
Partnership
Steering Committee
ADB, E+CO, e8, NEA
Philippines, REEEP, ReEx
Capital Asia, SEAS, SNV, TERI,
WBCSD, WLPGA

Secretari
at
ADB

Working Groups

Domestic Enterprise
Biogas Solar Lighting Development
SNV TERI SEAS

LP Gas Pacific New Working

WLPGA Wind Power REEEP Groups to be
Established

Objective: access to energy to 100 million

Snapshot: Solar lighting
• “Lighting for All”
– working with TERI, other stakeholders to develop regional
off-grid lighting platform under Energy for All Partnership
– focused on entrepreneurship, quality assurance,
financing, policy advocacy, consumer awareness
– Priority countries: Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, India,
Bangladesh , and/or Philippines
• Projects on the ground in India, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Philippines
Summary
• Energy powers human development and the inability to
access modern energy continues the cycle of poverty.
• Without energy, human development targets, including the
UN Millennium Development Goals cannot be met.
• Providing access to modern energy is a thrust of ADB’s Energy
Policy and ADB’s long term goals of inclusive, environmentally
sustainable development.
• Energy poverty must be confronted to fight poverty as
a whole.
Contact
Jiwan Acharya
Climate Change Specialist (Energy)
Email: jacharya@adb.org
Tel: +63 2 632 6207

web: www.adb.org/Clean-Energy/energyforall-initiative.asp
www.energyforall.info

13