Energy Poverty remains a major handicap to achieving human development goals. For a third of humanity without access to electricity or modern fuels, it is a notable failure of the existing global energy system that it delivers so very little to so many.
Affordable Energy for Humanity: A Global Change Initiative
Is there a credible transition pathway to reconcile affordable access with clean energy?
Can science and technological innovation deliver breakthrough improvements in cost and performance?
The Challenge of Energy Access
A major ‘Global Change Initiative’ – led by the University of Waterloo and Karlsruhe Institute for Technology - is underway to establish a platform for research and development of innovative energy technologies to drive large-scale adoption of low cost solutions intended to reach every global citizen.
The primary goal is: ‘Affordable Energy for Humanity.’
Our target: For a person living on $2 per day, the energy cost must not exceed 20 cents/day.
This aggressive target has a clear purpose to allow progress to be measured.
The vision rests on critical advances in scientific research and technological innovation to deliver change on a scale large enough to render energy poverty a phenomenon of the past. Development of a cleaner low carbon energy system that is as responsive to the threat of climate change as it is to the needs of those who have very little access to energy is the central challenge.
Affordable energy remains a central feature of human development goals and its linkage to water, food, security, health and well-being is as strong as it is pervasive. We are confident that a global initiative – to reduce energy cost by at least an order of magnitude – can be instrumental in delivering affordable energy as the positive force of change.
A Global Change Initiative: Why?
The plight of some 2.5 billion people in the world with no access to electricity and basic energy services needs to be addressed as a matter of global conscience. The arc of human development goals to improve life quality is critically dependent on access to affordable energy. Energy poverty remains a barrier to economic well-being for such a large proportion of humanity that the rationale for action now is compelling.
The failing of the existing global energy system - so vast in scope and but persistent in its indifference to the needs of a third of humanity is clear. Through an interconnected system of pipes and pipelines, power plants and processing plants, we produce a vast amount of primary energy annually (upwards of 550 EJ) and yet millions are left to scour the forests for twigs and branches for basic needs. If the energy poor are to be drawn into the mainstream of global economic well-being, then access to low cost energy is a fundamental requirement.
The importance of energy access has been recognized by several organizations including the United Nation’s Sustainable Energy 4 ALL (SE4A) program, the World Energy Council, the World Bank, NGOs and many charitable foundations. Although progress, at the global level, has been tangible, it has been slow and not pervasive enough in scale and scope to address the issue of basic human needs. Politicians and policy-makers have been stymied over the decades by several competing demands – the geopolitics of energy supply, demands for energy security and the compelling evidence to address the threat of climate change from fossil fuel emissions.
To effect meaningful change, we need to marshal the vast intellectual capacity, globally, to address two of the most important challenges of the century and to do so in concert: achieve a low carbon energy system that also meets the requirement of affordable energy for the deprived mass of humanity.
Research Domains for Innovative Solutions
Key domains of research and development activities have been identified to support a multi layered approach and a program that will draw on insights from several disciplines from basic sciences to engineering. Research in the social and behavioral sciences will be integral to identifying how new knowledge can support commercialization of innovations.
Global Partnerships and Program Execution
The Global Change Initiative for energy access is a multi-layered approach to develop solutions and its success will depend on the commitment of many talented individuals and organizations. We have initiated intensification of collaborations between the University of Waterloo (Canada) and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany). We seek active participation of researchers and affiliated institutions and we look forward to active engagement of thought leaders in the academy, civil society groups, philanthropic organizations, innovators, and government and industry leaders.