Praise for this book
We are really happy to see gender issues featured throughout the PPEO 2016 and would like to congratulate Practical Action on how influential the PPEO series has been in setting the stage for SEforAll. This edition of the PPEO continues to emphasize the need to change the paradigm and put the last mile first in energy access planning.
Sheila Oparaocha, International Coordinator and Programme Manager, ENERGIA
National energy access planning is of vital relevance to achieving the vision of Universal Energy Access by 2030. The PPEO 2016 offers an important contribution to the debate by offering suggestions of what a good plan entails, and by offering tangible recommendations on how to meaningfully include the voices of those who are ultimately affected by national energy access planning.
Caspar Priesemann, Energy Access Advisor, GIZ
Practical Actions Poor peoples energy outlook series continues to impress. The evidence and guidance found within PPEO 2016 shows why and how universal energy access targets can only be achieved on a 2030 timeline by flipping the mainstream perspective on who, and what, needs to be delivered. I strongly encourage utilities, ministries of energy and energy financiers to act on the case presented here to focus on distributed renewables and bottom-up approaches.
Jim Rogers, former Chair and CEO of Duke Energy
Once again the PPEO provides terrific insights on the dynamic topic of energy and development. As energy demand and investment in developing countries continues to grow rapidly, the PPEO is a critical resource for decision makers.
Morgan Bazilian, Lead Energy Specialist, the World Bank
This edition of the PPEO demonstrates the value of using a gender lens in national energy access planning. By exploring first-hand evidence of womens and mens diverse energy access priorities and needs, the PPEO 2016 highlights that only by incorporating both womens and mens differentiated energy access requirements in energy planning initiatives can we achieve truly universal energy access by 2030.
Dr Joy Clancy, Professor of Energy and Gender, CSTM, University of Twente
This is timely as, despite the growing recognition of energy service delivery as key to achieving development objectives, current approaches to energy planning and financing are too frequently failing to meet poor peoples energy access needs. This call for more emphasis on decentralized energy solutions and on the actual energy services provided reflects well DFIDs own approach, including the Energy Africa household solar initiative. This PPEO on national planning makes a valuable contribution, and DFID is pleased that this will be the first of three guides that DFID is supporting reframing the energy access agenda.
Alistair Wray, Senior Energy Advisor, DFID Research and Evidence Division
It is very important and timely to underline that energy plans (and policies) should be about the energy needs of people, in particular the poor. There is a serious risk that, with all new commitments in the field of climate change and energy transition, the focus of planners, policy makers and financiers will be limited to large infrastructure projects; while billions of people will still lack proper access to electricity and clean cooking, and can only be served by decentralized solutions. Delivering on universal energy access requires people centered planning, based on bottom-up practices.
Frank van der Vleuten, Energy Expert, Climate Team, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the
Netherlands & Climate Investment Funds
About Practical Action
Practical Action is a development charity with a difference. We use technology to challenge poverty by building the capabilities of poor people, improving their access to technical options and knowledge. We work internationally from regional offices in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the UK. Our vision is of a sustainable world free of poverty and injustice in which technology is used for the benefit of all.
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Practical Action, 2016
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Citation: Practical Action (2016) Poor peoples energy outlook 2016: National Energy Access Planning from the Bottom Up, Rugby, UK: Practical Action Publishing,
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Contents
Energy access is enshrined as an important component of the Paris Agreement on climate change. In addition, recognition of its fundamental role in achieving other global imperatives, such as gender equality, economic empowerment, improved health status, and water and food security, has led to universal energy access being highlighted in the Sustainable Development Goals.
There is a long way to go to achieve universal energy access just over one billion people still live without electricity, and nearly three billion rely on solid fuels like charcoal, wood, and animal dung for cooking and heating. Business as usual approaches are not making fast enough progress on energy access.
Over the past six years, Practical Actions Poor peoples energy outlook has ensured that the voices of the energy-poor are heard. It has shown that measuring progress by the numbers of connections and megawatts available is insufficient, and actually shifts the focus away from providing the technologies and services which are most relevant to the energy-poor.
