Electricity is essential for any who care to participate in globalization, and huge numbers of the world’s rural poor still long for this basic tool at a time of tight supply and climbing prices. This two-part series examines two frontiers – the energy demands of the rural poor and the increasing supply of alternative-energy sources in the developing world. In the first article, Adriana Valencia and Georg Caspary analyze the quest for electricity by rural communities in developing nations and how some have become pioneers for alternative-energy sources. More than 40 percent of the world’s rural poor lack access to electricity, cutting entire communities off from communication, internet or business networks and reducing education and financial opportunities. The sustainability of any rural electrification program depends on power going toward useful purposes – including income generation, education, safety or time-saving conveniences. Valencia and Caspary conclude that rural communities can benefit by access to this basic tool of globalization and that the global networks will also gain from the perspectives of new participants. – YaleGlobal
New Energy Frontiers Expand Global Connections – Part I
The world’s rural poor impatiently await electricity that brings business and communication opportunities
Adriana Valencia
Georg Caspary
YaleGlobal, 14 August 2008
http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=11200