Elements Of A Market-Based Energy Access Intervention A Basic Insight

In spite of being very progressive on the universal energy access goal, the world is home to billions of people who are still reliant on traditional fuels and inefficient technologies for lighting and cooking. In this article, Martand Shardul and P B Singh discuss that in the context of social justice, economic development, and climate change mitigation, facilitating the transition of communities to cleaner and efficient solutions is a must. For a community to transition from grants to a market-linked system, complementary interventions will be helpful.

The world is home to billions of people who are still reliant on traditional fuels and inefficient technologies for lighting and cooking. Given the size of the challenge—over 3 billion people are reliant on traditional biomass cookstoves, and almost 1 billion people do not have access to electricity, particularly in the rural and remote areas—access to clean energy is an exciting opportunity for micro-entrepreneurs. In terrains that are difficult and where the central grid infrastructure is technically and financially not feasible, and for places where liquefied petroleum gas distributors are missing, the renewable energy sector presents paramount business avenues. Lately, with growing demand for clean energy-based products for lighting, cooking, and other productive uses, renewable energy technologies such as solar panels, solar lanterns, and torches have found a place in the shelf at rural shops. The credit for this progress, apart from all other factors, goes to multiple numbers of pilots, demonstrations, awareness campaigns, and sensitization programmes that have been carried out by the government, civil societies, and businesses in the past.