Decentralized Energy

Africa's Energy Future Heading Down a Dark Tunnel

Mon, 09/26/2011 - 11:02am

By:

Terri Hathaway

(A guest blog by our former Africa program director)

Cahora Bassa Dam bypasses villages under its power lines

The Conference of Energy Ministers in Africa – a two-year old institution recognized by the African Union and donors as the official voice of Africa's energy future – recently met for the second time and released a new declaration that can fairly be called double-speak. The first half of the declaration is so great, it could have been written by a Nelson Mandela of energy. It outlines the brutal reality of Africa's energy poverty and the goals for universal access to sustainable energy across Africa by 2030.

Why India Doesn't Need World Bank Energy Funding

By:

Matilda Lee, The Ecologist

Ahead of the release of the World Bank's revised energy strategy, the Ecologist speaks to sustainable development advocate Srinivas Krishnaswamy about why despite huge gigawatt power projects, 45 per cent of India's households still lack electricity

Does India need the World Bank?

Read more

Related content:

A Green Energy Plan for Mozambique

Cahora Bassa power lines bypass Zambezi villagers (Lori Pottinger)

Mozambique has among the lowest uses of electricity in the world. Yet virtually all of the electricity it does produce from Cahora Bassa Dam on the Zambezi is shipped to its wealthy neighbor, South Africa. As the government prepares to build another costly large dam on the Zambezi that will also power South Africa rather than homes and businesses in Mozambique, a new report lays out a saner plan for developing renewable energy sources across the nation that would share the energy wealth more equitably; diversify the national electricity grid to help the nation adapt to climate change (which is expected to significantly affect large hydro), and build a clean energy sector that would also spare the Zambezi.