1. Access to energy, human promotion
and sustainable development
Prof. Emanuela Colombo,
Rector’s Delegate to “Cooperation and Development” - Politecnico di Milano
UNESCO Chair in Energy for Sustainable Development
Department of Energy
Engineering Without Border

2. 2
Is Energy
somehow
Linked to
Development
?
Emanuela Colombo - POLIMI – UNESCO Chair

3. Energy and Development 3
World Bank, IEA, UNDP 2009
Energy and Socio-Economic Development
Energy is linked to Development and vice-versa
Quantitative interdependency between Energy and Development
Emanuela Colombo - POLIMI – UNESCO Chair

4. 4
Energy and Development
Energy and Social Development
The Human Development Index The Energy Development index
HDI 3 LEI EI GNI index EDI 1 4 Ec 1 4 EEc 1 4 ME% 1 4 EE%
• Life expectancy at birth (LEI), • commercial energy consumption (Ec):
• Mean years + Expected years of schooling (EI), • electricity in residential sector (EEc):
• A decent standard of living, (GNIindex), • modern fuels in residential sector (ME%)
• population with access to electricity (EE%).
0,9
Human Development Index
0,8
0,7
0,6
R² = 0,78
0,5
0,4
0,3
0,2
0,1
0,0
0,0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0
Energy Development Index
IEA, UNDP 2011
Emanuela Colombo - POLIMI – UNESCO Chair

5. 5
Energy is
Linked to
Development
Access to Energy should
be a “right” for ALL
.. But it is not...
Emanuela Colombo - POLIMI – UNESCO Chair

6. 6
Access to Energy
Access to Energy
mandatory to overcome “development divide”
80% in LIE
1.3 billions do not have
99% in rural area
access to electricity
90% in informal suburbs
1 further billion do not have
5-15% annual outages
reliable access to electric energy
15% efficiency
2.7 billions rely on biomass
10% of fuel carbon to HC
for cooking and lighting
1-2 millions deaths /y
Emanuela Colombo - POLIMI – UNESCO Chair

7. 7
Access to Energy
has two faces
Access to
Electric Energy
Access to
Modern fuels
Emanuela Colombo - POLIMI – UNESCO Chair

8. 8
Access to Energy
Access to electric energy
Share of people without it for DCs, 2008
Comparisons Rural vs Urban
DCs : 41 % vs 10%
SSA : 89% vs 46%
Data From UNDP 2010
Emanuela Colombo - POLIMI – UNESCO Chair

9. 9
Access to Energy
Access to modern fuels
Share of people without it for DCs, 2008
Comparisons Rural vs Urban
DCs : 81 % vs 30% modern fuels include gas,
kerosene, electricity
SSA : 95% vs 58%
Data From UNDP 2010
Emanuela Colombo - POLIMI – UNESCO Chair

10. 10
UNs say that without at least
Other 400 millions people
With access to electric energy
1 billions people
With access to modern fuels
No chance to achieve
MDG 1 on poverty
Emanuela Colombo - POLIMI – UNESCO Chair

11. Universal Access to Energy to 2030 11
Access to Energy and Investments
- Access to electric energy: $ 700 billions
5-600 $ per capita
- Access to modern fuel : $ 60 billions
40 $ per capita
OECD electric energy
9300 TWh per year
If we increased the price $ 760 billions to 2030
0.5 c$/kWh
(2.3% of New Policy Scenario investments)
We could make
$ 49 billions / year $ 40 billions / year
Emanuela Colombo - POLIMI – UNESCO Chair

12. 12
We
as responsible people
could (should)
afford it
Emanuela Colombo - POLIMI – UNESCO Chair

13. 13
Universal Access to Energy to 2030
Access to Energy
The Technical dimension is not the only one.
Access to energy
Social Dimension
Equity
Health
• Accessibility • Accident fatalities
• Affordability • Local Pollution
• Disparities
Which Strategies for Access to Energy ?
Emanuela Colombo - POLIMI – UNESCO Chair

14. 14
Technologies for access to energy
WEO 2011
Access to electric energy
Possible options according to the IEA forecast :
50-250 kWh per year per capita
1. Improve access to the national electric grid:
• increase generating capacity via traditional power plants based on fossils
• extend the electric transmission and distribution systems
• improve the reliability of the service while reaching the LAST mile
2. Foster Distributed Generation [DG]:
• exploitation of local energy resources → reduce energy dependence
• coupling of small-scale fossil-based and renewable-based energy technologies
a) Stand alone /single Component: Energy home Systems (EHSs)
b) Integrated Systems/multi-vectors: Integrated Renew. Energy Syst. (IRES)
c) Integrated System/electricity only: Mini-Grid (MG)
Emanuela Colombo - POLIMI – UNESCO Chair

15. 15
Technologies for access to energy
Access to electric energy
Distributed Generation: Energy Home System [EHS]
Depending on [1] the dispersion of the households and [2] the types of load required → longer
distribution lines entail higher connection costs. Stand-alone systems can be a better solution:
Power are up to 100-200W
 Solar home systems [SHS]
 Pico-hydro systems [PHS]
 Wind home systems [WHS]
• power generation is close to load
• no transmission and distribution costs
• Total cost of energy tends to be higher, no economies of scale
• to keep prices affordable, components capacities are low (100-200W)
• Due to small generation capacities Energy Home Systems do not support income generating
activities, which enable a village to create productive services and jobs.
ARE 2011
Emanuela Colombo - POLIMI – UNESCO Chair

16. 16
Technologies for access to energy
Access to electric energy
Distributed Generation: Integrated Renewables Energy System (IRES)
Systems supplying a variety of energy vectors to a variety of loads harnessing two or more renewable
energy sources. Power are up to 100 kW
 match local renewable resources with local needs
 maximize efficiency and minimize cost
 integrate benefits at the user end
 Energization Vs Electrification
fits in the country's infrastructure,
compatible with the local capacity
can be properly maintained,
affordable, to be accessible to virtually all,
not destructive to the environment
suitable to be applied on a small scale,
 Due to small generation capacities Energy Home Systems do not support income generating
activities, which enable a village to create productive services and jobs.
Emanuela Colombo - POLIMI – UNESCO Chair

17. 17
Technologies for access to energy
Access to electric energy
Distributed Generation: Mini grid (MG)
Electricity Mini-Grids provide centralized electricity generation. MG can power households and
local Small and Medium Enterprises [SMEs] Power is up to few MW :
 grid extension is highly costly and not feasible → isolated remote areas
 grid extension is unlikely to be accomplished within the medium term
• Renewable Energy Systems → [1] high investment [2] “fuel free” [3] not subject to fuel price
volatility [4] non-dispatchable [5] relay on batteries [6] to avoid blackouts batteries are required
• Diesel generator [1] low capital investment [2] high O&M [3] dispatchable [4] noising and polluting
• Hybrid → [1] rely on renewable energy to generate 75-99% of supply [2] almost independent [3] less
related to the cost of fossil fuel [4] diesel genset used as a backup [5] battery size can be lower
• Hybrid systems often are the least-cost long-term energy solution to power economic
development
• More complicated and gebnerally more costly than previous solutions ARE 2011
Emanuela Colombo - POLIMI – UNESCO Chair

18. 18
Technologies for access to energy
Access to modern fuels
WEO 2011
Possible options according to the IEA forecast :
1.5-3 kWh per year per capita
1. Improve access to the liquefied Petroleum Gas [LPG]
2. Foster distribution of Improved Cooked Stoves [ICS]:
3. Promote small scale Biogas Systems [BG]:
Emanuela Colombo - POLIMI – UNESCO Chair

19. 19
Technologies for access to energy
Access to modern fuels: ICS
Three Stones - traditional cooking systems
• Strong impact on land degradation
• Strong impact on local health
Cooking Alternatives
1. Promoting Improved Cooked Stoves (ICS) using non commercial biomass
>>> shorter term
2. Shift to Modern Energies (gas, electricity, kerosene or II gen biomass)
>>> longer term
Emanuela Colombo - POLIMI – UNESCO Chair

20. 20
Technologies for access to energy
Access to modern fuels: ICS
Stoves can be classified on the basis of biomass used as feeding fuel
Traditional cook stoves Improved Cook Stoves Modern Energies Stoves
Traditional Charcoal Rocket Liquid
Gasifiers Gas stoves
wood stoves stoves wood stoves stoves
Emanuela Colombo - POLIMI – UNESCO Chair

21. 21
Technologies for access to energy
Access to modern fuels: ICS
Rocket wood stoves Wood gasifier stoves
Many commercial solutions
G3300 WOOD
COOKSTOVE
Environfit
Biolite camp stove
with Thermoelectric
module
Rare commercial solutions
Emanuela Colombo - POLIMI – UNESCO Chair

22. 22
Technologies for access to energy
Access to modern fuels: BS
Household Biogas Systems
The installed low cost biogas plant, floating dome, consists of a digestor of transparent double film
tubular polyethylene.
The diameter is 80 cm. The reservoir sack is transparent
of 2 m3 volume. For a biogas production of 1
m3/day/plant the expected energy output is 6
kWh/day/plant, since the resulting gas is a mixture of
methane (averagely 56%), carbon dioxide and others
Diogestor line
Line to kitchen
Emanuela Colombo - POLIMI – UNESCO Chair

23. 23
Technologies for access to energy
Access to modern fuels: BS
Community Biogas Systems
According to the design of the fixed dome; (Nepalese design is preferred because of its
robustness, ease of operation, opportunity to accommodate high shares of local
materials, correct sizing and low cost) the digester sizes of 4 6 8 and 10 m3 are included
to entertain users’ demand for cooking energy and lighting
Emanuela Colombo - POLIMI – UNESCO Chair

24. Which Strategies
are Win Win ?
When the goal is … development
Emanuela Colombo - POLIMI – UNESCO Chair