Using micro level household survey data from India, we analyse the variation in the pattern and quantum of household energy requirements, both direct and indirect, and the factors causing such ...variation. An econometric analysis using household survey data from India for the year 1993–1994 reveals that household socio-economic, demographic, geographic, family and dwelling attributes influence the total household energy requirements. There are also large variations in the pattern of energy requirements across households belonging to different expenditure classes. Results from the econometric estimation show that total household expenditure or income level is the most important explanatory variable causing variation in energy requirements across households. In addition, the size of the household dwelling and the age of the head of the household are related to higher household energy requirements. In contrast, the number of members in the household and literacy of the head are associated with lower household energy requirements.
A subset of Sustainable Development Goals pertains to improving people's living standards at home. These include the provision of access to electricity, clean cooking energy, improved water and ...sanitation. We examine historical progress in energy access in relation to other living standards. We assess regional patterns in the pace of progress and relative priority accorded to these different services. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa would have to undergo unprecedented rates of improvement in energy access in order to achieve the goal of universal electrification by 2030. World over, access to clean cooking fuels and sanitation facilities consistently lag improved water and electricity access by a large margin. These two deprivations are more concentrated among poor countries, and poor people in middle income countries. They are also correlated to health risks faced disproportionately by women. However, some Asian countries have been able to achieve faster progress in electrification at lower income levels compared to industrialized countries' earlier efforts. These examples offer hope that future efforts need not be constrained by historical rates of progress.
The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide guide-posts to society as it attempts to respond to an array of pressing challenges. One of these challenges is energy; thus, the SDGs ...have become paramount for energy policy-making. Yet, while governments throughout the world have already declared the SDGs to be 'integrated and indivisible', there are still knowledge gaps surrounding how the interactions between the energy SDG targets and those of the non-energy-focused SDGs might play out in different contexts. In this review, we report on a large-scale assessment of the relevant energy literature, which we conducted to better our understanding of key energy-related interactions between SDGs, as well as their context-dependencies (relating to time, geography, governance, technology, and directionality). By (i) evaluating the nature and strength of the interactions identified, (ii) indicating the robustness of the evidence base, the agreement of that evidence, and our confidence in it, and (iii) highlighting critical areas where better understanding is needed or context dependencies should be considered, our review points to potential ways forward for both the policy making and scientific communities. First, we find that positive interactions between the SDGs outweigh the negative ones, both in number and magnitude. Second, of relevance for the scientific community, in order to fill knowledge gaps in critical areas, there is an urgent need for interdisciplinary research geared toward developing new data, scientific tools, and fresh perspectives. Third, of relevance for policy-making, wider efforts to promote policy coherence and integrated assessments are required to address potential policy spillovers across sectors, sustainability domains, and geographic and temporal boundaries. The task of conducting comprehensive science-to-policy assessments covering all SDGs, such as for the UN's Global Sustainable Development Report, remains manageable pending the availability of systematic reviews focusing on a limited number of SDG dimensions in each case.
Abstract
Global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions can be traced to five economic sectors: energy, industry, buildings, transport and AFOLU (agriculture, forestry and other land uses). In this topical ...review, we synthesise the literature to explain recent trends in global and regional emissions in each of these sectors. To contextualise our review, we present estimates of GHG emissions trends by sector from 1990 to 2018, describing the major sources of emissions growth, stability and decline across ten global regions. Overall, the literature and data emphasise that progress towards reducing GHG emissions has been limited. The prominent global pattern is a continuation of underlying drivers with few signs of emerging limits to demand, nor of a deep shift towards the delivery of low and zero carbon services across sectors. We observe a moderate decarbonisation of energy systems in Europe and North America, driven by fuel switching and the increasing penetration of renewables. By contrast, in rapidly industrialising regions, fossil-based energy systems have continuously expanded, only very recently slowing down in their growth. Strong demand for materials, floor area, energy services and travel have driven emissions growth in the industry, buildings and transport sectors, particularly in Eastern Asia, Southern Asia and South-East Asia. An expansion of agriculture into carbon-dense tropical forest areas has driven recent increases in AFOLU emissions in Latin America, South-East Asia and Africa. Identifying, understanding, and tackling the most persistent and climate-damaging trends across sectors is a fundamental concern for research and policy as humanity treads deeper into the Anthropocene.
•The SSP2 narrative is translated in a quantified marker baseline scenario.•This baseline results in a global final energy demand of 640 EJ/yr by 2050.•And leads to 6.7W/m2 of radiative forcing and ...3.9°C of anthropogenic warming.•Mitigation action can bring this in line with keeping warming well below 2°C.•SSP2 represents a middle-of-the-road perspective compared to the other SSPs.
Studies of global environmental change make extensive use of scenarios to explore how the future can evolve under a consistent set of assumptions. The recently developed Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) create a framework for the study of climate-related scenario outcomes. Their five narratives span a wide range of worlds that vary in their challenges for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Here we provide background on the quantification that has been selected to serve as the reference, or ‘marker’, implementation for SSP2. The SSP2 narrative describes a middle-of-the-road development in the mitigation and adaptation challenges space. We explain how the narrative has been translated into quantitative assumptions in the IIASA Integrated Assessment Modelling Framework. We show that our SSP2 marker implementation occupies a central position for key metrics along the mitigation and adaptation challenge dimensions. For many dimensions the SSP2 marker implementation also reflects an extension of the historical experience, particularly in terms of carbon and energy intensity improvements in its baseline. This leads to a steady emissions increase over the 21st century, with projected end-of-century warming nearing 4°C relative to preindustrial levels. On the other hand, SSP2 also shows that global-mean temperature increase can be limited to below 2°C, pending stringent climate policies throughout the world. The added value of the SSP2 marker implementation for the wider scientific community is that it can serve as a starting point to further explore integrated solutions for achieving multiple societal objectives in light of the climate adaptation and mitigation challenges that society could face over the 21st century.
Recent efforts to measure energy poverty more comprehensively attempt to redress the shortcomings of binary metrics that remain in common use. However, significant challenges remain both with the ...construction of the new measurement frameworks and their application. The paper presents an analysis of recent multidimensional measurement approaches and applications to draw inferences on the implications of applying these for the measurement of energy access and in informing policies aimed at improving it. The assessment suggests that despite progress having been made in capturing the multidimensional nature of energy poverty, the new measures are currently too complex to operationalize at the global level and too prescriptive to gain acceptance in diverse national contexts. Further efforts are thus required to consolidate and simplify the new frameworks for global tracking purposes, and to adapt and modify these to specific country contexts to inform national policy and planning. A subset of key energy poverty dimensions and uniform set of indicators need to be shortlisted for the purposes of global comparisons, while specific national tracking efforts can apply dimensions and thresholds most suited to accurately capture energy poverty and its drivers in a given context.
This article is categorized under:
Energy Policy and Planning > Economics and Policy
Energy and Development > Economics and Policy
Energy Infrastructure > Economics and Policy
Modifying the Multitier Framework for distinct global tracking and national planning purposes.
Demographic change and carbon dioxide emissions O'Neill, Brian C, Dr; Liddle, Brant, PhD; Jiang, Leiwen, PhD ...
The Lancet (British edition),
07/2012, Letnik:
380, Številka:
9837
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Summary Relations between demographic change and emissions of the major greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2 ) have been studied from different perspectives, but most projections of future emissions ...only partly take demographic influences into account. We review two types of evidence for how CO2 emissions from the use of fossil fuels are affected by demographic factors such as population growth or decline, ageing, urbanisation, and changes in household size. First, empirical analyses of historical trends tend to show that CO2 emissions from energy use respond almost proportionately to changes in population size and that ageing and urbanisation have less than proportional but statistically significant effects. Second, scenario analyses show that alternative population growth paths could have substantial effects on global emissions of CO2 several decades from now, and that ageing and urbanisation can have important effects in particular world regions. These results imply that policies that slow population growth would probably also have climate-related benefits.
It is well established that nighttime radiance, measured from satellites, correlates with economic prosperity across the globe. In developing countries, areas with low levels of detected radiance ...generally indicate limited development - with unlit areas typically being disregarded. Here we combine satellite nighttime lights and the world settlement footprint for the year 2015 to show that 19% of the total settlement footprint of the planet had no detectable artificial radiance associated with it. The majority of unlit settlement footprints are found in Africa (39%), rising to 65% if we consider only rural settlement areas, along with numerous countries in the Middle East and Asia. Significant areas of unlit settlements are also located in some developed countries. For 49 countries spread across Africa, Asia and the Americas we are able to predict and map the wealth class obtained from ~2,400,000 geo-located households based upon the percent of unlit settlements, with an overall accuracy of 87%.
•We do not know how intra-household bargaining power affects modern energy adoption.•Social norms, resources and other hardships affect women's interest in modern energy.•Women's involvement in ...energy projects may boost their bargaining power.•Benefits to women depend on varied nature of modern energy options and impacts.
Compelling empirical evidence on the gender differentiated impacts and determinants of energy transitions remains weak. In this paper, we focus on identifying key gaps in our current understanding of how women's well-being relates to energy poverty and in framing questions for further research. Our overarching message is twofold: first, more research and empirical evidence is needed to understand the factors – both outside and within the household – that influence women's decision-making power in relation to the adoption of modern energy services, and whether their adoption leads to the intended benefits. Second, policies (and research) that aim to improve (study) women's well-being through improvements in household energy use need to consider not only this broader enabling context, but also the multiple dimensions of modern energy service provision. Existing power relations and institutions today discriminate against women in many developing countries. Disregarding these gender inequalities can undermine the potential for transforming women's status and well-being.
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