Energy Consumption and Development

Increased energy consumption by countries of the South is inevitable - and necessary to meet people’s basic needs - but the message of global "limits to growth" must be heeded.

The Earth Summit at Rio was an important milestone in focusing the attention of the world on issues that are critical to the health of this planet and life that flourishes on it. Never before has such a gathering of world leaders taken place on any subject or set of issues and, quite apart from the substance of the conference, this perhaps heralds a new era for development thought and policy making. It is now clear that new paradigms of development must gradually dominate the agenda of policy makers around the world.

This will not happen dramatically in one stroke, but rather as the result of an ongoing process. In this process, concerned citizens must fully participate to ensure that the natural-resource base, including the air we breathe and the water we drink, sustains healthy life in the future. It will also require a shift in attitudes. No longer can the inequities and disparities that define global consumption patterns continue along the path established during the past several decades.

Let us look at the example of energy. If we analyse global distribution and consumption of energy, we find that over 60 percent of the world’s population is using barely 20 percent of the total energy being consumed. The richest 24 percent use almost 70 percent of the total energy consumed. In annual per capita terms, conventional forms of energy used in the richest countries average over 7000 watts, as against 500 watts in the poorest countries. As regards traditional forms of energy, that is, fuelwood, agricultural and vegetable residues, animal dung etc. the poorest countries use 350 watts per person, while the richest use roughly 200 watts per person. On balance, if we consider both conventional and traditional sources of energy, the disparities are stark.

The important thing to remember is that developing countries are still on a path of rising energy consumption. These increases can be moderated by the adoption and dissemination of energy-efficient technologies, but demand will continue to go up. Given the fact that population in developing countries is increasing rapidly, a major increase in energy use in countries of the South is inevitable.

Hence, if we wish to keep emissions of various pollutants, produced by consumption of energy, at a manageable global level, then developed countries will have to reduce their energy use quite rapidly. This does not necessarily imply a reduction in services provided by energy, because if the developed world were to adopt, say, technologies used in Japan, there would be a major reduction in energy use in other Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries.

There is absolutely no rational for continuing a business-as-usual path of energy consumption in the industrialised in the industrialised countries. If we were to follow a business-as-usual approach, then industrialised countries would increase their consumption from 8.4 terawatts (TW) in 1990 to 10.1 TW in 2030. Over the same period, developing countries would increase their consumption from 3.2 to 14.2 TW. In total, therefore, the world would see more than a doubling of energy consumption, with alarming environmental impacts. Hence, we have to accept that there is a planetary threshold for energy consumption, beyond which the adverse effects would be unbearable.

At the same time, if development is to take place in the countries of the South, and if poverty is to be effectively banished, then energy use must increase in those countries to provide a minimum level of goods and services for meeting people’s basic needs. What is being suggested here, however, is a sort of upperbound on possibilities and desirable paths of development for the world as a whole. Within these limits are possibilities for improvements which developing countries could achieve through technological innovations and lifestyle changes -changes which break from patterns established in countries of the North.

At the heart of this desirable scenario lies the importance of Gandhiji’s message emphasising attention to our villages and rural people. Unless grassroot organisations, political leaders and average people on the street see the importance of a rural-based approach to development, we will continue on an aimless path, resulting in social and environmental damage on a gigantic scale. It is hoped that society will be restored to its traditional wisdom, not by shunning the benefits of science and technology, but rather by harnessing them to the larger good of the toiling masses. In this alone lies the path to a sustainable future.


by Dr. R.K. Pachauri

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