Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Grids, our national electricity networks, are themselves, of course, the
result of this steady progress in electrification. In the nineteenth century,
electric lighting systems or motors required their own batteries or genera-
tors because there were no networks. Then local electricity networks were
developed which appliances could tap into, and eventually these were
integrated into national grids.
Electrification came to be seen as vital to a country's progress. In 1920,
Lenin famously defined Communism as “Soviet power plus electrifica-
tion”. In 1936, Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Rural Electrification
Administration as an integral part of his New Deal for America. And
today, one of the most universally recognized measures of global dep-
rivation is the fact that two billion people still lack access to electricity.
On the basis of present trends and policies, the IEA estimates that 1.3bn
people will still be without electricity by 2030, but that universal access
to electricity could be achieved by that date with the relatively small
extra investment of $35bn a year and minor increases in emissions. (In
the table below, note China's outstanding success in providing access to
electricity for more than 1.3bn of its citizens. Of course, that very success
compounds its emissions problem.)
The power-less in 2008
Population
without power
(millions)
Electrification
rate in urban
areas (percent)
Electrification
rate in rural
areas (percent)
Country/region
North Africa
2
100
98
Sub-Saharan Africa
587
57
12
China
8
100
99
India
405
93
53
Other Asia
396
85
48
Latin America
34
99
77
Middle East
21
99
70
Total
1,453
90
58
Source: International Energy Agency,
World Energy Outlook 2009
