Publications
Energy as an Instrument for Socio-Economic Development
Edited by
José Goldemberg and Thomas B. Johansson
Executive Editor, Rosemarie Philips
The views expressed in this volume are those of the authors and not necessarily
those of UNDP.
This publication should be cited as:
J. Goldemberg and T.B. Johansson, (Editors)
Energy As An Instrument for Socio-Economic Development
United Nations Development Programme, New York, NY, 1995
Copyright © 1995, all rights reserved, by the United Nations Development
Programme
1 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY, 10017, USA
Table of Contents
Foreword
By James Gustave Speth, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme
Overview
Energy as an Instrument for Socio-Economic Development
José Goldemberg,
University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil and Thomas B. Johansson,
Director, Energy and Atmosphere Programme, SEED/BPPS, United Nations Development
Programme, New York, USA
Part I: Energy and Sustainability
1. Energy Needs for Sustainable Human Development
Carlos E. Suárez, Instituto de Economia Energética (associated
with the Fundación Bariloche), San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina
2. Energy as an Obstacle to Improved Living
Standards
Srilatha Batliwala, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore,
India
3. Energy's Role in Deforestation and Land
Degradation
Ndey Isatou Njie, National Environment Agency, Banjul, The Gambia
4. Energy Needs for Sustainable Human Development
from an Anthropological Perspective
Laura Nader, Department of Anthropology, University of California,
Berkeley, California, USA
Part II: Removing the Obstacles - The Small-Scale Approach
5. From Energy Efficiency to Social Utility:
Lessons from Cookstove Design, Dissemination and Use
Daniel M. Kammen, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International
Affairs, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
6. Photovoltaics, Wind and Other Dispersed
Energy Sources
José Ma. Blanco, Biomass Users Network, San
José, Costa Rica
7. Renewable Energy Benefits Rural Women in
China
Deng Keyun, Department of Environmental Protection and Energy, Beijing,
China
8. Community Biogas Plants Supply Rural Energy
and Water: The Pura Village Case Study
Amulya K.N. Reddy, P. Ragabapaiah and H. Somasekhar, International
Energy Initiative, Bangalore, India
Part III: Removing the Obstacles - The Large-Scale Approach
9. Biomass Plantation Energy Systems and Sustainable
Development
Eric D. Larson and Robert H. Williams, Center for Energy and Environmental
Studies, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
10. Converting Biomass to Liquid Fuels: Making
Ethanol from Sugar Cane in Brazil
Isaias de Carvalho Macedo, Centro de Tecnologia Copersucar, Piracicaba,
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Foreword
One of the main goals of the United Nations Development Programme is to
help the entire UN system become a unified and powerful force for sustainable
human development.
Sustainable human development is people-centered development. It generates
economic growth and equitably distributes the fruits of that growth. It
empowers people, expands their choices and opportunities, and involves
them in decisions that shape their lives.
For UNDP, sustainable human development means focusing resources on four
key areas: eradicating poverty, increasing women's role in development,
providing people with income-earning opportunities, and protecting and
regenerating the environment.
Initiatives in the energy sector are an important means to achieve sustainable
human development. After all, as countries develop, their energy-service
needs evolve and expand. And, the production and consumption of energy
has a tremendous impact on economies, environments and industrial development.
Energy should, therefore, be taken into account in any development strategy.
If current patterns of energy production, distribution and consumption
continue, progress in a number of countries could slow dramatically, or
even come to a halt. We must, therefore, reconsider the way we use energy.
This is not only important for developing countries, but for industrialized
ones as well. The challenges before us will not be met by making minor
adjustments to countries' conventional energy systems. Instead, a major
shift away from business-as-usual is needed.
A number of ideas for this shift were presented to the international community
at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992.
An action agenda - known as "Agenda 21" -issued at the conclusion
of the conference, called on nations to find more efficient systems for
producing, distributing and consuming energy, and for greater reliance
on environmentally sound energy systems, with special emphasis on renewable
sources of energy.
Renewable energy is extremely important to development because it can
offer people income-earning opportunities. In Brazil, for example, a programme
to produce ethanol from sugar cane helped create about 700,000 jobs in
rural areas. The Brazilian example shows how an innovative energy strategy
can be instrumental in achieving a country's goals for sustainable human
development.
UNDP, especially through its Initiative on Sustainable Energy, is helping
countries implement national energy policies that support their development
strategies. This initiative is demonstrating how the energy sector can
be a tool for development by giving people income-earning opportunities,
building up government institutions' capacities for protecting the environment
and increasing energy efficiency, and accelerating technological development.
UNDP, which has funded many energy-development projects, continues to
formulate new ways to address this important issue.
The authors of this volume describe the important links between energy
and development, and show how energy can be used in ways that improve
people's lives. Their work, therefore, contributes to the global debate
on energy and offers us insights into the complexity of the challenges
we face. I congratulate their effort and am confident that it will benefit
decision-makers, policy-makers, academics, and the international development
community.
James Gustave Speth
Administrator
New York, July 1995
