Solar Home Heating May Reduce Energy Poverty in Asia-Pacific Region, Vermont Law Study Shows
November 9, 2012
Solar home systems can provide energy services to rural households in the Asia-Pacific region more cost effectively than extending national grids and without relying on polluting fuels such as kerosene, diesel and coal, according to a new study co-authored by Vermont Law School Visiting Associate Professor Benjamin Sovacool and published in Progress In Development Studies.
The study explored four recent solar home systems programs supported by the World Bank's Asia Sustainable and Alternative Energy Program in China, Laos, Mongolia and Papua New Guinea that budgeted $328.2 million to distribute a targeted 401,500 such systems to nomadic herders, fishers and teachers.
The study concluded: "These projects collectively demonstrate that energy poverty remains a reality in the Asia-Pacific region, but that solar home systems can play a significant role in advancing social development and environmental objectives when limited political will or funds are available for rural energy infrastructure or national on-grid electrification programmes."
Read the study's abstract.
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