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Energy - Renewable and efficient for rural areas

Energie

Modern energy services and efficient use of energy are an essential precondition for the optimisation of production processes and improvement in the living conditions of people worldwide. The development of renewable sources of energy and the promotion of energy efficiency can make a significant contribution to sustainable development as well as to climate protection.

Key facts

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One-fourth of the world’s population has no access to electricity.
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Without better access to energy, it will not be possible to successfully combat poverty and hunger in the world.
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CO2 emissions resulting from the consumption of fossil fuels have risen since 1990 by 30% worldwide, and in Asia by over 100%. By 2030, the energy requirements of Asia, Africa and Latin America will have doubled.

 

About 1.6 billion people have no access to electricity, and 2.5 billion depend on traditional forms of biomass as their only source of energy. Lack of access to modern forms of energy limits the development opportunities of the poor and has a negative impact on their health. Volatile energy prices and dependence on fossil fuels create additional risks, which again mainly affect the poor. Furthermore, energy consumption is responsible for around two-thirds of global emissions. As a result of the growing demand for energy, notably in the developing countries and emerging economies, and the ever greater use of coal, which is particularly harmful to the climate, global emissions are rising at a rapid rate.
It should be clear therefore that energy supply, the fight against poverty and climate protection are closely interrelated.

Challenges facing us today
Energy is in many ways of central importance for sustainable development and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations. It is a prerequisite for optimum agricultural and industrial production and thus for efforts to combat hunger and poverty. Clean energy helps to improve resource management and to make more economic use of natural resources. Achieving development goals means finding appropriate solutions to the outstanding energy questions. The challenges facing development cooperation include improving the access of the poor to reliable modern sources of energy and, at the same time, making the supply of energy more beneficial to society, more ecological and more efficient. This is equally true at times of economic uncertainty when cheaper fossil fuels momentarily have the advantage. It is above all at such times that is important to invest for the long term and to make plans on the basis of sustainable development and, above all, for sustainable renewable sources of energy.


Focus of the SDC

 

The Global Programme Climate Change takes a two-track approach to energy questions:

  • Decentralised rural electrification and access to local renewable energy sources (climate protection and combating poverty)
     Access to modern, renewable energy sources has a positive impact in many ways. It promotes economic development and prosperity and reduces dependency and vulnerability in relation to climate change. In India, the Global Programme Climate Change is promoting innovation and technology to help meet local requirements in rural areas. The focus is on small hydroelectric power plant and making use of the energy available from local biomass, including agricultural waste products.
  • Energy efficiency in buildings
    Switzerland has many years of experience in energy and house building as well as a great deal of technical and scientific expertise. Know-how transfer makes it possible to save a considerable amount of energy in countries with emerging economies and eventually to significantly reduce emissions in the building sector. A new programme in South Africa includes support for the development of energy standards for buildings and is notably helping to ensure that buildings being erected in the context of projects to house the poorest segments of the population will be optimum from the energy point of view.

With this two-track approach, the SDC is helping to ensure that developing countries and emerging economies follow a path to development that is sustainable and low in greenhouse gases, by making them less dependent on fossil fuels. As a founding member of the REPIC Platform for renewable energy and energy efficiency in international cooperation, Switzerland and the SDC promote meaningful efforts to implement international climate protection agreements.

 

 


Contact: gpcc@eda.admin.ch

Additional Information and Documents

Documents
  • Promoting energy efficient technologies in small scale industries in India
    Asia Brief - July 2010
    Download (PDF, 867 KB) :  [en]  

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