Carnet de bord n°5 : Overcoming barriers to a clean energy future in the Global South
So, what are these barriers ?
The panelists mentioned 3 : lack of dough + lack of policies and regulation + lack of public sector investment (80% of investment in the Renewable Energy sector is private and less than 12% of global climate finance flows to Africa, which is inequitable and unsustainable).
If you don’t know already, it’s interesting.
But that can’t be all, no ? The private and public sectors have not been able to electrify the entire continent during the last 70 years. And we all know that the access to abundant energy is the key to "development". I don’t like the word nor the concept but in this case, that’s the one to use. Indeed, what would you do if you were facing power cuts 8 times a day at work ? If your bread production was based on wood fires and there is less and less wood, and it’s more and more expensive ? If you had to burn charcoal all day long, burning your lungs while breathing exhaust fumes ?
The major economical players in the world are benefiting from a constant energy supply. Energy is the only reason for their economical strength. 365 days a year and 24/7 energy is happening to power everything, which is far from being the case in the continent. So why is abundant, cheap energy access still lacking in the continent ? Could it be for the above reasons + a "bonus" one ?
And 40 years after the start of the clean energy transition, why are there as many solar panels in Africa (54 countries) than in Florida (1 state) ? Which is a known scandal, mentioned by the Vice-President Al Gore during the last COP. Could the "bonus" reason be... corruption ?
Knowing that clean energy’s development has to happen hand in hand with more social justice, I find it a bit shocking to attend a conference that isn’t mentioning that point 40 years after the start of the clean energy transition, in Paris the lighthouse of human rights, at a fair named ChangeNow. Well clearly, it is not possible to discuss the matter openly otherwise everybody would do.
I was starting to pack when she said : “you cannot use solar energy as you use electricity, it doesn’t work like that.” And then she is saying that so many photovoltaic projects are failing because of a lack of education on that specific kind of energy.
Finally someone rooted in people’s experience. Because yes, education to good practices is key.
That’s what we do at Lytefire with the training : we educate solar ovens users to work with the sun, its availability, its power, and how to organize when it’s not showing.
Thanks a lot Glory Oguegbu for your heartfelt and comprehensive sharing.
