LPG as a Clean Cooking Fuel: Adoption, Use, and Impact in Rural India
Energy Policy (forthcoming)
Carlos Gould
Columbia University
Johannes Urpelainen
Johns Hopkins SAIS
Abstract:
Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is by far the most popular clean cooking fuel in rural India, but how rural households use it remains poorly understood. Using the 2014-2015 ACCESS survey with over 8,500 households from six energy-poor Indian states, our study reports on results from a comprehensive survey of LPG use in rural India using a holistic approach to understanding the integration of a clean cooking fuel into rural household’s energy mixes. There are three principal findings: (i) fuel costs are a critical obstacle to widespread adoption, (ii) fuel stacking is the prevailing norm as few households stop using firewood when adopting LPG, and (iii) both users and non-users have highly positive views of LPG as a convenient and clean cooking fuel. These findings show that expanding LPG use offers great promise in rural India, but affordability prevents a complete transition from traditional biomass to clean cooking fuels.
A Global Analysis of Progress in Household Electrification
Energy Policy (forthcoming)
Michael Aklin
University of Pittsburgh
Harish S.P
College of William & Mary
Johannes Urpelainen
Johns Hopkins SAIS
Abstract:
Universal electricity access is an important element of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and global efforts to monitor progress in electrification have recently escalated. To inform these efforts, we describe a new database of total, rural, and urban electrification rates across the world. Using transparent coding criteria and decades of data, going back to 1960 for many countries, from nationally representative surveys and official reports from 124 non-OECD countries, we uncover evidence for rapid progress in household electrification relative to earlier estimates. Our comprehensive and freely available database offers a solid baseline for tracking progress in household electrification across the world. We confirm a robust association between per capita income and household electrification, and identify population density and urbanization as additional key drivers.
Vouchers Can Create a Thriving Market for Distributed Power Generation in Developing Countries
Energy Research and Social Science (forthcoming)
Johannes Urpelainen
Johns Hopkins SAIS
Abstract:
I propose that vouchers offer a promising approach to making distributed power generation, such as solar home systems, affordable to consumers and profitable for producers and distributors. In a voucher-based system, governments give vouchers to eligible beneficiaries, who then use the vouchers to purchase qualifying products and services. This system enables consumer choice, helps the poor with the affordability of distributed energy products, and injects money into the market for relevant products and services. I discuss practical implementation challenges and argue that digitalization allows governments to significantly reduce corruption and red tape, making vouchers a realistic energy access policy for many governments all over the world.
An Evaluation of Dynamic Electricity Pricing for Solar Micro-Grids in Rural India
Energy Strategy Reviews (forthcoming)
Sini Numminen
Aalto University - School of Science
Semee Yoon
Yonsei University - UIC & Graduate School of International Studies
Peter Lund
Aalto University - School of Science
Johannes Urpelainen
Johns Hopkins SAIS
Abstract:
Stand-alone photovoltaic systems provide a potentially sustainable option for rural electrification, but the design and management of these systems is a challenge. Here we examine the ability of dynamic (real-time) pricing in off-grid systems to improve the durability of the batteries used to store power. In a randomized controlled trial with a pre-paid solar micro-grid in rural India, we found that dynamic pricing did not improve technical performance or customer satisfaction. The best explanation for the null finding is that, for various reasons, households minimized their power consumption and there was thus little need for demand management. These findings suggest that the low demand for power is a key challenge for the profitability of pre-paid off-grid systems.
Distributed Power Generation in National Rural Electrification Plans: An International and Comparative Evaluation
Energy Research and Social Sciences
Volume 44, Page 1 - 5, 2018
Siyuan Ma
Columbia University
Johannes Urpelainen
Johns Hopkins SAIS
Abstract:
As the cost of distributed power generation continues to decrease, technologies such as solar home systems and micro-grids become increasingly attractive in the quest for energy access. Here we show, however, that national rural electrification planning mostly continues to ignore distributed power generation. A detailed review of the national rural electrification plans of the twenty countries with the largest numbers of non-electrified households shows that distributed power generation is usually absent or at best a minor component of the strategy. Our original contribution is thus to show where and how national rural electrification planning lags behind technology and business models, with guidelines for future research on explaining these patterns.
Trust in Government and Subsidy Reforms: Evidence from a Survey of Indian Farmers
Studies in Comparative International Development (forthcoming)
Meir Alkon
Princeton University
Johannes Urpelainen
Johns Hopkins SAIS
Abstract:
What accounts for the persistence of inefficient subsidies? What are the obstacles to their reform? We examine the role of trust in government among farmers in explaining support for reforming India’s energy subsidies. The subsidies under study hold back efforts to provide a reliable supply of agricultural power and contribute to the unsustainable extraction of groundwater. This water-energy nexus in rural India represents both a poverty-perpetuating policy equilibrium and a crisis in environmental governance. Informed by interviews and focus groups, we conduct an original survey of 2,010 farmers in Bihar, Gujarat, and Rajasthan and analyze this data on the preferences of ‘vested interests’ — those most affected by potential reform — to demonstrate the crucial role of political trust, especially trust in the national government, in predicting farmers’ political support for reforms. Our findings have practical implications for environmental governance and rural development, and contribute to understanding the political economy of social policy reform in a developing democracy.
The MIT Press, 2018
Michael Aklin
University of Pittsburgh
Johannes Urpelainen
Johns Hopkins SAIS
Book Overview:
Wind and solar are the most dynamic components of the global power sector. How did this happen? After the 1973 oil crisis, the limitations of an energy system based on fossil fuels created an urgent need to experiment with alternatives, and some pioneering governments reaped political gains by investing heavily in alternative energy such as wind or solar power. Public policy enabled growth over time, and economies of scale brought down costs dramatically. In this book, Michaël Aklin and Johannes Urpelainen
offer a comprehensive political analysis of the rapid growth in renewable wind and solar power, mapping an energy transition through theory, case studies, and policy analysis.
Aklin and Urpelainen argue that, because the fossil fuel energy system and political support for it are so entrenched, only an external shock—an abrupt rise in oil prices, or a nuclear power accident, for example—allows renewable energy to grow. They analyze the key factors that enable renewable energy to withstand political backlash, and they draw on this analysis to explain and predict the development of renewable energy in different countries over time. They examine the pioneering efforts in the United States, Germany, and Denmark after the 1973 oil crisis and other shocks; explain why the United States surrendered its leadership role in renewable energy; and trace the recent rapid growth of modern renewables in electricity generation, describing, among other things, the return of wind and solar to the United States. Finally, they apply the lessons of their analysis to contemporary energy policy issues.
Routledge, 2018
Andrew Cheon
Johns Hopkins SAIS
Johannes Urpelainen
Johns Hopkins SAIS
Book Overview:
This book is the first systematic treatment of the anti-fossil fuel movement in the United States. An accessible and readable text, it is an essential reference for scholars, policymakers, activists, and citizens interested in climate change, fossil fuels, and environmental sustainability.
The entire book or chapters from it can be used as required or supplementary material in various courses at the undergraduate and graduate level. As the book is not technically challenging but contains a comprehensive review of climate change, fossil fuels, and the literature on environmental activism, it can be used as an accessible introduction to the anti-fossil fuel campaign across disciplines.
Economics of Household Technology Adoption in Developing Countries: Evidence from Solar Technology Adoption in Rural India
Energy Economics
Volume 72, Page 35 - 46, 2018
Michael Aklin
University of Pittsburgh
Patrick Bayer
University of Glasgow
S.P. Harish
Institute for the Study of International Development
Johannes Urpelainen
Johns Hopkins SAIS
Abstract:
Innovation is one of the most important drivers of economic development. Even in developing countries, households have access to a wide array of new technologies. However, factors affecting households’ technology adoption decisions remain poorly understood. Using data on solar microgrid adoption from rural India, we investigate the determinants of household technology adoption. We offer all households identical solar products to avoid bias from product differentiation. Households pay a monthly fee for technology use, allowing us to abstract away from credit constraints as a barrier to adoption. The results show that household expenditures and savings as well as the household head’s entrepreneurial attitude are strong predictors of adoption. In contrast, past fuel expenditures, risk acceptance, and community trust are not associated with technology adoption decisions. These findings suggest new directions for research on the microeconomics of household technology adoption, which is critical for sustainable development among the poor in developing countries.
Early Electrification and the Quality of Service: Evidence from Rural India
Energy for Sustainable Development
Volume 44, Page 11 - 20, 2018
Daniel Robert Thomas
Columbia University
Johannes Urpelainen
Johns Hopkins SAIS
Abstract:
Rural electrification has progressed unevenly across the world since 1945, with some rural communities gaining access to power decades earlier than others. We examine the association between early electrification and the quality of electricity service to households, testing the hypothesis that aging infrastructure compromises the quality of electricity service. Using the 2014-2015 ACCESS survey from rural India, we find that early electrification is associated with improvements in the quality of electricity service, even controlling for village size and distance to nearest town. A possible explanation for the finding is that early electrification generates economic gains that allow the rural community to invest in maintenance and upgrades.
Satellite Data for the Social Sciences: Measuring Rural Electrification with Nighttime Lights
International Journal of Remote Sensing (forthcoming)
Eugenie Dugoua
Columbia University
Ryan Kennedy
University of Houston - Department of Political Science
Johannes Urpelainen
Johns Hopkins SAIS
Abstract:
Remote sensing data has the potential to revolutionize social science. One of the most prominent examples of this is the Nighttime Lights dataset, which provides digital measures of nighttime luminosity from 1992 to 2013. This study evaluates the Nighttime Lights data against detailed rural electrification data from the 2011 Census of India. The results suggest that many nighttime luminosity measures derived from satellite data are surprisingly accurate for measuring rural electrification, even at the village level and using simple statistical tools. We also demonstrate that this accuracy can be substantially improved by using of better GIS maps, basic geoprocessing tools, and particular aggregations of nighttime luminosity. Nighttime luminosity performs worse in measuring financial inclusion or proxies of poverty, however, and detects rural electrification less accurately when the supply of power is intermittent. These results offer guidelines for when and how remote sensing data can be used when administrative data is absent or unreliable.
United States Non-Cooperation and the Paris Agreement
Climate Policy
Volume 18, Issue 7, Page 839-851, 2017
Johannes Urpelainen
Johns Hopkins SAIS
Thijs Van de Graaf
Ghent University
Abstract:
In June 2017, the Trump administration decided to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, a landmark climate agreement adopted in 2015 by 195 nations. The exit of the U.S. has not just raised concern that the U.S. will miss its domestic emission reduction targets, but also that other parties to the Paris Agreement might backtrack on their initial pledges regarding emission reductions or financial contributions. Here we assess the magnitude of the threat that U.S. non-cooperation poses to the Paris Agreement from an international relations perspective. We argue that U.S. non-cooperation does not fundamentally alter U.S. emissions, which will likely continue to decline even in the absence of new federal climate policies. Nor does it undermine nationally determined contributions under pledge and review, as the Paris Agreement has introduced a new logic of domestically-driven climate policies and the cost of low-carbon technologies keeps falling. However, U.S. non-participation in raising climate finance could raise high barriers to global climate cooperation in the future. Political strategies to mitigate these threats include direct engagement by climate leaders such as the European Union with key emerging economies, notably China and India, and domestic climate policies that furnish benefits to traditional opponents of ambitious climate policy.
Rise to the Occasion? A Critique of the World Bank’s Regulatory Indicators for Sustainable Energy
Energy Research and Social Science
Volume 39, Page 69 - 73, 2017
Johannes Urpelainen
Johns Hopkins SAIS
Abstract:
The World Bank’s Regulatory Indicators for Sustainable Energy (RISE) scorecard evaluates countries’ sustainable energy policies against global `best practices.’ Here I demonstrate that many of these so-called best practices are inappropriate in the context of limited state capacity. Using several examples from the RISE report, I argue that the World Bank should replace the pursuit of one-size-fits-all best practices and instead focus on generating knowledge about the contextual fit of different policy approaches. Drawing inspiration from research on adaptive reform strategies in the developing country context, I argue that an adaptive and flexible strategy could help national governments to surmount obstacles to policies that over time make the dream of sustainable energy for all a global reality.
Geography, Community, Household: Adoption of Distributed Solar Power Across India
Energy for Sustainable Development
Volume 42, Page 54 - 63, 2017
Chao-yo Cheng
University of California Los Angeles
Michaël Aklin
University of Pittsburgh
Johannes Urpelainen
Johns Hopkins SAIS
Abstract:
We investigate the determinants of distributed solar technology adoption at the village and household level in India. Using spatial data on insolation, census records, and original surveys, we show that remote and poor but large villages with abundant sunshine have led the wave of solar technology adoption as an alternative to grid electricity. At the household level, however, wealth and financial access are positively associated with solar technology adoption, a result that holds for both solar lanterns and home systems. Moreover, remote villages are more likely to see solar technology adoption when households have access to finance through banks. We also find that the use of household solar technology is strongly associated with a household’s subjective satisfaction with domestic lighting. These results demonstrate that understanding solar technology adoption in geographies requires considering both community and household characteristics. They also underscore the importance of financial access as a precondition for using distributed solar power as an alternative to grid connectivity.
How Do Sectoral Interests Shape Distributive Politics? Evidence from Gasoline and Diesel Subsidy Reforms
Review of Policy Research, 2017
Brian Blankenship
Columbia University
Johannes Urpelainen
Johns Hopkins SAIS
Abstract:
Sectoral interests play an important role in distributive politics, but their influence is difficult to measure. We compare the effect of international oil prices on subsidies for domestic gasoline and diesel consumption. Because diesel is used by a smaller number of organized agricultural and transportation interests, they are more capable of collective action than the dispersed beneficiaries of gasoline subsidies. The conventional wisdom holds that sectoral interests could mobilize to stop reform (e.g., price increases, deregulation). Challenging this view, we consider the possibility that sectoral interests promote reform by facilitating the targeted allocation of compensation and exemptions. An empirical analysis of gasoline and diesel prices, 1991-2012, strongly supports the second hypothesis: diesel prices respond to international oil prices more strongly than do gasoline prices. Quantitative tests and case studies allow us to explore causal mechanisms, verify that the gasoline-diesel difference is related to actual policy reforms, and reject alternative explanations.
