Feb 10, 2020
Across diverse geographies, mini-grids have been employed to provide energy access to off-grid and rural communities. In India, amid the government push to expand grid infrastructure, concerns have been raised about the viability of mini-grid business models that are largely run by private companies. While the role of mini-grids in previously un-electrified areas has been studied extensively, there exists limited empirical evidence regarding their uptake in grid-connected regions. In this paper, we analyze adoption and use of mini-grids among rural communities living in grid-electrified villages. The findings are based on the primary data of 2648 households and 544 non-farm enterprises from 54 villages in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in India. Our results suggest that despite the presence of central-grid infrastructure, users adopt mini-grid in regions which lack reliable power supply. The mini-grid uptake was found to be relatively higher among non-farm enterprises, which, unlike households, have not received adequate policy attention and support. However, mini-grids were being used only for meeting basic lighting and cooling loads in most cases, primarily due to affordability concerns. Based on our findings, we argue that grid-interactive mini-grids could be used to serve rural enterprises as they value reliable power supply. Yet, the current low levels of electricity demand among non-farm rural enterprises suggest that growth in electricity demand and in turn enterprise productivity would require complementary services and infrastructure.
Jan 2, 2020
As both China and India are moving away from coal in the power sector, Southeast Asia has emerged as arguably the most important region for future growth in coal-fired power generation. Here we use data from the January 2017 edition of the Global Coal Plant Tracker to understand coal’s fortunes in the region. More specifically, we manipulate three key policy levers — attrition rate, capacity factor, and plant lifespan — to provide a timely update on the future of coal in Southeast Asia. Using improved estimates of the attrition rate for planned power plants and capacity factors in different countries, we find that status-quo trends in Southeast Asian coal-fired power generation would significantly hamper the region’s ability to contribute to global efforts to limit warming to 1.5 or 2.0 degrees Celsius in line with international agreements, namely the 2009 Copenhagen and 2016 Paris Agreements. Though meeting these targets may be possible if policymakers limit the entry into service of new coal power capacity and reduce use of existing units, qualitative evidence suggests that there may be a lack of political will to do so.
Nov 21, 2019
Widespread adoption of clean cooking fuels is a necessary step toward reducing household air pollution and improving population health. Here we use large-scale surveys (10,000 households) from two Indian states, Kerala and Rajasthan, to examine how education and attitudes toward cooking associate with the adoption of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), India’s most popular clean cooking fuel. We report three main results. First, education is a strong predictor of LPG adoption. Second, perceptions that LPG is good and affordable and progressive health-related perceptions are associated with LPG ownership. Third, and surprisingly, education does not predict positive attitudes toward clean cooking fuels. These results suggest that education leads to LPG adoption, but not through attitudinal changes. Further research should examine the mediators of the robust education-adoption association that we found.
Nov 21, 2019
Air pollution is a pressing problem of public health for developing countries, but governments have few incentives to abate air pollution without public awareness of the issue. Focusing on the case of Vietnam, we examine the determinants of public awareness of air pollution. Using representative survey data for the entire country from 2017, we find that local exposure to air pollution increases public awareness and reduces satisfaction with governments, but does not provoke opposition to coal-fired power generation. In contrast, education leads people to oppose coal-fired power plants. These results suggest that while local air pollution contributes to awareness and dissatisfaction with the government, support for effective policy measures depends on education levels.
Nov 8, 2019
Universal household electrification is a key component of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, but the evidence base for social and economic impacts of electricity access remains unclear. Here we report results from a systematic review of impact evaluations of household electrification. We only find 31 studies that conduct statistical hypothesis tests to assess impacts. Among these, seven draw on a randomized experiment designed for causal inference. The randomized experimental studies generate fewer positive results than observational or quasi-experimental studies, such as correlational, instrumental variable, and difference-in-differences designs. These results call for a reassessment of what we know about the impacts of household electrification. They also call for major investment in impact evaluation of electricity access using randomized controlled trials, with a particular focus on when and how energy access interventions can furnish large benefits to their intended beneficiaries. Large-scale impact evaluations using experimental methods will require close collaboration between policymakers and researchers.
