3 June 2014
THE SMART VILLAGES CONCEPT DR JOHN HOLMES
The Scale of the Energy Challenge
1.3 billion people without access to electricity, mainly in rural communities
3 billion people use traditional fuels for household energy
1.5 million people die each year from indoor air pollution caused by traditional fuels
Oil prices in real terms are 5 x what they were when OECD countries were at a similar stage of development
Universal access to electricity by 2030
IEA World Energy Outlook: new connections in rural areas
30% grid extension
70% from micro-grids and home-based approaches
Energy as a catalyst for development
Sustainable energy
access for development
Education
Local business
Health & welfare
Democratic engagement
Food security
Focus: mini/micro-grid and home-based approaches
Policy advice: an insightful, ‘view from the frontline’ of the challenges of village energy provision for development, and how they can be overcome
Workshops: bringing together the key players: scientists, entrepreneurs, villagers, NGO’s, financers, regulators and policy makers etc:
• What are the barriers?
• How can they be overcome?
• What messages to funders and policy makers?
The Smart Villages Initiative
MCSC/CMEDT
EASAC
National Science Academies
Regional/Global networks of
science academies
Expert organisations:
Practical Action, TERI ++
Smart Villages Initiative: a partnership
MCSC/CMEDT
EASAC
National Science Academies:
Tanzania and Kenya
Regional networks of academies:
NASAC
Expert organisations:
Practical Action, TERI ++
From Sweden:
•ISP
•SSEESS
•KVA
Smart Villages Initiative: a partnership
ARUSHA
Scoping study
• Village-level energy services in Tanzania, Ghana and India
• University of Oxford study team
• Published January 2013: www.e4sv.org
Extensive round of meetings
• Europe: European Commission and Parliament
• UN: UNIDO and UNEP
• Other stakeholders
Forward look workshop
• Cambridge, January 2014
• Possible game changing scientific/technical developments over next 10-20 years
Smart villages: work to date
June 2014: Tanzania/East
Africa
January 2015: Malaysia/Southea
st Asia
May 2015: India/South Asia
November 2015: Bolivia/South
America
April 2016: Ghana/West
Africa
November 2016: Mexico/Central
America
Going Forward: In-country workshops
Follow up activities:
Dissemination of workshop report
Preparation of briefs and briefing meetings
Training courses and master classes
Entrepreneurial competitions
Final event with key stakeholders
Additional activities
Vision Paper
Booklet of essays
Pocket guide
Website:www.e4sv.org
Final Workshops: Brussels and Addis Ababa
A key aim: identify framework conditions to:
• foster entrepreneurial activities
• maximise leverage of public sector funding
An underlying premise: maximise social benefit and development impact:
• integrate energy access with other development initiatives
• take a community level approach
An important concern:
• to catalyse progression through the various levels of energy access
The Smart Villages Initiative
Smart cities
Smart villages
Smart cities: need for a village level analogue
47% of world’s population/ 70% of the world’s poor live in rural villages
Education and health services
• ICT connectivity: distance learning and world’s knowledge base
• Modern health services and tele-medicine
Through ICT connectivity, participate in governance processes
• At local, regional and national levels
• Creating smart communities with strong rural and urban linkages
Foster entrepreneurship in provision and use of energy services
• Capture more of the agricultural value chain
• Create new businesses
Building more resilient communities better able to respond to shocks
• Clean water and sanitation
• Affordable and nutritious food
Smart villages: some key features
All enabled by access to energy
City
Village
Shifting the balance of opportunities between cities and villages
Technological advances
Game changing technologies
‘Counter-urbanisation’ in industrialised countries
Lifestyle and family preferences
Urban-level amenities in rural villages
Reduction in information,
communication and transportation barriers
New economic opportunities
What might they look like?
What is an appropriate level of ambition?
How can that ambition be achieved?
Smart villages in East Africa
