Publication: Beyond Connections: Energy Access Redefined
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2015-07
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2016-05-31
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This report from the Sustainable Energyfor All (SE4All) Knowledge Hub beyond connections energy access redefined conceptualizes a new multi-tier framework for defining and measuring access to energy. Binary metrics such as whether a household has an electricity connection, and whether a household cooks with nonsolid fuels don’t help us understand the phenomenon of expanding energy access and how it impacts socioeconomic development. This report heralds a new definition and metric of energy access that is broader—it covers energy for households, productive engagements and community facilities, and focuses on the quality of energy being accessed. The multi-tier framework underlying Beyond Connections will prove to be a tool for measuring and goal-setting,investment prioritization, and tracking progress.Access to energy is a key enabler of socioeconomic development. Energy is needed for multifariousapplications across households, productive uses, and community infrastructure. “Universal access tomodern energy by 2030” has been proposed as one of the three key pillars of the Sustainable Energyfor All (SE4All) program, an initiative co-chaired by the United Nations (UN) Secretary General and the World Bank President. Achieving this goal would require a wide range of interventions by variousagencies. The success of such interventions depends in part on the ability to assess the level of access to energy—both for planning and investment, and, later, for tracking progress. SE4All’s Global Tracking Framework (GTF) 2013 report introduced multi-tier frameworks for measuring energy access. It identified tasks for improved measurement of energy access over the medium term, including further development of the multi-tier frameworks.
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“Bhatia, Mikul; Angelou, Niki. 2015. Beyond Connections: Energy Access Redefined. ESMAP Technical Report;008/15. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24368 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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