Towards an ‘Energy Plus’ Approach for the Poor: A review of good practices and lessons learned from Asia and the Pacific
Energy poverty inhibits economic and human development. Lack of access to reliable, affordable and sustainable energy services contributes to a self-perpetuating cycle of poverty and problems of health, hygiene, gender inequity and environmental degradation. Currently, almost 800 million people in Asia Pacific have no access to electricity and almost 2 billion rely on the traditional use of biomass for cooking. Lack of access to modern energy means using polluting kerosene lamps for illumination, cooking with inferior fuels and suffering lengthy exposure to harmful smoke and fumes and, in most cases, ending the productive day at sundown. Lack of affordable and efficient energy services presents a barrier to the most basic development.
