I agree that the BoP leapfrogging to clean energy will prevent massive environmental harm as they begin to demand more energy. When I first read this article I thought the plan to bring clean energy through microfinance was too optimistic. If financing is already available in the US, why hasn’t everyone switched to clean energy? After more thought, I realized that the different energy situations in the developing and developed worlds may help the BoP to leapfrog. First, the limited and unreliable electric grid in developing countries gives an incentive to have ones own clean source of energy. As you mentioned, clean energy is especially attractive for rural communities far from the grid. It seems like everyone in the US is connected to the grid, which makes it difficult, and perhaps even more expensive in purely economic terms, to switch to clean energy. Also, the currently low energy demands of the BoP make required clean energy investments smaller. For us in the US who have become accustomed to our energy-intensive lifestyles, it would take a large investment to get entirely off the grid. I just hope that as countries become more developed, people will retain and expand their clean energy sources rather than switch to a grid powered by fossil fuels.
COMMENTS
BY Mike Heiss
ON May 6, 2008 10:03 PM
I agree that the BoP leapfrogging to clean energy will prevent massive environmental harm as they begin to demand more energy. When I first read this article I thought the plan to bring clean energy through microfinance was too optimistic. If financing is already available in the US, why hasn’t everyone switched to clean energy? After more thought, I realized that the different energy situations in the developing and developed worlds may help the BoP to leapfrog. First, the limited and unreliable electric grid in developing countries gives an incentive to have ones own clean source of energy. As you mentioned, clean energy is especially attractive for rural communities far from the grid. It seems like everyone in the US is connected to the grid, which makes it difficult, and perhaps even more expensive in purely economic terms, to switch to clean energy. Also, the currently low energy demands of the BoP make required clean energy investments smaller. For us in the US who have become accustomed to our energy-intensive lifestyles, it would take a large investment to get entirely off the grid. I just hope that as countries become more developed, people will retain and expand their clean energy sources rather than switch to a grid powered by fossil fuels.