A third of the world population, about 2.4 billion people, still lack access to reliable energy sources and services. The poorest countries of the world meet 90 per cent of their energy needs by burning wood, coal, animal dung and agricultural residue.

Mounting energy requirements

Many developing countries are facing a latent energy crisis. The problems are supply constraints, fluctuating prices for fossil fuels, mismanagement, obsolescent technologies and lack of planning capabilities. Rural regions and underprivileged sections of the population, such as women, children and minorities, are particularly afflicted by the energy crisis. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that progressive energy requirements worldwide will rise by 60 per cent by 2030, with developing countries accounting for two-thirds of this increase.

Energy supply and climate change

At the same time, the energy sector is a major contributory cause of global climate change and local pollution. If the developing countries continue with one-sided power generation from fossil fuels, this is likely to have far-reaching ecological consequences. Due to climate change, there is already a danger that development progress so far and existing infrastructure will be destroyed in developing countries.

Sustainable solutions

Sustainable solutions are needed to master these complex challenges in the energy sector. Framing appropriate policies and using clean technologies are major points of intervention. A farsighted energy policy should promote development while taking account of criteria such as environmental sustainability and social equity. In many developing countries, there is large scope for renewable energy and energy efficiency, but these are often neglected owing to technical, financial and institutional constraints.

Make use of local potentials

Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC) helps its partner countries in Africa, Asia, South-Eastern Europe and Central America to harness the available potential and opportunities in the energy sector. A prime objective of ADC is ensuring access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy services. Projects and programmes are only supported if they meet these quality criteria and make a direct or indirect contribution to poverty reduction. ADC attaches particular priority to renewable energies and energy efficiency.

Austrian Development Cooperation supports the following specific activities in the energy sector:

• Project development (e.g. baseline studies, feasibility studies)
• Smaller investments (e.g. small hydropower, solar thermal facilities)
• Measures to secure project sustainability (e.g. tariff and operator schemes)
• Framing policy (e.g. national or regional energy policies)
• Capacity building (e.g. training, know-how transfer, CDM application)
• Raising awareness (e.g. conferences such as the Global Forum on Sustainable Energy)
• Applied research