Engaging bright minds to create a bright future
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EDITORIAL
Engaging bright minds to create a bright future REGIONAL INITIATIVE
Local materials and know-how key to subSaharan Africa’s energy shift ENERGY SECTOR ANALYSIS
Will the Li-ion battery industry follow solar photovoltaic’s lead?
ENERGY QUARTERLY ORGANIZERS CO-CHAIRS George Crabtree, Argonne National Laboratory, USA Elizabeth A. Kócs, University of Ilinois at Chicago, USA Andrea Ambrosini, Sandia National Laboratories, USA Monika Backhaus, Corning Incorporated, France David Cahen, Weizmann Institute, Israel Russell R. Chianelli, The University of Texas at El Paso, USA Shirley Meng, University of California, San Diego, USA Sabrina Sartori, University of Oslo, Norway Anke Weidenkaff, University of Stuttgart, Germany M. Stanley Whittingham, Binghamton University, The State University of New York, USA Steve M. Yalisove, University of Michigan, USA
Images incorporated to create the energy puzzle concept used under license from Shutterstock.com. Energy Sector title image: Shutterstock.com
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Engaging bright minds to create a bright future Of the 7 billion people on the planet, approximately 3 billion in the developing world have either no or extremely limited access to electricity. In the majority of countries in sub-Saharan Africa, ~25% of the population has access to electricity. These numbers are staggering. In the developed world, not only does the entire population have access to electricity, the consumption rates are high, ranging from 4000 to 16,000 kWh (or higher) annually per capita. In much of the developing world, the annual per capita use of electricity is a fraction of that, less than 500 kWh (World Bank, 2007). This is the equivalent of operating two 60-watt light bulbs for 12 h a day. Yet, access to electricity, particularly at these low consumption levels, is highly correlated with the quality of life. The human development index (HDI), an integrated measure of life expectancy, literacy, education, and standards of living, increases by a factor of 3 for an increase in electricity consumption from 100 kWh to 2000 kWh. While both electricity consumption and HDI could reflect the overall state of economic development in any given country, it is more likely that the correlation reflects a direct cause and effect relationship. Thus, expanding access for 3 billion of our co-inhabitants on this planet to even moderate levels of electricity has the potential for an enormous impact. And in light of ever-rising carbon emissions, global temperatures, and sea levels, it behooves all of us for this expanded access to derive from carbon-free energy sources. So is it possible for Earth to provide electricity to those struggling for their daily survival without digging deeper into her bank of fossil fuels? The question immediately becomes one of cost. Can electricity from carbon-free sources become economically accessible before that from coal? Can it become sufficiently inexpensive
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