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Intergenerational Equity and Solar Energy in Bangladesh

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Energy & Ethics

Part of the book series: Energy, Climate and the Environment ((ECE))

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Abstract

The principle of intergenerational equity supposes that people have a right to fairly access energy services. Sadly, the current global energy system does not distribute its energy services equitably, and in 2009 approximately 1.4 billion people lived without electricity, 2.7 billion depended on wood, charcoal, and dung for domestic energy needs, and a further one billion people had access to electricity networks that was unreliable or unaffordable. Soura Shakti (SS) offers a blueprint for how planners around the world can rapidly expand access to modern energy services through the use of solar home systems (SHS). SS is the homegrown SHS program of Bangladesh’s Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL). The program has, as of April 2012, successfully distributed 1.42 million SHS units throughout Bangladesh and is on target to reach four million by the end of 2015. To put this number in perspective, despite being one of the poorest countries in the world, Bangladesh has nine times the residential solar capacity of the United States, and it is home to the fourth largest market for photovoltaic (PV) installations after Germany, Japan, and Spain. In 2009, more than 99 percent of all SHS installations in Bangladesh occurred as part of the SS program. Even more impressive, the program achieved its targets three years ahead of schedule, without a single customer defaulting on a loan, and at $2 million below cost.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vermont Law School, USA

    Benjamin K. Sovacool (Associate Professor of Law and Senior Researcher, Professor of Social Sciences)

  2. Aarhus University, Denmark

    Benjamin K. Sovacool (Associate Professor of Law and Senior Researcher, Professor of Social Sciences)

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© 2013 Benjamin K. Sovacool

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Sovacool, B.K. (2013). Intergenerational Equity and Solar Energy in Bangladesh. In: Energy & Ethics. Energy, Climate and the Environment. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137298669_7

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