January 23, 2007—Kali Podo Mondol’s new solar home system turned her quiet house in rural Bangladesh into a bustling place after dark. “My brother is a teacher, so now that I’ve got solar he runs a home school on my veranda,” she explains. “…I’m so used to the solar now, that I can’t see properly anymore by a hurricane (kerosene) lamp.” Kali’s home is one of nearly 90,000 in rural Bangladesh now enjoying the wonders of electricity thanks to an award-winning program that has been described as the world’s most successful solar power initiative. The Bangladesh Solar Program is among 61 projects in 34 countries supported by the World Bank Group. Many are described in a new report, Improving Lives, launched today at a World Bank roundtable on the potential of renewable energy to transform poor people's lives. Improving Lives details the Bank’s progress on renewable energy and energy efficiency in 2006. The report focuses on the difference alternative forms of energy and even small changes like better windows or more efficient light bulbs can make, says Lead Energy Specialist Anil Cabraal, who has been leading renewable energy scale up action plan work at the Bank since 2004. “Globally, renewable energy is increasing at a very fast pace—it’s the fastest-growing energy technology in the world,” he says. Clean energy has grown as the technology has matured. Global investments in renewable energy technology reached $38 billion in 2005. Last year, wind power development increased by 20 percent, and solar power by 40 percent worldwide, says Cabraal. And, as oil prices have risen and become more volatile, alternative energy technologies are becoming more “competitive” and have created much greater worldwide interest in such options, he adds. Industrialized countries' investments in wind energy, for example, “is evidence that this is a mature technology they have confidence in...and developing countries also see that and think, OK, if it’s good for Germany, wouldn’t it be good for me?” Last year, the World Bank Group increased financing for new renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, not including large hydro power projects, by 45 percent over 2005 levels, for a total of US$668 million, says Cabraal. The Bank is stepping up investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency as an environmentally sustainable way to address the problem of the one and a half billion people in the world who do not access to modern energy, and to increase the supply of energy needed for economic development, he says. In Bangladesh, the Bank and the Global Environmental Facility supported Bangladeshi companies, Gremeen Shakti and Rahimafrooz Batteries Ltd., along with several other companies, who are now installing solar home systems at the rate of 3,000 a month. Both firms were recognized in 2006 with Ashden Awards for their central roles in “bringing electric light and power to rural people.” The success of the Bangladesh project is the kind the Bank hopes to duplicate in Africa, where many energy access projects now have a renewable energy component, says Cabraal. And, as today's roundtable suggests, the Bank is looking for additional ways to further tap the potential of renewables and energy efficiency in developing countries. Key experts at the roundtable include: the UK Prime Minister's special representative to the Gleneagles Dialogue on Climate Change Elliot Morley, the Stellar Group’s President Scott Sklar, the World Resources Institute's Director of the International Climate Policy Initiative Robert Bradley, and the World Bank's Director of Energy, Transport and Water Jamal Saghir. |
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