6 September 2013: The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Energy for All partnership has posted an article by Morgan Bazilian, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, and Roger Pielke, University of Colorado at Boulder, that warns that current discussions over energy poverty, and the assumption that those presently lacking modern energy services will only demand small amounts to rise out of this poverty, are flawed and risk becoming self-fulfilling.

The article, titled ‘Making Energy Access Meaningful,’ states that most current estimates and efforts to begin combating global energy poverty do not appreciate the rapid increases in demand associated with poverty reduction, and therefore do not meaningfully address the issue of energy poverty alleviation. It continues by noting conflicts between climate and energy priorities, which pit reducing emissions against increasing energy production, both of which should be done as quickly as possible, that have led to contradictory policies within and between governments. It closes by stating that “Ultimately, a focus on energy access at a low threshold limits our thinking, and thus our options. Adopting a more ambitious conception of energy access brings conflicting priorities, as well as the scale of the challenge, more clearly more clearly into focus and makes hidden assumptions more difficult to avoid.” [Energy for All Press Release][Publication: Making Energy Access Meaningful]