
Southern Voices

Southern Voices
Electricity to all, with sustainable means | Mali
Energy
Answer the questions:
- What continent and country the video has been filmed in?
- How many people in the area have electricity?
- What is the price of electricity in the area of the video?
- What are the problems that solar energy can solve in the area?
Generate ideas for the topic of your own video:
- How is the theme of the video you watched linked to your own country?
- What would you like to know more about?
- What could be the issue that you think one should have an impact on in your own country?
Articles about the theme:
The rise of renewable energy may see off oil frims decades earlier then they think, The Guardian
Can emerging economies leapfrog the energy transition, World Economic Forum
Renewable energy: planning a just transition, The Ecologist
11 million people now have jobs in renewable energy, Forbes
Increased use of forest-based bioenergy jeopardises the UN's climate goals, Helsinki University
Background information on the theme
Renewable energies include solar energy, wind energy, hydro energy, geothermal energy and biomass energy. Currently, about one fourth of the world’s energy is produced with renewables. Improving energy efficiency and recovering waste heat energy are important aspects along with the transition from fossil fuels to renewables.
The shift towards renewable energy is in the core of climate change mitigation. However, renewable energy also has its impacts and not all renewable solutions are sustainable. Often localized and small energy solutions are better than large-scale infrastructure projects. Both will become more common in the future.
Bioenergy is often considered as a replacement for fossil fuels. It might have its place in covering the heat demand during winters but as a replacement for all fossil energy, biomass fractions are not a sustainable solution in terms of climate or nature. In the transition to renewable energy, justice issues must be taken into account – this means that it needs to be ensured that people who have worked in fossil industry find new jobs and that the costs of the transition do not fall upon low income households.
Many developing countries such as China and India have made significant investments in renewable energy. India's goal is to be the third largest solar energy producer in the world. At the moment, India is building so many solar energy plants that when the sun is shining, the amount of electricity they produce is equivalent to hundred nuclear power plants. China, on the other hand, has become the world's biggest investor in renewable energy. The country has just suspended the construction of hundred large coal power plants, and the growth in carbon dioxide emissions has stagnated a few years ago.