Participants at seminar on access to energy called for research to be conducted by universities to fulfil an array of needs, from basic information on energy poverty to innovation in renewable energy products and services.
Tawfiq-E-Elahi Chowdhury, energy advisor to the prime minister, yesterday said Bangladesh is the only country in the world to cover access to electricity in its constitution, but added: “The time has come to define the accurate energy demand and energy access situation through research.”
He also said the country’s universities must come up with innovative designs for solar-powered motorcycle charging stations.
“We have started several such stations and I think they are very good initiatives. We should involve our universities to create better and more effective designs for such stations,” he said.
Tawfiq was speaking at a seminar titled “Energy Access versus Energy Poverty: Implication for Policy Work” organised by the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA) at Bidyut Bhaban in the capital.
SREDA member Siddique Zobair said his organisation will conduct a baseline survey this year to asses the energy access situation.
Zobair said increasing access to electricity is a top priority for policy makers. “We will soon try to prioritise the method of increasing that access. We will try to initiate a multi-tier approach, measuring energy access as a continuum of improvement based on the performance of the energy supply.”
Speakers said effective energy policy requires policy makers to define, measure and monitor energy access, efficiency and sustainability. They said policy evaluation can identify the most effective policies and help lift people out of energy poverty.
Ahmed Kaikaus, additional secretary to the Power Division, said the relationship between energy demand and energy poverty is an important part of the overall energy scenario. “Energy access and energy poverty are intricately related to each other.”
Shahidur Rahman Khandakar, visiting senior research fellow of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), said energy is a necessary good and its availability is an indicator of welfare.
“Households need to maintain a bare minimum of energy consumption – the energy poverty line – which is just like the expenditure poverty line,” he said.
Shahidur said the UN initiative on sustainable energy has three primary objectives – ensuring universal access to modern energy services, doubling the rate of improvement in energy efficiency and doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.
Saiful Haq, director of the Institute of Renewable Energy and Anwarul Islam Sikdar, chairman of SREDA spoke at the programme.
