Southeast Asian Countries With Less Access to Electricity Use Higher Rate of Renewable Energy

According to the Asian Trends Monitoring Bulletin from October 2010, it appears as though the Southeast Asian countries with the least access to electricity uses the highest amount of energy from "combustible renewables and waste".

Thailand which shows a 99% rate of access to electricity for rural communities and 100% rate of access for urban communities gets only 18% of their energy from combustible renewables and waste.

Malaysia which shows a 98% rate of access to electricity for rural communities and 100% rate of access for urban communities gets only 4% of their energy from combustible renewables and waste.

Singapore which shows a 100% rate of access to electricity for both rural and urban communities gets 0% of their energy from combustible renewables and waste.

Brunei which shows a 99% rate of access to electricity for rural communities and 100% rate of access for urban communities also gets 0% of their energy from combustible renewables and waste.

While Cambodia which shows a 13% rate of access to electricity for rural communities and 66% rate of access for urban communities gets 71% of their energy from combustible renewables and waste.

And Myanmar which shows mere a 10% rate of access to electricity for rural communities and 19% rate of access for urban communities gets only 66% of their energy from combustible renewables and waste.

Philippines which shows a 65% rate of access to electricity for rural communities and 99% rate of access for urban communities gets 19% of their energy from combustible renewables and waste.

Vietnam, perhaps an anomaly, shows a 85% rate of access to electricity for rural communities and 100% rate of access for urban communities gets 44% of their energy from combustible renewables and waste.

While Laos which shows a 42% rate of access to electricity for rural communities and 84% rate of access for urban communities does not have data for energy from combustible renewables and waste.

Implications from Institute for the Future:

While this is much too small a sample size to make any broad inferences from it is an interesting data point to consider. Organizations concerned with clean energy use could perhaps do further research into this topic if they have not already done so.

Although correlation does not mean causality, there is evidence to support these data. Because poor communities are forced into making due with what resources they have we often see communities and individuals living in poverty reach innovative solutions to old problems.

Take for example the Kenyan university students who designed a phone charger from scrap metal which charges mobile phones through bicycle use. (See links for more information)