Energy: A summary of IGC research

This sub-thematic summary highlights the IGC’s research on energy over the past 10 years.

Access to reliable and affordable energy, as enunciated in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7, is at the core of IGC’s research on energy. Achieving reliable, widespread access to electricity will be transformative for many developing countries. It has significant effects on how households apportion their time and which methods and inputs are applied by productive enterprises. The IGC’s energy research is motivated by the role that access to energy will play in defining the growth trajectories of low and middle-income countries. To this end, we seek to provide answers to four key questions:

1. How can access to reliable electricity be improved, notably in rural areas not served by the grid?
2. How can reliability in electricity provision be enhanced?
3. How can investments in and the use of energy be efficient in view of driving economic growth?
4. How can the external costs associated with rising energy consumption be minimised?