--- Patrick Bond <pbond at mail.ngo.za> wrote:
> Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:
> > [WS:] By why on earth would you want subsidize
> > consumption of energy?
>
> Because a couple of billion people don't have access
> to household
> electricity, Wojtek, and it would be *great* from
> the standpoint of
> public health, gender equity, economic development
> and other merit goods
> if they did.
>
[WS:] I fully agree with the above, but it does not answer my question. To provide those people with electricity you need to invest in electricity generation capacity, not to subsidize consumption - since those people do not consume what they do not have.
Africa is especially promising for brand new technologies, because it does not have the 'sunk cost' factor associated with old ones. You can invest in solar energy technology without making the old enegy production obsolete (since little or none exists,) and put Africa ahead of the United states in a short period of time (just like mobile telephony) - but to that, you need to subsidize investment. Not to mention th efact that geo-climtic conditions make that investment very suitable. If you subsidize consumption, you will not get very far, I am afraid.
Wojtek
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