Energy poverty: have we got the measure of it?

At the macro-level it has long been accepted that there is a strong relationship between energy and economic growth (IDS, 2003). In the 1990s, the development discourse began to focus on the effects that economic growth has had on poverty. However, an interest in the links between energy and poverty took more time to emerge$^2$ Indeed, energy as an enabling factor in social transformations at the micro-level has not played a major role in the development discourse. Energy, unlike other infrastructure-related sectors such as water, transport and ICT, has also not been a central topic within the social sciences, including anthropology. The recent interest in climate change has focused on energy as the problem not part of the solution, particularly for the poor.