『Abstract
A lack of access to energy and, in particular, electricity is
a less obvious manifestation of poverty but arguably one of the
most important. This paper investigates the extent to which electricity
access can be investigated using night-time light satellite data
and spatially explicit population datasets to compare electricity
access between 1990 and 2000. We present here the first satellite
derived estimates of rural population without access to electricity
in developing countries to draw insights on issues surrounding
the delivery of electricity to populations in rural areas. The
paper provides additional evidence of the slow progress in expansion
of energy access to households in Sub-Saharan Africa and shows
how this might be ascribed in part due to the low population densities
in rural areas. The fact that this is a continent with some of
the lowest per-capita income levels aggravates the intrinsic difficulties
associated with making the investments needed to supply electricity
in areas with low population density and high dispersion. Clearly,
these spatial dimensions of the distributions of the remaining
unelectrified populations in the world have an impact on what
options are considered the most appropriate in expanding access
to these households and the relative attractiveness of decentralized
options.
Keywords: Electricity access; Rural development; Night-time light
remote sensing』
1. Introduction
2. Data and methodology
2.1. DMSP-OLS night-time lights
2.2. Population and urban extents Databases
2.3. IEA electricity access data
2.4. Data processing
3. Results
4. Discussion
5. Population density distribution in unlit areas
6. Conclusions
Appendix A
References