Universal access to electricity: actions to avoid locking-in unsustainable technology choices

In 2015, the United Nations' sustainable development goals (SDGs) were approved. They lay out a shared vision to 2030 for 17 key developmental concerns. SDG7 targets access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services for all; SDG13 focuses on reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and adaption to the impacts of climate change (United Nations 2015).

Efforts to achieve SDG7 and SDG13 are interlinked, in that fossil fuels will be used, to a greater or lesser extent, to expand access to modern energy services in developing countries. The dominating view is that the economics of rural-electrification projects are such that these projects, to a high degree, have to rely on fossil fuels.

Yet, the literature is inconclusive on this point.