134 renewable energy market analysis southeast asia

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RENEWABLE ENERGY MARKET ANALYSIS : SOUTHEAST ASIA
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Box 6.3 Selected examples on reduced emissions and impact on climate change
Solar power plant in Qi Palawan, a resort in the Philippines

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IMPROVED LIVELIHOODS
INCOME GENERATION AND
POVERTY ALLEVIATION
Access to basic energy services
is a prerequisite for stimulating
economic activity and making progress
toward SDG 1 on ending poverty in all its forms
everywhere.
Many Southeast Asian countries are affected by
high rates of poverty. In Lao PDR, Myanmar and the
Philippines more than one-fifth of the population
lives under the national poverty line. People deprived
of clean and affordable energy are trapped in a cycle
of lower incomes and insufficient means to improve
their living conditions and meet the basic human
needs for food, shelter, health and education.
The introduction of decentralised renewable energy
solutions can generate income and help alleviate
poverty by supporting the development of the local
economy. In various sectors important to Southeast
Asian economies (such as agriculture, fishing,
tourism, and other commercial activities), reliable
and affordable electricity for irrigation, cold storage,
lighting, and mechanisation creates new income
generating opportunities, raises productivity,
improves access to markets and information,
increases the local production of goods and services,
and reduces transportation and logistics costs.
Newly created income generating
opportunities and increased productivity
Renewables can boost productivity by (1) enabling
the production of more and better-quality outputs
and the delivery of better services, and (2) reducing
the time and cost involved in doing so:
n
In the agricultural sector in rural areas , local
renewable energy solutions can reduce vulnerability
to changing rainfall patterns by powering irrigation
systems that enable advanced cropping practices
and improve productivity (IRENA, 2016c). The
deployment of micro-hydropower plants in
Indonesia, for example, enabled the development of
new businesses in egg hatchery, rice milling, coffee
grinding and bread making (GIZ and NL Agency
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2013). On Sumba Iconic
Island initiative in Indonesia, solar-powered water
pumps transformed dry soil into six hectares of lush
arable crops. The island also benefitted from the use
of solar agro-processing that saved producers at
least two hours on peeling and grinding corn by hand,
increasing the efficiency of their operations (Case
study: Sumba Iconic Island initiative in Indonesia)
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. In
rural Myanmar, improved and mechanised irrigation
powered by a micro-hydro project helped farmers
improve the quality of their yields, allowing them
to start exporting to neighbouring villages and
increasing their profits (Case study: Micro-hydro
plant in Myanmar)
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. The use of renewables can also
reduce the time and cost of production across every
stage of the food chain, including agro-processing.