Energy policy

Résumé du document

While Malthus was already painting a negative picture of the worldwide situation in 1798, he was also drawing up his famous prediction that population would outrun food supply, leading to a decrease in food per person. Indeed, there is a mathematic distortion between human reproduction rate and their capacity to produce subsistence means (production). That is why Malthus advised to reduce and limit the demographic growth, above all within the developing countries, so Marcel BOITEUX is asking for during the World Energy Congress in Montreal in 1989. Developing countries are characterized by high rate of population growth, an increasing demand in energy, scarcity of capital and profound differences in the quality of life between urban and rural segments of the population. Hence, several specialists are pointing the finger at the demographic growth, considered as a burden not only for the developing countries' development but also for the worldwide community's sustainability. In his speech, Marcel Boiteux emphasizes the complex interrelationships among changes in population, economic development, and energy consumption. With respect to energy use, qualitative dimensions of rising demand, as well as any demographic pressures on resource availability, seem to require our attention. Why does population growth evoke so much discussion? Why is it a cause for alarm? Why is M. Boiteux as well as Malthus looking for ways to bring about a decline in the rates of developing population growth? Despite the obvious relevance of those questions, a better one would be to know whether the world has sufficient energy to cope with the future demand while developing countries are seeking to improve the quality of life of the majority of their populations.

Extraits

[...] Why is M. Boiteux as well as Malthus looking for ways to bring about a decline in the rates of developing population growth? Despite the obvious relevance of those questions, a better one would be to know whether the world has sufficient energy to cope with the future demand while developing countries are seeking to improve the quality of life of the majority of their populations. At first sight, population growth indeed interacts with economic development to stimulate increased demand for energy, so birth control could be a solution to fix the issue. [...]

[...] Hence, several specialists are pointing the finger at the demographic growth, considered as a burden not only for the developing countries' development but also for the worldwide community's sustainability. In his speech, Marcel Boiteux emphasizes the complex interrelationships among changes in population, economic development, and energy consumption. With respect to energy use, qualitative dimensions of rising demand, as well as any demographic pressures on resource availability, seem to require our attention. Why does population growth evoke so much discussion? Why is it a cause for alarm? [...]

[...] Energy consumption as a spectrum of factors or the primacy of a sound and rationalized development a. The limits of demographic pressure on energy demand Nevertheless, we have to consider the multiplicity of factors that influence the total energy consumption (energy demand) of developing countries, in order to appreciate the weight of population growth within energy strategy. Actually, the energy strategy of a country is linked to many factors, many of them external to the energy sector itself, such as the domestic availability of natural resources required for expansion of the economy, the social goals for a more equitable economic base and the energy required by existing technologies to produce basic goods. [...]

[...] : Lexington books ; - SIDDAYAO C.M., PERCEBOIS J.R Politique d'efficacité de l'énergie et environnement : expériences pratiques dans les pays en développement, Paris : Economica ; - Office of Technology Assessment Fueling development : energy technologies for developing countries. Washington DC: Congress of the United States; - World Energy Council. Energy Efficiency: A worldwide review. Indicators, Policies, Evaluation. Web sites - DARMSTADTER J Energy and population. http://www.rff.org/Documents/RFF-IB-04-01.pdf; - Démographie et croissance économique. http://supercdi.free.fr/ses/demographie.htm; - DUNCAN R.C.2001. World energy production, population growth and the road to the Olduvai gorge. http://www.hubbertpeak.com/duncan/road2olduvai.pdf. - Energie et population : définition de la théorie de Malthus et des thèses néo-malthusiennes. [...]

[...] Indeed, first of all, a financial pressure embodied by high levels of debt makes it difficult for many developing countries to increase their borrowing. Then a wide range of institutional problems such as excessive staffing, inadequate management, weak planning, poor maintenance, deficient financial monitoring and few incentives are undermining the efficiency of operation. Energy use in developing countries is also of global environmental problems and modern energy technologies face environmental constraints (US Congress, 1992). Hence, we have to establish a main priorities' agenda to overcome those constraints. [...]