SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
Ahhh… my favourite SDG! As much as I love all the goals in the 2030 Agenda, energy is where I started my career and it continues to hold a special place in my heart.
SDG 7 is one of the goals where we have seen the most progress since the adoption of the SDGs in 2015. It is also one of the shortest goals having only 3 targets and 2 Means of Implementation - these targets cover energy access, renewable energy, energy efficiency as well as energy research and infrastructure.
Target 7.1
By 2030, ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services
What it means
There is no universally agreed up definition of what ‘energy access’ means but for the purposes of this target there are two main dimensions that are addressed - access to electricity and access to clean fuels for cooking.
On the electricity front, the definition of “access” is quite a low bar; it simply means having a usable electricity source that can provide basic lighting, and charge a phone or power a radio for 4 hours per day. It does not guarantee that someone will have enough electricity to maintain a high standard of living The International Energy Agency or the IEA definition is slightly more elevated. It requires households to meet a minimum level of electricity - for rural households, this is 250 kWh per year and for an urban household it is 500 kWh per year. However, to put this in perspective, the average US household uses 11,000kWh per year. And I checked my own consumption for 2021. I live in a one-bedroom apartment in Switzerland and my consumption was 1,934kWh per year. So you can see that the threshold for having energy access to electricity is quite low under both definitions.
On cooking side of energy access, the definition of clean cooking facilities is access to modern fuels and technologies, including natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, electricity and biogas, or improved biomass cookstoves that have considerably lower emissions and higher efficiencies than traditional fuel sources like wood, charcoal, tree leaves, crop residues and animal dung. In addition, these cleaner burning fuels do not have particulate matter which is extremely dangerous to human health. According to the World Health Organization, each year, close to 4 million people die prematurely from illness attributable to household air pollution from inefficient cooking practices
Where we are currently
Despite significant progress over the past decade, the world is still falling short in providing affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
On the electricity access front, we have seen pretty significant improvements. When I started working in this space over ten years ago I remember very vividly that the big number was 1 billion people do not have access to electricity. That number dropped below the 1 billion mark in 2018 and now rests at approximately 759 million people or about 1 in 10 who do not have access to electricity. There is still a long way to go but this is impressive progress. The share of the world’s population with access to electricity grew from 83% in 2010 to 90% in 2019. The vast majority or approximately three quarters of people who still do not have access to electricity are located in Sub Saharan Africa - 97 million in urban areas and 471 million in rural areas. At the current pace, 660 million people will still be without electricity in 2030.
Progress on clean cooking has been on an upward trajectory but at a very slow pace. More than 2.6 billion people still lack access to clean cooking facilities, this represent progress from 57% of the global population in 2010 to 66% in 2019. Asia is home to almost 65% of the global population without access to clean cooking. The IEA estimates 2.36 billion people will still lack access to clean cooking in 2030 given current progress and planned policies.
They also estimates that it will take $43 billion of annual investment to reach universal energy access by 2030.
Target 7.2
By 2030, increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix
What it means
The share of renewable energy in the global energy mix is calculated by taking the amount of renewable energy including solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower, bioenergy and marine sources and comparing it to all final energy consumption. This final consumption includes electricity, transportation, cooking and heating or cooling.
I did want to note here that traditional biomass, or the burning of wood or other organic material, is not included as renewable but modern biomass technologies like biofuels, biogas produced through anaerobic digestion, wood pellet heating systems, and other technologies are included. Nuclear is also not considered renewable energy.
Another caveat to make here is that this indicator focuses on the amount of renewable energy actually consumed rather than the capacity for renewable energy production, which cannot always be fully utilized.
Where we are currently
The growth of renewables has outpaced the rate of increased energy consumption. This has allowed for an overall increase in the total share of renewable energy in the global energy mix, which accounted for almost 11% in 2018. Of course you can tell by this number that the global energy system is still dominated by fossil fuels which account for more than 80% of energy consumption globally . Latin America and the Caribbean are the regions with the highest share of modern renewable energy.
Now if we look at only electricity, the growth is more impressive. For example, between 2017 and 2018 renewable electricity use grew 7%, moving the share of renewables in global electricity consumption from 24.7% to 25.4%, significantly higher than that 11% number for overall energy.
Hydropower remains by far the largest source of renewable electricity globally, followed by wind and solar PV. Together, wind and solar PV have shown the fastest growth rates among renewable electricity sources and are responsible for more than half of the increase in renewable electricity consumption observed over the past 10 years.
The IEA predicts that the share of modern renewables’ in total final energy consumption, so not just electricity but all consumption, will grow to over 15% by 2030 given current and planned policies. It is believed that renewable electricity will overtake coal as the single largest share in 2026 to supply around 37% of the world’s electricity by 2030.
While that is promising, use of renewables for transportation is still very small at only 3.4%, which is mostly biofuels but of course we expect to see this continue to grow with further adoption of electric vehicles.
Target 7.3
By 2030, double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency
What it means
One source of energy that we often discount or forget, is using all the energy we actually produce and not letting it go to waste. This is where energy efficiency comes in. Energy efficiency simply means using less energy to perform the same task and within this target it is measured by energy intensity.
Energy intensity is the ratio of total energy supply versus annual gross domestic product or GDP —in essence, it is the amount of energy used per unit of wealth created. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency or IRENA, using this measure of energy intensity to understand efficiency allows us to observe how energy use rises or falls while also looking at the social and economic development factors that may affect those rates.
Energy intensity declines as energy efficiency improves. In other words, if we are using less energy to do more useful things in society and our economy we are being more efficient.
We can increase energy intensity through a number of means including mandatory policies, such as codes and standards, including minimum energy performance standards, fuel-economy standards, building energy codes and industry targets. These measures are being increasingly complemented by fiscal and financial incentives, such as tax relief on building renovations and electric vehicle purchases.
Where we are currently
Energy intensity fell from 5.6MJ per US dollar in 2010 to 4.8MJ per US dollar in 2018. The most recent calculations show a low rate of improvement at only 0.8-1.1% annually, far less than the estimated 2.6% annually originally needed to meet this target by 2030. With this slowing progress, we now require a 3% improvement every year from now to 2030 to meet the target.
There are huge regional differences when it comes to improvements in energy intensity as well. Asia has been able to achieve the most robust, continuous improvements; between 2010 and 2018, primary energy intensity in Eastern Asia and South-Eastern Asia improved by an annual average rate of 3.1%, driven by strong economic growth. Similarly, in Central Asia, Southern Asia and Oceania, the average annual improvement rate of 2.6% was well above the global average of 2%. Rates of improvement were below average in Northern America and Europe at 1.9 %, and we saw the lowest rates of improvement in Western Asia, Northern Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean at 0.8 percent, and Sub-Saharan Africa at 1.4%.
Both the IEA and IRENA believe the 3% increases in energy efficiency are totally within reach.
Means of Implementation
7A - By 2030, enhance international cooperation to facilitate access to clean energy research and technology, including renewable energy, energy efficiency and advanced and cleaner fossil-fuel technology, and promote investment in energy infrastructure and clean energy technology
7B - By 2030, expand infrastructure and upgrade technology for supplying modern and sustainable energy services for all in developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States, and land-locked developing countries, in accordance with their respective programmes of support
Keep Learning
Here are a few great resources for further reading and learning:
Goal 7 Overview (2022, United Nations)
SDG Tracker (2022, Our World in Data)
SEforAll (2022, United Nations)
International Renewable Energy Agency (2022, IRENA)
International Energy Agency (2022, IEA)