Energy requirements for sustainable human development

Abstract

In this paper, we explore the relationship between sustainable energy consumption and human well-being. We estimate energy sufficiency levels for achieving Equitable Development Levels (EDL) using the quadratic plateau (QP) model for fourteen development variables related to health, education, and infrastructure for the period between 1990 and 2017. Our results show that the energy threshold necessary for securing key developmental targets is 70 GJ person⁻¹ year⁻¹. Even after accounting for the changing energy-development relationship due to improvements in technology, efficiency, scales of production etc., we find that primary energy supply for meeting developmental needs is likely to be in the range of 75 to100 GJ person⁻¹ year⁻¹, in 2050. Our analysis shows that estimates of “decent living standards” in the existing literature, are highly inadequate and do not address the developmental needs and aspirations of the global South.