Energy for the developing world: The [new wisdoms] are wrong

Abstract

A rapidly building concensus, in the rich developed nations, is that less develped countries (LDC) should support large, costly, programmes of rapidly developing non-oil renewable energy sources, and energy conservation. However, oil use in the LDCs is tiny in relation to that of rich nations, even if growing faster. On a per capita base the difference is greater still. Thus conservation, as a solution to short run oil supply problems (e.g. OPEC output ceilings) is a responsibility of the nation grouping that uses and wastes most oil. Small percentage cuts by the OECD-IEA group could provide ample supplies for the growing needs of LDCs without driving prices inevitably higher. For LDCs there are now many devices for controlling or reducing their foreign exhange spending on oil per unit import. Accelerated oil search and devlopment provides the best midterm opportunities for solving oil supply problems in LDCs especially if OPEC and rich nation loan funding and technical support are accelerated. the impetus for the necessarily costly rapid development of unconventional energy sources must and should come from the rich nation in the short and midterm, for aid-assisted transfer to LDSs in the longer term. This will allow the scarce capital of LDCs to be utilized for non-energy sectors where needs are immediate and cirticial, and for oil search and development.