IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Fall 2013 - 49

s feminist scholars have
long argued, there are
no purely technological solutions to
achieving progress
on gender equity and women's
empowerment. Nevertheless, in
rural South Asia, where many
women's lives are marked by gender inequalities, access to clean
and renewable energy technology
and services can make a difference
if those resources are also targeted
at improving women's access and
welfare. This, however, compels
us to go "beyond the meter." Special social and technical interventions that simultaneously target
energy access and gender equity
are necessary.
Modern energy access (or the
lack of it), is an important indicator of poverty and the state of
social development, such as equitable access to health, education,
and other services, including the
overall status of women in society.
Around 95% of the global populations without modern energy
access live in sub-Saharan Africa
or in underdeveloped or developing
Asia [1]. India, China, and Bangladesh account for more than half of
those without clean cooking energy
facilities [2]. Table I highlights the
regional disparities in electricity
consumption per capita.
"Energy poverty" encapsulates
the link between the lack of modern energy access with poverty and
social development. There is now a
significant body of literature on the

gender equity dimensions of this
"energy poverty." A key challenge
in Asia is the provision of energy
in an environmentally sustainable manner based on renewable
energy sources and applications. It
has been argued that ignoring the
social context determining energy
access, characterized by gender
roles and traditions, can negatively
affect the potential of renewable
energy as a sustainable and alternative energy resource.

Gender Analysis of Energy
Much of the analysis on the role of
women in energy development and
the gender linkages and impacts
of energy access is to be found in
gender and development studies
and literature. The role of women
in energy development is an area
of study which began in the early
1980s, with pioneering works by
Cecelski [3] and others. A substantial body of literature has been built
up since then.
Women's "invisibility" in the
energy sector is partly due to the
lack of recognition of their contribution to society, especially their
socially necessary but unvalued
reproductive labor in the home, as
well as to their lack of access to
education and their limited engagement in technological progress.
Some of the key gender and energy
linkages identified in development
literature cover areas related to
women's health and personal security, income and livelihoods, equal
employment opportunities, access

Table I
Electricity Consumption/Population for 2010 (kW/capita)
World

2892

OECD

8315

Middle East

3493

Non-OECD Europe and Eurasia

4414

China

2958

Asia

806

Non-OECD Americas

1992

Africa

591

Source: IEA Key world energy statistics 2012
IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

FALL 2013

to information and communication,
and gender roles in the home [5]:
a) Health and security: Nearly
two million premature deaths
per year are attributed to
indoor air pollution from
households burning solid biomass fuels (wood, charcoal,
animal dung, agricultural
wastes) for cooking and heating [4]. Nevertheless, investments in the provision of clean
and safe cooking energy are
not prioritized by governments
and energy or power utilities. While street lighting can
improve women's safety and
mobility, these services too
are often not prioritized for
investment.
b) Affordability: Even where
modern energy services are
available, the lack of affordability prevents access to these
services for poor women, such
as female-headed households.
Tariff levels generally don't
take into account women's
lower incomes, thus limiting
women's energy access.
c) Economic opportunities: Gender inequality in access to
productive assets, labor-saving
technology, and affordable
creditlimits women's capacity
to increase their incomeeven
when modern energy services
are available. This is especially so when cultural factors
restrict women's mobility outside the home.
d) Home-based work: Women's
microenterprises, which can
contribute significantly to
household income, tend to
be home based andtherefore
inseparable from household
energy consumption and
women's reproductive labor.
Poor and unreliable quality of
power supply, resulting in prolonged outages or shortages,
hampers women's efforts to
run microenterprises.
e) Equal employment opportunities: While the energy
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