RISK FACTOR NO. 10: Public opposition to the plant in Kosovo presents a material risk.
Public objections have been raised to four specific impacts of the New Kosovo Power Plant. First, the forced displacement of Kosovo residents and the potential violation of World Bank development standards remains an ongoing and major public controversy. Second, residents have raised questions of air quality deterioration in Kosovo that would be caused by burning lignite with outmoded technology. Third, Kosovo’s reliance upon coal-fired generation for 95 percent of its annual power generation brings criticism for the levels of greenhouse gas emissions it creates. Fourth, recent opposition to electricity price increases under the existing system
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Private sector finance will be the preferred option, but where the World Bank Group does engage, the existing screening criteria for coal projects will apply.
The World Bank and the U.S. government have indicated that support for NKPP would qualify as a “rare circumstances.” In August 2013 the President of the World Bank Jim Yong Kim said that his support for NKPP grew out of a commitment to prevent the poor from freezing in their apartments.
The primary mission of the World Bank is the promotion of development that will alleviate poverty. According to its 2013 climate change policy document, “The World Bank Group is intensifying its focus on the objective of ending poverty and promoting shared prosperity.”
The World Bank makes the statement about energy poverty more concrete by linking the high cost of energy to economic un-competitiveness by noting that such costs also impair the ability of the poor to obtain access to basic energy resources: “Yet high costs of energy compromise the affordability of basic energy needs for households and the competitiveness of industry … Where they are retained, subsidies need to be sharply targeted to the poor.”
The World Bank also advances the general theory that access to energy stimulates economic growth, which assists the poor and creates broad
Throughout this world, we use various equipment that need certain energy requirements in order for them to run properly. Two of the utmost imperative sources of energy in our world today come from coal and nuclear power. Still, a great deal of citizens of this world are unaware of the impacts of nuclear power whether it be positive or negative due to the fact that nuclear power has not existed as long as coal power has. However, as nuclear power becomes a major resource of energy, we as citizens must determine which is more fitting for not only us, but our environment. As this report continues on, you will come to find the history of each of these resources along with the advantages and disadvantages of each. Concluded from this research was the concept that nuclear power is worthier for America as a whole. Included below are the specific points as to why nuclear power is far superior for American citizens and our environment. However, the main notion to be taken from this report is the view that we need to become further educated on the energy resources present in this world and be able to determine how we can become more efficient and contribute less to climate change in the long run.
Freedman then talks about why there is so much energy poverty in Africa. In some places increasing economic growth and population growth have combined to overtake the supply of
~ Today the bank functions as an international organization that attempts to fight poverty by offering developmental assistance to middle and poor-income countries. By giving loans, and offering advice and training in both the private and public sectors, the World Bank aims to eliminate poverty by helping people
The United States is driven by capitalism, which is, “an economic system essentially based on the private ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange” (Free). This brilliant system allows for a prospering economy that is created by the people. In this system, it is common that businesses fail because profit is the driving force that keeps them going and only the strongest remain standing. While it may seem odd to link energy production to capitalism, the case can be argued that they share a connection. Energy production is a main avenue to the core of what capitalism represents. Each year, many energy producing companies profit millions of dollars since the world is dependent upon it. Considering this, these
In the article “The Poor Need Cheap Fossil Fuels”(2013), Lomborg’s main claim is that although it is important to deal with global warming caused by the burning of fossil fuels, the current priority should be providing cheap fossil fuels to the poor who indeed need them. To support his claim, Lomborg first states that fossil fuels are essential, especially to the poor, and will still be for decades. He emphasizes that only reliable, cheap fossil fuels can improve lives of those living in energy poverty by making electricity accessible and reducing indoor air pollution caused by the burning of dirtier fuels, which is more detrimental than outdoor air pollution. By further suggesting that greener energy may not be globally distributed very soon,
Everything we do, everything we use is a form of energy. The resources necessary to provide us even the simplest of comforts are becoming more in demand due to population growth. As of today, coal, oil and natural gas supply almost 90% of the world’s energy needs. We are a world of oil consumption, indeed, everything we use has some form of oil product built into it. It is versatile and has been the only thing we have known for most of our lives. Realizing that the energy policies are a major economic problem is key and being able to provide policies that can have financial benefits for all parties will result in balanced energy budget. Using alternative resources will be a major adjustment by Americans and we need to focus on alternative
the growing rate of technological advances within the recent centuries, a stable source of energy
From the electricity that kept my home warm and powered the lights at school to providing employment to both my parents for the past 30 years, nuclear power has been at the center of my life growing up. In Wadsworth, Texas, the South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company has been a way a life thousands of people by providing nearly 1200 jobs and providing carbon-free electricity for over 2 million people. However, this is just one example in just one state in the United States. According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, 11 percent of the world’s energy comes from nuclear power plants and for 13 countries it provides more than 25 percent of their country’s energy. However, even though nuclear power has made its mark as a global competitor in the realm of green energy, incidents such as 3 Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima have created a global sense of uneasiness. On top of this underlying fear, the huge building costs of new nuclear plants has lead to a stunt in the growth of nuclear energy even though operation costs for nuclear energy at $0.0219/kW is less than that of coal ($0.023/KW) and almost half that of gas ($0.0451/kW) (IER). Even though nuclear energy has had some setbacks, it is still safer (short-term and long-term) than the carbon-producing alternatives. The question at hand is whether we should take an utilitarian perspective by giving more serious consideration to the long-term effects of the carbon-emitting energy sources and whether we can overcome our
The government of Ceeland claims to be a potential ‘victim’ of nuclear contamination from the HN plant and has sought to have the plant closed as a result. The weakness of its claim rests upon the physical distance away from HN (500 km). If the threats to Ceeland are, as scientists have suggested, ‘unfounded and borne of ignorance’ then clearly Ceeland has a weak claim over Hesket Nuclear. It may have political reasons of its own to make protestations, perhaps to appease opinion in Ceeland or to be populist to manage dissent at
There is a great correlation between development and accessibility of electricity. “Excluding South Africa, the entire installed generation capacity of sub-Saharan Africa is only 28 Gigawatts, equivalent to that of Argentina” (World Bank). Providing electricity can lead many investors in sub-Saharan countries and also can generate small business to the local people such as welding, shaving and many more jobs.
Although it was predicted that one day nuclear power would make electricity “too cheap to meter”, instead now it is “too expensive too finance” (“Cheap Dreams, Expensive Realities,” n.d., para.2). Although nuclear industry says that nuclear power is the cheapest compared to other methods of power, costs of nuclear power have been underestimated by almost a factor of three (Caldicott, 2006 p. 19). This is because a lot of costs related to nuclear power have not been accurately reflected in the figures shown to public, such as cost for the total nuclear fuel cycle, construction and running costs. Waste disposal and decommissioning are other expenses related to nuclear power that are ignored when figuring out the estimated cost of nuclear power (Karson, p. 26). Many groups argue that the cost of nuclear generation is at least three times the figure provided by the British Nuclear Fuels (McLeish, p. 36). Another reason, nuclear power costs are underestimated is due costs of new technology needed for the power plant are not taken in to account. Delay in construction is also an unnoticed expense (McLesih, 9. 37). It is unlikely to take the full cost of nuclear power into account. It is hard to claim that nuclear power is the more competitive price energy source compared to other energy sources because of its many hidden
Before this, its chief goals were to liberalize trade and promote industrialization in countries. Prior to this project, the World Bank had been doing so without considertion to the environment, but would be forced to change after it. The World Bank could then be seen as an evolving mechanism to bring about global change. While at the time of the Polonoreste program, the World Bank was completely blindsided by the social and environmental consequences of investing in such a project, afterwards it gained new perspectives and perhaps learned from
In order to promote energy supply and economic development, which is the core of this paper, the author argued that the idea behind the project was not to tap the energy from the sun to electrify these remote communities. Rather, it was geared towards installing small solar panels that were not much bigger than an iPad to power the basic appliances (light bulbs, cell phone, and other basic necessities that can alter people’s lives) in those homes (2015). This demonstrates the economic as well as the energy efficiency side of this study, which I believe Hallett will accept. The author also argues that going small better fits the budget of rural Tanzanians and the money saved from buying kerosene and other oil to lighten their homes were used for other things. This concept is known as pay-as-you-go. This concept was far cheaper and affordable than what the government of Tanzania and some big energy companies were offering, the author claimed (2005).
Angry protesting, political upset, governments falling, privatization failing, and money lost are a few outcomes that influence the public opinion on the World Bank, and its involvement in many underdeveloped countries. While the World Bank claims that reducing poverty across the globe is its foremost priority, many opponents believe that it is responsible for increasing poverty. The World Bank is a multifaceted organization that loans money to government around the world for development.
Due to complications in gaining access to risk capital and lack of expertise wanted for resource exploration and production, most developing nations with oil and gas reserves grant development right to foreign companies, which have adequate expertise, technology and capital to fund the project including the capabilities to manage