Ensuring universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern sources of energy is crucial to achieving almost all of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Increasing the global share of clean energy will create jobs, lift incomes, improve environmental health, and improve resilience to climate change. By 2030, the UN’s targets aim to:

• Raise the proportion of the global population with access to electricity and clean energy as their primary source.
• Promote investment and international cooperation to create and upgrade infrastructure for sustainable, renewable energy.
• Increase the global share of renewable energy and double the rate of improvement in energy efficiency.

While the share of renewable energy in the global economy is rising, it is rising too slowly to meet the UN’s target of doubling the rate of improvement in energy efficiency in the global economy by 2030. Furthermore, global CO2 emissions have risen about 40 percent over the last generation. Despite a stabilization in levels of emissions during in 2014 and 2015, today, emission levels are again on the rise.  

The stories in this collection illustrate how change makers are leveraging technological advances to allow for new types of energy networks—and more resilient communities. Paul Hockenos explains that over the last 5 years, over 120,00 German homes and small businesses have invested in solar batteries thanks to advances in lithium battery technology. Meanwhile, in India, a solar energy company allows neighbors to sell their surplus energy through a microgrid.

We also see where new partnerships and novel approaches are working to bring long-lasting, sustainable change. Learn about efforts by the World Bank and the Ugandan government to encourage cleaner cooking methods. With some 3 billion people still relying on fuels like coal to cook and heat their homes, cleaner cooking methods are crucial to achieving Goal 7. 

Click here for more stories in the Solutions Story Tracker on affordable and clean energy.

Click here for more stories in the Solutions Story Tracker on affordable and clean energy.

1. Define the difference between primary and secondary sources of energy. List and categorize several ways that households receive energy, and the sources from which they originate.
2. Read Jacky Achan’s article about efforts to clean up fuels used for household cooking in Uganda. Identify the trends in Uganda that run counter to the UN’s program for global sustainability, especially as they relate to goals 3, 7, 13, and 15. Consider in this case: why does the use of renewable fuels, such as biomass, still pose a challenge to sustainability and public health?
3. What are the benefits of using hydropower as a renewable fuel source? What are the disadvantages? Evaluate the sustainability of relying on hydroelectric power generation.
4. Compare and contrast the economic viability of at least two forms of renewable energy. How does the implementation of these energy sources differ in a developed country, such as the United States, as oppose to one of the Least Developed Countries? 
5. Evaluate several direct and indirect ways to increase investment in renewable energy. Differentiate between policy mechanisms and financial incentives, considering the roles of the private sector and government agencies.
6. What are "micro-grids?" What are the key differences and advantages of micro-grid technology, compared to the use of traditional energy grids and production?
7. Choose an Issue Area or a Success Factor related to achieving Goal 7. Then, create a collection and select at least 4 (or more) stories from the Solution’s Story Tracker that relate to your topic. If working with groups, each group can present on the issues and solutions they found most compelling.

1. Primary energy is an energy form found in nature that has not been subjected to any human engineered conversion process. It is energy contained in raw fuels, and other forms of energy received as input to a system. Primary energy can be non-renewable or renewable. Secondary forms of energy are also known as energy carriers. Energy carriers are energy forms which have been transformed from primary energy sources. Electricity is one of the most common energy carriers, being transformed from various primary energy sources such as coal, oil, natural gas, and wind. (Source: Wikipedia)
2. Many traditional cooking methods and outdated appliances contribute to poor indoor air quality and have a negative impact on health, affecting the targets of other SDGs.  
3. Hydroelectric power often comes from capturing the flow of energy in water in rivers using dams to divert water into a hydropower plant. While considered a low emission form of energy production, students should consider the environmental impacts of changing the physical characteristics of rivers. The United States has many examples (for instance the efforts surrounding the Elwah and Glines Canyon dams) of dams that have been decommissioned in order to restore ecosystems. Dam reservoirs can also emit greenhouse gases, such as methane, from the decomposing plant material that is flooded to create the reservoir.
4. You may find additional useful information about technologies such as wind turbines among the Drawdown Solutions teaching collections; students might also wish to make use of databases such as this energy access database. Consider also that today, developing countries have some benefit of modernizing in a time with access to affordable and viable clean energy. The technology exists today to provide countries with sustainable and affordable energy, eliminating the period of pollution and energy inefficiency most developed countries have in their past. What obstacles, in that case, prevent less developed as well as affluent countries from implementing solutions?
5. According to a recent UN report on Goal 7: “The overall financing requirement to meet SDG 7 is estimated at US$ 1.3 to 1.4 trillion per year until 2030.” With regard to carbon pricing: “The carbon price stimulates clean technology and market innovation, fueling new, low-carbon drivers of economic growth. There are two main types of carbon pricing, namely Emission Trading System (ETS) and Carbon Tax. The choice of the instrument should depend on national and economic circumstances and ensure that the pricing does not penalize the poorest population.” With regard to financial mechanisms: “Financial derisking instruments can be understood as financial products which transfer risk around investment opportunities to those market players who are best able to manage such risks. These instruments are provided by a variety of institutions, including development banks (multilateral (MDBs), bilateral or national governments (ministries of finance), and agencies (export credit agencies), as well as private insurance companies and banks. Instruments can take many forms, such as guarantees for political, credit and liquidity risks, currency and interest rate hedging instruments (swaps, forward contracts), and other products.” With regard to direct financial incentives: “Direct financial incentives can be understood as direct financial transfers or subsidies to low-carbon energy investments. These instruments compensate the private  sector  for  the  higher  real  or  perceived investment risks in early-stage markets, help level the playing field with fossil fuel sources that continue to receive more subsidies, and increase the financial return component in an investment’s risk-return profile.” Consider also the role that digital investments, green bonds, and even stricter regulations play in incentivizing private sector investment.
6. Micro-grids are smaller, decentralized power grids that can operate independently, or in collaboration with other energy grids. They allow for a more adaptive use of renewable energy and have a lower barrier to entry than traditional large-scale power grids, which often rely on distributing energy produced by coal (or in some cases hydropower).
7. Answers will vary by student. For more on creating collections, click here. For more on Success Factors, click here.