Abstract
It is without exaggeration and beyond the doubt that energy has
become one of the most significant needs of the human being. The utility
of energy has greatly evolved over the last century. The whole range of
human activities including dwelling, trade and commerce, industry,
transportation and agriculture has mostly become depended on energy.
Globally, energy prosperity has become very crucial to overcome
fundamental social problems such as poverty, hunger, disease and
illiteracy. The growing human reliance on energy has been paralleled by
a string of challenges that are both local and global in nature. It is
increasingly understood that ensuring availability of sufficient,
affordable, and environmentally friendly energy’ is one of the major
challenges faced by the world in the twenty first century.
Energy is considered to be the backbone of human activities. The
accomplishment of human civilization has been achieved through the
increasingly efficient and extensive production of various forms of
energy to extend human capabilities and ingenuity. Providing adequate
and affordable energy is therefore, essential for the eradication of
1
.Research Scholar MPhil Pakistan studies, Department of Pakistan Studies,
ICP
2
. Lecturer Pakistan Studies in Frontier Women University, Peshawar
3
. Lecturer Department of Management Sciences, Islamia college University,
Peshawar, pakistan
Energy Crisis in Pakistan: Abasyn Journal of Social Sciences. Vol.4 No.2
Ameer Nawaz Khan & Toheeda 342
poverty, improvement of human welfare and raising of living standard of
human being throughout the world (Asif, 2011), the per capita energy
consumption is an index used to measure the socio-economic prosperity
in any society. The human development index of a country has a strong
relationship with its energy prosperity.
With the evolution of civilizations, the human demand for energy
has continuously increased. At present , the key factor which drives the
growth in energy demand include increasing human population,
modernization and urbanization .According to the united nations , the
world population 6.5 billion in 2005 is to grow to 9.1 billion by 2050 and
most of the population growth is expected to place in the developing
world Asia and Africa.(Dinner, 1999). Poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy
and environmental degradation are the most important challenges faced
by the world. Poor and inadequate access to secure an affordable means
of energy in one of the crucial factors behind these issues. Electricity for
example is vital for providing basic social services such as education and
health, water supply and purification, sanitation, and refrigeration of
essential medicines. Electricity is of course, very helpful in supporting a
wide range of income generation opportunities.
Although during the last twenty five years over 1.3 billion people
living in developing countries have been provided access to electricity,
but more than 1.4 billion people over 21 percent of the world’s
population do not have access to it .( Human Development
reportundp,2007-2008). Although about 2-4 billion people depend upon
traditional biomass, including wood, agriculture residues and dung for
cooking and heating purposes. Statistics suggested the more than 99
present of people without electricity live in the developing regions and
Energy Crisis in Pakistan: Abasyn Journal of Social Sciences. Vol.4 No.2
Ameer Nawaz Khan & Toheeda 343
four out five live in the rural areas of south Asia and Africa. (Poverty,
Energy, society, energy forum the backer institute, Rice University)
The leading countries in the world in terms of population without
access to electricity include India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nigeria,
Pakistan, Congo, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Tanzania, Kenya (asif, 2011).
With the growing world population and people's aspiration for improved
life a central and collective global issue in the new century is to sustain
socio-economic growth within the constraints of the earth's limited
natural resource along with preserving the environment.
Ameer Nawaz Khan, Toheeda Begum, Mehwish Sher. (2011) Energy Crisis in Pakistan: Causes and Consequences, Abasyn Journal of Social Sciences, Volume-04, Issue-2.
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