When we think about energy access, we tend to think about making sure everyone can light their homes and charge their mobile phones. But power for lighting and basic appliances is not enough.
The majority of the world's electricity is used not in homes but in industry—in farms, factories, mines, and office buildings. Energy for industry is a critical driver of job creation and economic prosperity. And that’s the mission of the recently-launched Energy for Growth Hub—a global network of policy wonks and policymakers working together to build high-energy systems.
I recently sat down with Todd Moss, senior fellow here at the Center for Global Development and the Hub’s executive director, to discuss how big the energy gap is, how the solutions so far haven't been on the right scale, and to explain why the tradeoff between residential and industrial energy isn’t really a tradeoff at all.
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