IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v38y2010i1p116-127.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A light left in the dark: The practice and politics of pico-hydropower in the Lao PDR

Author

Listed:
  • Smits, Mattijs
  • Bush, Simon R.

Abstract

The article describes the widespread use of an estimated 60,000 low-head pico-hydropower turbines and well-developed networks of supply and support in the Northern part of the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). This apparent widespread use is contrasted with the policy narratives of key actors in the government, multilateral organisations and the private sector which show an often simplified and overly negative attitude towards pico-hydropower. Based on empirical research carried out in three upland districts and the capital, Vientiane, the paper critically investigates the apparent disjuncture between policy and practice by placing pico-hydropower within the broader political context of rural electrification in the Lao PDR. It is argued that the neglect of pico-hydropower and other off-grid household electrification technologies is a result of an endemic lack of information on which to base policy decisions, the orientation of the government to facilitate large scale foreign investment in large hydropower dams, the universal applicability of solar home systems, and the broader state agenda of centralisation and control over service provision to remote upland areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Smits, Mattijs & Bush, Simon R., 2010. "A light left in the dark: The practice and politics of pico-hydropower in the Lao PDR," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 116-127, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:38:y:2010:i:1:p:116-127
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301-4215(09)00646-6
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Li, Tania Murray, 2002. "Engaging Simplifications: Community-Based Resource Management, Market Processes and State Agendas in Upland Southeast Asia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 265-283, February.
    2. W. Neil Adger & Tor A. Benjaminsen & Katrina Brown & Hanne Svarstad, 2001. "Advancing a Political Ecology of Global Environmental Discourses," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 32(4), pages 681-715, September.
    3. Green, Donna, 2004. "Thailand's solar white elephants: an analysis of 15 yr of solar battery charging programmes in northern Thailand," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 747-760, April.
    4. Roe, Emery M., 1991. "Development narratives, or making the best of blueprint development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 287-300, April.
    5. Maarit Virtanen, 2006. "Foreign direct investment and hydropower in Lao PDR: the Theun‐Hinboun hydropower project," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(4), pages 183-193, September.
    6. Lawrence R. Sullivan, 2000. "Guest Editor's Introduction," Chinese Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(3), pages 3-6, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Susanto, J. & Stamp, S., 2012. "Local installation methods for low head pico-hydropower in the Lao PDR," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 439-447.
    2. Kyophilavong, Phouphet & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Kim, Byoungki & OH, Jeong-Soo, 2017. "A note on the electricity-growth nexus in Lao PDR," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 1251-1260.
    3. Andrea K. Chareunsy, 2015. "Is there a Pareto solution to the misaligned incentives and competing objectives of water grabbing in the Lao PDR?," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 29(2), pages 85-96, November.
    4. Bozorgi, A. & Javidpour, E. & Riasi, A. & Nourbakhsh, A., 2013. "Numerical and experimental study of using axial pump as turbine in Pico hydropower plants," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 258-264.
    5. Bhutto, Abdul Waheed & Bazmi, Aqeel Ahmed & Zahedi, Gholamreza, 2012. "Greener energy: Issues and challenges for Pakistan-hydel power prospective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 2732-2746.
    6. Kadier, Abudukeremu & Kalil, Mohd Sahaid & Pudukudy, Manoj & Hasan, Hassimi Abu & Mohamed, Azah & Hamid, Aidil Abdul, 2018. "Pico hydropower (PHP) development in Malaysia: Potential, present status, barriers and future perspectives," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P2), pages 2796-2805.
    7. Elizabeth Baldwin & Jennifer N. Brass & Sanya Carley & Lauren M. MacLean, 2015. "Electrification and rural development: issues of scale in distributed generation," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(2), pages 196-211, March.
    8. Kelly-Richards, Sarah & Silber-Coats, Noah & Crootof, Arica & Tecklin, David & Bauer, Carl, 2017. "Governing the transition to renewable energy: A review of impacts and policy issues in the small hydropower boom," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 251-264.
    9. Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2013. "An international assessment of energy security performance," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 148-158.
    10. Chang, Youngho & Fang, Zheng & Li, Yanfei, 2016. "Renewable energy policies in promoting financing and investment among the East Asia Summit countries: Quantitative assessment and policy implications," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 427-436.
    11. Zijie Yang & Dong Huang & Yuqing Zhao & Wenqian Wang, 2022. "A Bibliometric Review of Energy Related International Investment Based on an Evolutionary Perspective," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-21, May.
    12. Danielle Gent & Julia Tomei, 2017. "Electricity in Central America: Paradigms, reforms and the energy trilemma," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 17(2), pages 116-130, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. McCarthy, John F., 2004. "Changing to Gray: Decentralization and the Emergence of Volatile Socio-Legal Configurations in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(7), pages 1199-1223, July.
    2. Olwig, Mette Fog, 2021. "Sustainability superheroes? For-profit narratives of “doing good” in the era of the SDGs," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    3. Gautam, Yograj, 2019. "“Food aid is killing Himalayan farms”. Debunking the false dependency narrative in Karnali, Nepal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 54-65.
    4. McGrath, F.L. & Carrasco, L.R. & Leimona, B., 2017. "How auctions to allocate payments for ecosystem services contracts impact social equity," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 44-55.
    5. Tschakert, Petra, 2016. "Shifting Discourses of Vilification and the Taming of Unruly Mining Landscapes in Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 123-132.
    6. Biddulph, Robin, 2018. "The 1999 Tanzania land acts as a community lands approach: A review of research into their implementation," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 48-56.
    7. Zhan, Shaohua, 2015. "From Privatization to Deindustrialization: Implications of Chinese Rural Industry and the Ownership Debate Revisited," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 108-122.
    8. Rebecca Clausen & Stefano B. Longo, 2012. "The Tragedy of the Commodity and the Farce of AquAdvantage Salmon®," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 43(1), pages 229-251, January.
    9. Blum, Mareike, 2020. "Whose climate? Whose forest? Power struggles in a contested carbon forestry project in Uganda," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    10. Julius Court & Simon Maxwell, 2005. "Policy entrepreneurship for poverty reduction: bridging research and policy in international development," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(6), pages 713-725.
    11. Mangani, Andrea, 2021. "When does print media address deforestation? A quantitative analysis of major newspapers from US, UK, and Australia," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    12. Sarah Milne & Bill Adams, 2012. "Market Masquerades: Uncovering the Politics of Community-level Payments for Environmental Services in Cambodia," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 43(1), pages 133-158, January.
    13. Mockshell, Jonathan & Birner, Regina, 2020. "Who has the better story? On the narrative foundations of agricultural development dichotomies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    14. Mirumachi, Naho & Torriti, Jacopo, 2012. "The use of public participation and economic appraisal for public involvement in large-scale hydropower projects: Case study of the Nam Theun 2 Hydropower Project," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 125-132.
    15. Bennett, Aoife & Ravikumar, Ashwin & Paltán, Homero, 2018. "The Political Ecology of Oil Palm Company-Community partnerships in the Peruvian Amazon: Deforestation consequences of the privatization of rural development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 29-41.
    16. Jacob Etten, 2022. "Revisiting the adequacy of the economic policy narrative underpinning the Green Revolution," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(4), pages 1357-1372, December.
    17. Venot, Jean-Philippe, 2016. "A Success of Some Sort: Social Enterprises and Drip Irrigation in the Developing World," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 69-81.
    18. Kenneth King & Robert Palmer & Rachel Hayman, 2005. "Bridging research and policy on education, training and their enabling environments," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(6), pages 803-817.
    19. Wittmer, Heidi & Birner, Regina, 2005. "Between conservationism, eco-populism and developmentalism: discourses in biodiversity policy in Thailand and Indonesia," CAPRi working papers 37, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    20. Vandergeest, Peter, 2007. "Certification and Communities: Alternatives for Regulating the Environmental and Social Impacts of Shrimp Farming," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 1152-1171, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:38:y:2010:i:1:p:116-127. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.