This track will highlight efforts to improve the quality of life and hasten economic growth in rural areas by increasing access to clean and modern energy services. The track will also cover efforts to improve financial inclusion for energy access through microfinance.

This track will focus on the multiple connections between water and energy, including the use of water in energy production systems such as hydropower, thermal power, off-shore wind power, floating solar PV and biofuels, as well as the use of energy in the provision of water and sanitation services.

This track will highlight approaches and solutions that make cities more climate-resilient and livable by incorporating more flexible, low-carbon, clean energy systems, and approaches into urban development.

Topics will include, but are not limited to, integration of smart design and renewable energy into the built urban environment, alternatives to petroleum-based public and private transportation, urban microgrids, and urban planning and energy integration that can offer to cities and urban communities a range of social, environmental, and climate change benefits.

The “economies of scale” paradigm that guided development of existing electricity systems, refineries and transportation systems was based on a rational technical and economic framework. Comparisons between digital economies and asset heavy-infrastructure often oversimplify the rate of change possible in energy systems.

It will require creativity and robust foresight to addressing immediate energy sector needs while also planning for future needs in an ever-evolving social and technical landscape. The latest technologies in electricity generation, assessment and planning tools such as GIS mapping and Big Data as well as the digitalization of many existing technologies can meet this challenge.

According to market researchers, by 2025 the majority of energy companies in the world will not own ANY infrastructure and/or generation assets. We are moving away from the era where large (traditional) corporate and/or government balance sheets are required to fund cross-industry innovation.

During this session, industry leaders, visionaries and experts will present their ideas and experience in the context of a transformational trend called “Digital Darwinism.” Digital Darwinism is defined as the societal and technology adoption that is evolving (often leap frogging) much faster than the business, regulation/policy ecosystem.

This session will showcase how innovative technologies have been employed to improve energy access. The presentations in this session will highlight the major issues regarding energy access and the potential application of innovative technologies to address these challenges.

The presentations in this session will feature project examples highlighting a range of specific challenges and barriers (spanning policy, regulation, technology, and finance) that affect the implementation of energy access initiatives. The presenters will explore how these barriers have been addressed to enable projects to succeed in providing affordable energy access in a sustainable manner.

Breakthroughs across the supply chain of the clean cooking and heating sector have been emerging independently across the Asia- Pacific region. The presentations in this session will highlight and analyze proven commercial solutions, and will deconstruct how they can be adapted or replicated across developing Asia.

The session will highlight the energy situation (including cooking and electricity) in urban and peri-urban areas. The presentations in this session will address the key issues and many challenges faced by households and service providers in urban areas who are trying to achieve access to safer, cleaner and legal sources of energy.

With the projected urbanization of Asia over the next three decades, the energy systems in these growing cities need to be transformed, in order to avoild locking the urban energy infrastructure into a carbon intensive scenario for many decades. Without changes to how urban environments provide services, energy use in these areas will experience massive growth, along with global emissions of greenhouse gases and local air pollution.