Leapfrogging
In environmental terms “leapfrogging” is the idea that a nation or region can undergo an industrial revolution without the levels of pollution that were emitted during the Industrial Revolutions of Western Europe and the United States by exploring sustainable energy practices. This idea particularly applies to many countries in Africa who seem to have the world’s “best untapped resources” particularly spaces where renewable energy can be harnessed such as rivers and deserts. The Economist’s article “The leapfrog continent” also seems to believe that renewable energy is the way to boost African economies.
Has your country experienced leapfrogging in the past? If so, what were the effects on your country’s economy? Where did the technology needed for leapfrogging originate from?
Is leapfrogging a viable method for your nation to increase the usage of renewable energy?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWe are the delegates representing the Swiss Confederation (Switzerland). Switzerland has experienced leapfrogging when industrialization began in the 18th and 19th centuries with the expansion of its textile, watch and clock industries. Due to Switzerland’s climate and mountainous terrain, it supplemented its agriculture with handicraft industries such as clocks, cheese, and chocolate, which did not account for industrialization. Thus, Switzerland chiefly mechanized its textile industry, whose machineries were based on water-powered mills on streams, as Switzerland had an inadequate access to coal and an extensive access to water (lakes, rivers, the Alps), unlike other countries that used fossil fuels during the Industrial Revolution. Consequently, Switzerland was able to avoid the high levels of pollution in Western Europe and the U.S..
ReplyDeleteEconomically, due to its early industrialization on the manufacturing industries, Switzerland’s innovative and high quality manufactures have won a strong export orientation and, thus, rendering it a global presence. However, Switzerland’s high cost for production and innovation has increasingly placed it under the pressure of globalization. The pressure on Swiss manufacturing industry was further heightened during the recession of 2008-2009 and the Euro crisis. Currently, one of its major economic challenges is its resource shortages and higher resource prices. Although Switzerland has a lot of water from its lakes, the methods of generating power through water are not cost-efficient, rendering leapfrogging not a viable method for Switzerland.
Unfortunately, Germany was one of the largest consumers of coal and fossil fuels during the Industrial Revolution in Western Europe and across the United States. However, currently, the German government is promoting efforts at leapfrogging by undergoing a energy revolution. For the past decade, the German government has undertaken an energy transition known in German as the Energiewende. The core of the revolution has been implementing cost efficient and effective wind and solar energies which eventually became competitive with fossil fuels. After a surge in solar and wind energy within the country along with the removal of nine of the twenty two nuclear reactors in the country, Germany currently receives 85% of its energy from renewable resources as of April 30th, 2016.
ReplyDeleteWhile Germany has experienced great success with the Energiewende Revolution, the progress has come at a cost. The country has spent over 25 billion euros on making this transition, of which the German consumers shouldered a substantial load (23 billion euros). In addition, the newfound economic advantage of renewable energy has caused the share prices of Germany’s traditional energy companies to plummet. In conclusion, leapfrogging has become a viable option for Germany to sustain its growth in the renewable energy sector, given that the government continues to make progress towards cutting the costs induced by this monumental transition.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteNew Zealand has experienced leapfrogging during their past industrial revolution and as the country has only recently started to have problems with their pollution levels as a result of their rising industry. The country’s revolution in the early 1840s mainly expanded the agriculture industry and produced more advanced transportation through the country. The agricultural society grew due to the increase in refrigeration and better maintenance of crops. Due to advancing transportation, producing goods inside the country became significantly cheaper because New Zealand no longer had to pay expensive tariffs for imports that came from Great Britain.
ReplyDeleteLeapfrogging is an extremely viable solution to increasing use of renewable energy in the country in the present time. New Zealand has already started to use many methods of renewable energy throughout the country and expect to be completely run by energy in 2035. Since New Zealand is a peninsula, the prime source of energy in New Zealand for electricity is hydropower. Turning the water in the ocean to energy is very inexpensive and prevents the most pollution.
1. McLintock, Alexander Hare, et al. “HISTORICAL EVOLUTION.” Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand, Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu Taonga, 23 Apr. 2009, teara.govt.nz/en/1966/farming.
2. “New Zealand Aims to Transition to 100% Renewables by 2035.” Futurism, 7 Nov. 2017, futurism.com/new-zealand-transition-100-renewables-2035/.
3. “New Zealand Set To Emerge As Global Leader In Renewables & Smart Energy Systems, Says IEA.” CleanTechnica, 21 Feb. 2017, cleantechnica.com/2017/02/21/new-zealand-set-emerge-global-leader-renewables-smart-energy-systems-iea/.
4. Perry Davy and Dr Tom Clarkson are air quality scientists based at NIWA in Wellington. They thank Greater Wellington Regional Council for use of data and images, and also acknowledge their collaborator Dr Shanju Xie, formerly of NIWA in Auckland. “Tracing the Sources of Air Pollution in New Zealand.” NIWA, 26 Nov. 2013, www.niwa.co.nz/publications/wa/vol15-no1-march-2007/tracing-the-sources-of-air-pollution-in-new-zealand.
Nigeria's economy is heavily reliant on oil exports and currently is in the process of expanding Nigeria's reach towards other renewable resources ("Nigeria"). Nigeria is one of the many African countries with access to many sources of renewable energy including solar energy (Abdullahi et al. 1). Additionally, according to the World Bank, from 2010 to 2012 Nigeria had the largest growth in renewable energy production worldwide ("The Leapfrog").
ReplyDeleteBeing a country with 95% of its exports being petroleum based ("Nigeria"), Nigeria knows that the problems of extending the reach of renewable energy out to developing countries is majorly from the cost. Currently, fossil fuels are cheaper than most renewable resources and are more accessible to developing countries ("The Leapfrog"). Nigeria believes developing countries can be leapfrogged with the help of developed countries who can work together to help lower the cost of renewable resources which can allow for developing countries to further incorporate them into their economy with the help from fully developed countries. Nigeria itself is heavily dependent on petroleum ("Nigeria") and can not alone switch to renewable resources. However, a global effort to lower the cost of renewable energy makes increases accessibility to developing countries and tackles a key barrier in the expansion of renewable resources.
Abdullahi, D., et al. Key Barriers to the Implementation of Solar Energy in
Nigeria: A Critical Analysis. IOP Publishing. IOP Science,
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/83/1/012015/meta. Accessed 4
Feb. 2018.
"The Leapfrog Continent." The Economist, 6 June 2015, www.economist.com/news/
middle-east-and-africa/
21653618-falling-cost-renewable-energy-may-allow-africa-bypass. Accessed 29
Jan. 2018.
"Nigeria." Africa. The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 23 Feb.
2018, www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ni.html.
Accessed 29 Jan. 2018.
"Nigeria." Nations Online, www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/nigeria.htm. Accessed
29 Jan. 2018.
As the Delegation of Russia, we have not used leapfrogging in the past. but we do believe that leapfrogging is a possible alternative option to increase the efficiency of our energy output. Over the years, leapfrogging has been mentioned a plethora of times as a viable solution to increase technology innovation incoherence with environmental protection. In order to achieve this, in recent years, our government has been working on reforming legislature on environmental regulation policies in order to make a smooth transition. Additionally, our country has been working to find new efficient renewable energy resources such as hydropower, geothermal, wind, and solar. Russia’s renewable energy potential is slowly becoming a reality with the increase of efficient an innovative technology. With this increase we are staring to stray away from hydroelectric production of energy seeing as it is becoming more prevalent. Our main problem is we lack a sufficient national power grid and are unable to transport this energy generated throughout the country. That is why trough the use of leapfrogging and the development of new technology we believe we can achieve this goal.
ReplyDelete1. Reilly, Michael. “Vladimir Putin says he wants Russia to produce more renewable energy.” MIT Technology Review, MIT Technology Review, 9 May 2017, www.technologyreview.com/s/607822/russia-tells-the-un-it-wants-to-produce-more-renewable-energy/.
2. carbon_brief. “U.S. Tells China It Has No Plan Yet to Meet Its 2020 Climate Target.” EcoWatch, EcoWatch, 5 May 2017, www.ecowatch.com/us-climate-goal-bonn-talks-2393792771.html.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWe are the delegates representing the People’s Republic of China. The evolution of our nation’s political, economic, and social status prompted for a newly industrialized powerhouse that would contribute to the creation of innovative and extensive technologies, especially in the manufacturing sphere. While our industrial evolution cannot be aptly described as leapfrogging, China’s shift from an agrarian society into one of the largest manufacturing powerhouses in the world was one of the most substantial changes seen as compared to any other currently developed country. While China’s industrialization did prove to be beneficial to the global economy, it created environmental degradation that China is dealing with to this day. China now has a thriving environmental protection policy that we continue to promulgate as we develop further. China cannot necessarily leapfrog since we are an industrialized nation, but it is feasible for us to continue to integrate further renewable energy into our manufacturing world power and other industrial areas since we are a developing country. China has already implemented creative renewable energy sources within our borders: Hydropower, solar roads, power through dams, and wind farms can all be found in China, and we continue to expand our renewable energy capabilities so as to continue to protect the environment.
ReplyDeleteFrangoul, Anmar. “Here Are Six of China's Ambitious, Mind-Boggling, Renewable Energy
Projects.” CNBC, CNBC, 22 Jan. 2018,
www.cnbc.com/2018/01/22/here-are-six-of-chinas-ambitious-mind-boggling-renewable- energy-projects.html.
Wen, Yi. “China's Rapid Rise: From Backward Agrarian Society to Industrial Powerhouse in Just
35 Years.” China's Rapid Rise From Backward Agrarian Society to Industrial
Powerhouse in Just 35 Years, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 7 June 2017,
www.stlouisfed.org/publications/regional-economist/april-2016/chinas-rapid-rise-from- backward-agrarian-society-to-industrial-powerhouse-in-just-35-years.
Browaeys, Peter Corne and Johnny. “China Cleans up Its Act on Environmental Enforcement.”
The Diplomat, The Diplomat, 9 Dec. 2017,
thediplomat.com/2017/12/china-cleans-up-its-act-on-environmental-enforcement/.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteA fully industrialized country, France is not a textbook example of leapfrogging. It is, however, in a slightly different position than other Western, industrialized countries. Due to a political revolution that happened while many other countries were focused on industrial revolutions, France industrialized at a much slower rate than countries such as the United Kingdom, and never had a true time period considered its Industrial Revolution. Still, France did industrialize, thus making it impossible to truly leapfrog.
ReplyDeleteFrance did, however, quickly jump from coal to nuclear power. In the 1970s, when nuclear energy became a viable source of power, France quickly changed from oil to nuclear. The shift was caused by France’s desire to break free from expensive foreign oil. In the eyes of many, the shift was beneficial. Currently, France gets over 70% of its power from nuclear, which gives it one of the smallest carbon footprints in the industrialized world. France even exports much of its energy, which is a boon in the economic sector as well.
“Nuclear Power in France | French Nuclear Energy” World Nuclear Association, www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-a-f/france.aspx.
Richardson, Jake. “Why France Went Nuclear.” CleanTechnica, 6 Aug. 2014, cleantechnica.com/2014/08/06/france-went-nuclear/.
Pakistan is a strong example of leapfrogging. Leapfrogging gained popularity starting from the 1960s onward. Pakistan mostly uses import, agriculture, mining, automobile and textile industries. Agriculture is the largest source for foreign exchange earnings accounting for both the import and agriculture industries. They export cotton, textiles, and apparel. Imports include petroleum products, oils, chemicals, fertilizer, and consumer products.
ReplyDeleteConsidering Pakistan’s location and industries, Pakistan has high rates of import and export and is oriented more towards trade of goods for benefit of the country. Although the country profits from this major industry, there are also many downsides even with leapfrogging. Primarily focusing on Pakistan, although their export industries have been successful and increasing, their imports have been declining. Currently Pakistan’s textile industry is facing a decline in its growth rate due to global recession, internal security concerns, and the high cost of production. Although leapfrogging has benefits, since Pakistan is a second world country they do not have the money to continue leapfrogging. Pakistan needs to find more cost efficient and faster ways to stop the emissions of pollution.
IB, A. (2018). Leapfrogging and advantages/disadvantages. [online] Getrevising.co.uk. Available at: https://getrevising.co.uk/diagrams/managing-biodiversity-3 [Accessed 25 Feb. 2018].
ResearchGate Business Solutions. (2018). ResearchGate Scientific Recruiting - Hire Scientists and Researchers. [online] Available at: https://solutions.researchgate.net/recruiting/ [Accessed 25 Feb. 2018].
Profit.pakistantoday.com.pk. (2018). Profit by Pakistan Today | Business, Economic and Financial News. [online] Available at: https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/ [Accessed 25 Feb. 2018].
Morocco has experienced leapfrogging in the past few years as it undergoes its green revolution. As a country that does not have a “vast” “supply” of fossil fuels, Morocco has spent a vast part of their budget developing their new Noor Solar national grid, mostly consisting of concentrated solar power fields. It has been financially beneficial to rely on renewable energy rather than importing foreign oil, and thus, Morocco has taken a lead in the green revolution of Africa.
ReplyDeleteOverall, the project costed 9 billion and consisted of 4 different complexes. To fund such a grand enterprise, Morocco has utilized public-private partnerships to reduce the cost of technology and to assist in their proper development. Since Morocco has never experienced an Industrial Revolution surrounding processing fossil fuels, its direct development in its renewable energy sources has proved extremely effective in taking a lead in the world’s green revolution. It is able to concentrate much of its efforts and budget on clean energy sources as it begins its development.
Hirtenstein, Anna. “Morocco Giant Solar Plant Connected to Grid; over 50% of Its Power Will Be from Renewables by 2030.” MG Africa, 5 Feb. 2016, mgafrica.com/article/2016-02-05-morocco-giant-solar-complex-connected-to-grid-over-50-of-its-power-will-be-from-renewables-by-2030.
“Inside Morocco's Renewable Revolution.” The Christian Science Monitor, The Christian Science Monitor, 13 Sept. 2017, www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2017/0913/Inside-Morocco-s-renewable-revolution.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIn 2014, the Republic of Chad received investments from the U.S. communications company, Millicom Tchad S.A., where their nationwide mobile telecommunications network was upgraded and expanded, covering about 80% of the country. To achieve 100% geographical coverage, they implemented 3G and 4G technology. They also plan to launch mobile broadband services and renew the existing mobile telecommunications license of the local operation, Tigo Chad. By increasing and improving telecommunications services in Chad, there is an expected increase in GDP growth and poverty reduction. Making communication services more easily accessible and reliable as they create Chad’s digital infrastructure will benefit local businesses. More than 97% of Tigo Chad’s workers are locally recruited and are investing close to 1 million USD per week. The technology needed for leapfrogging originated from more developed countries such as the United States and China. Leapfrogging is a viable method for increasing usage of renewable energy in Chad. However, leapfrogging should also be used in conjunction with improving infrastructure, including the establishment of more power lines so the energy generated can be used throughout the country. Currently the lack of a large power grid has encouraged small-scale use of self-sustaining renewable energy generators, however, Chad would like to move towards larger scale power plants which are necessary to reap the most benefits. Additionally, without adequate funding, Chad would not be able to fully utilize technology from leapfrogging.
ReplyDeleteBotswana's industries have been able to leapfrog to the most efficient technologies by skipping inferior and less efficient technologies and by skipping straight to more advanced technology. The key constraint to technology adaptation in Botswana is a lack of infrastructure. Botswana has constraints in the provision of electricity and reliable and fast internet supply. Most of the firms have centralised information and technology systems that are administered in other countries and are accessed through the internet. Unreliable electricity supply is a problem that affects the whole economy and not just the cutting and polishing industry. The cutting and polishing equipment and technology is operated with electricity and without a generators, so power cuts would stop the production in the whole factory and possibly damage some machines. Most of the factories have generators to ensure electricity supply. This, however, increases the costs of doing business and also constraints their ability to use the latest technologies efficiently. However, the government has implemented plans to improve Internet and electricity supply by laying deep-sea fibre optic cables and by building a new power plant that was completed in 2012, so that the infrastructure constraint is expected to ease over time. Although there is a possibility of an environmentally friendly industrial revolution, however the infrastructure gap puts limits on the chances of leapfrogging in the future, not only on Botswana, but on the entire African continent.
ReplyDelete