Whether it be from The Wall Street Journal, or YouTube, by now most of us have heard the arguments for and against development of “shale gas”, and as a member of the World Bank’s Oil, Gas and Mining Unit, hardly a day goes by that I do not receive a notice about an article, a presentation or a conference on this topic.
When I heard that Jim Yong Kim, the World Bank’s new president, was to meet staff in the energy department where I work on his first day at work July 2, it occurred to me that a good way to introduce him to our work in sustainable energy would be a quick demo of solar lanterns.
I suggested it to my colleague Katherine Steel, the manager of Lighting Africa, a joint Bank-IFC program that has created markets for off-grid solar lights in Africa.
