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ABSTRACT Many with access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are subject to frequent outages due to insufficient generation capacities and/or poor transmission and distribution

infrastructure. These outages result in increased use of backup diesel generators. We use a Monte Carlo Analysis framework to estimate changes in net air emissions, consumer costs and fossil

energy consumption that result from the use of backup diesel generators in SSA. We show that reliance on backup diesel generators can lead to increased air emissions in all countries. Use

of backup diesel generators also increases fossil fuel energy consumption by a factor of 1.5–1,000 compared with current grid levels throughout SSA. Finally, we estimate that the costs of

generating diesel backup power are millions of dollars higher than the costs of grid electricity in all countries. These results suggest that increasing power system reliability for those

with existing electricity access is a key component of meeting sustainable electricity access goals. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription

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* Log in * Learn about institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS JUXTAPOSING SUB-SAHARA AFRICA’S ENERGY POVERTY AND

RENEWABLE ENERGY POTENTIAL Article Open access 19 July 2023 CARBON PRICING AND SYSTEM RELIABILITY IMPACTS ON PATHWAYS TO UNIVERSAL ELECTRICITY ACCESS IN AFRICA Article Open access 16 May

2024 COST INCREASE IN THE ELECTRICITY SUPPLY TO ACHIEVE CARBON NEUTRALITY IN CHINA Article Open access 08 June 2022 DATA AVAILABILITY The datasets generated during and/or analysed in the

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to D. F. Funding for this work came from the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation also provided support for this

work through the Gates Millennium Scholars Program. The conclusions and recommendations in this article are the sole responsibility of the authors and may not represent the opinions of the

funding sources. AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * DeVynne Farquharson, Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA DeVynne Farquharson, 

Paulina Jaramillo & Constantine Samaras Authors * DeVynne Farquharson View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Paulina Jaramillo View author

publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Constantine Samaras View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

CONTRIBUTIONS D.F. conducted principal analysis, interpretation of data and drafting of the manuscript. P.J. led design and conceptualization efforts of the research and collaborated in

drafting the manuscript and subsequent revisions. C.S. helped in the design and conceptualization efforts of the research and collaborated in drafting the manuscript and subsequent

revisions. CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to DeVynne Farquharson. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors declare no competing interests. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION PUBLISHER’S

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Figures 1–3, Supplementary Tables 1–10, Supplementary Methods, Supplementary References 1–15 RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE

Farquharson, D., Jaramillo, P. & Samaras, C. Sustainability implications of electricity outages in sub-Saharan Africa. _Nat Sustain_ 1, 589–597 (2018).

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0151-8 Download citation * Received: 27 February 2018 * Accepted: 10 September 2018 * Published: 15 October 2018 * Issue Date: October 2018 * DOI:

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