Electrification of public transport

A transportation basket that is not too dependent on electricity is imperative for a country where just one spell of rain can cut off power supply for hours together

* Malawi in the south-eastern edge of the African continent is one of the poorest countries in the world with per capita GDP of $1134. Following long spells of no rain, the country’s water reservoir level dropped so low around the end of 2017 that power supply even to its 10 per cent of the population, which had electricity, became difficult. The reason: 98 per cent of its electricity comes from hydropower.

* In China, officials in the northern provinces of the country were ordered to prioritise the use of power and burn coal — banned earlier — for heating