ENERGY POVERTY

OUR ENVIRONMENT ONLINE
News for the everyday environmentalist

July 2012

ENERGY POVERTY

Many areas of the planet suffer from a condition known as "energy poverty." Simply put this means that these communities, many rural in nature and concentrated in developing countries, lack reliable energy services and products. More than just an inconvenience, energy poverty is a direct threat to life and health for over a billion citizens of our planet.

In many areas energy poverty means a lack of "always on" electricity. In many cases it means a lack of electricity altogether. This means, among other problems, that medical services are available only in the day time. For women in labor, at night, this can mean no light, no hot water, and no hope if complications develop. For families energy poverty can mean that clean fuels cooking are not available and cooking food can actually be a source of indoor pollution resulting in lung damage and other health effects. Others spend several hours per day gathering wood, charcoal and dung for cooking and heating water. Families suffer, village populations suffer and entire nations are held captive by lack of what most of the developed world thinks of asa basic human right. According to a report prepared by the International Energy Agency for the United Nations, as published in the online National Geographic Daily News, "The report said that if nothing is done to address energy poverty, by 2030 nearly 4,000 people per day around the world will die due to the toxic smoke and indoor fires from unsafe primitive cookstoves-more than the premature death estimates for malaria, tuberculosis, or HIV/AIDS."

Further complicating this issue is the tendency in developing nations to look toward so-called "first world" solutions. Chief among them is the desire among the leadership of these nations to build expensive coal-fired powerplants and large-scale national power grids. These projects are capital intensive and take years to come online. Even when they do, the benefits often are not available in rural areas and/or are expensive beyond the means of villagers living on just a few dollars a day.

Expensive, more deadly than AIDS and getting worse. And, this is for people who, when electricity is available, consume around 100 kilowatt hours per person, per year. Contrast this with the average family of three in the US which needs over 11,000 kilowatt hours per year to maintain their consumer-oriented lifestyles.

WHAT WE CAN DO

One of the most effective strategies is to create energy generation systems and devices that do not require a sophisticated industrial capacity to help electrify poverty stricken rural populations. Simple devices, in many cases, can change lives overnight and are literally life-changing.

A selection of such devices is outlined in an article published in the online Renewable Energy World. Entitled "Solar Philanthropy, Five Groups Using Solar to End Energy Poverty", this piece gives five examples of problems and solutions being currently addressed by organizations here in the US and elsewhere. These programs and products are ingenious, indigenous, inexpensive and often utilize local materials and capabilities.

One outstanding example is the funding and development of "purpose built" solar photovoltaic systems used for applications like home and hospital lighting, water pumps, and other vital uses. These systems are not grid-connected, and many are paid for by organization like SELF, a Washington DC-based non-profit. For example, in the earthquake ravaged country of Haiti a project in partnership with a local NGO has improved the quality of medical services for over 170,000 Haitians by powering lights, microscopes, vaccine refrigerators and other lifesaving equipment with renewable energy.

At the other end of the scale is an ingenious invention by a mechanic in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Known as a "liter of light" this game changer provides daytime indoor illumination with a 1 liter plastic water bottle, some bleach and some water. The bottle is filled with the water/bleach mix and installed in a hole in the roof with access to sunlight. The sun heats the water/bleach which then refracts light and provides the same illumination as a 50 watt bulb.

An organization called "We Care Solar" is providing a truly astounding product called the Solar Suitcase. Billed as "…an economical, easy-to-use portable power unit that provides health workers with highly efficient medical lighting and power for mobile communication, computers and medical devices. The WE CARE Solar Suitcase was originally designed to support timely and efficient emergency obstetric care, but can be used in a range of medical and humanitarian settings."

To help address problems caused by lack of fuels for "…the highlly polluting cooking stoves traditionally used in rural areas, Project Surya invented a stove that requires less than half as much biomass fuel, and emits less greenhouse gases. The improved stove has a solar lamp and a solar-panel powered fan to improve combustion. The project will help divert black carbon, methane, and ozone from the environment. In addition, because exposure to traditional biomass fuel can cause upper respiratory complications, low birth weight, eye diseases, and even blindness, replacing the stoves with clean technology is expected to improve public health."

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EDITOR'S NOTE: OUR ENVIRONMENT ONLINE was originally published in 1995. In that publication we reprinted a piece entitled "DEBUNKING RUSH LIMBAUGH ON THE ENVIRONMENT." It was originally published by the Environmental Defense Fund in New York. Over the years it has consistently been the most viewed page on this website.

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