The Worst Kind of Poverty: Energy Poverty (a life without electricity)

[Liberal_in_LA]

The Worst Kind of Poverty: Energy Poverty

I want you to try to imagine what it's like to live without electricity. It's boring, for one thing — no television, no MP3 player, no video games. And it's lonely and disconnected as well — no computer, no Internet, no mobile phone. You can read books, of course — but at night you won't have light, other than the flicker of firewood. And about that firewood — you or someone in your family had to gather it during the day, taking you away from more productive work or schooling, and in some parts of the world, exposing you to danger. That same firewood is used to cook dinner, throwing off smoke that can turn the air inside your home far more toxic than that breathed in an industrial city. You may lack access to vaccines and modern drugs because the nearest hospital doesn't have regular power to keep the medicine refrigerated. You're desperately poor — and the lack of electricity helps to ensure that you'll stay that way.

That's life for the 1.3 billion people around the planet who lack access to the grid. It's overwhelmingly a problem of the developing world and the countryside — more than 95% of those without electricity are either in sub-Saharan Africa or developing Asia, and 84% live in rural areas. Though it hasn't gotten the attention that global problems like HIV/AIDS and malaria have received in recent years, lack of power remains a major obstacle to any progress in global development. (See photos of new ways to boost energy efficiency.)

"Lacking access to electricity affects health, well-being and income," says Fatih Birol, the chief economist of the International Energy Agency (IEA). "It's a problem the world has to pay attention to."

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2096602,00.html#ixzz1aV7Af8VG

[jwirr]

1. At the age of 70 I do not have to imagine. And yes people who have

grown up with all these distractions will be bored. But we were not - we did a lot of things that were fun. Reading by candlelight is not unheard of - at least one president did it - Honest Abe. We played games - adults had card parties that were family events - you wouldn't believe how much a kid can get by with when mom and dad are concentrating on the cards. We went on picnics to the lake where the adults fished and the kids played tag etc. Boredom was not the problem.

The problem with not having electricity was not having a washing machine, no refrigerator, no water purifier, no ac or no central heat. A lot of real practical things like that. They made life very hard for women especially.

It is the practical devices that so many in the world lack today that we usually never even think about. When I write to the young man we sponsor in Tanzania I am not supposed to talk about all the THINGS we have and it is hard to say anything without doing just that. Our world is so full of things and so different than his. I can send him a paper item that is no larger than 8" X 12" X 1/8" in each letter. This summer I told him about young American children collecting animal cards (from the Kids magazine for National Geographic). I ordered that magazine and now sent him the inserts so he has his own collection. I wish there were more things that could be sent. We have so much.

[KamaAina]

2. "who lack access to the grid."

Why the emphasis on "the grid"? These would be ideal areas for small-scale sources like solar. In fact, years ago, when the Asian Development Bank held its conference in Honolulu (it was moved there after the "Battle of Seattle"!), most of the projects that ADB Watch objected to were large-scale dams or fossil fuel generating plants.

[mdmc]

3. ..