CAN YOU imagine what it would be like living without electricity? For one thing, it would surely be boring: No television, no MP3 player, no video games. And in this technological age, life would be lonely and disconnected as well: there would be no Internet, no computer, and no cell phone. You can always read books, but at night, there will be no light, other than the flicker of firewood. And to get that firewood someone in the family would have had to gather it during the day. If that person is a child, precious hours of schooling would be in jeopardy. Using the firewood is another problem, since burning the firewood causes smoke to be released, which makes the air in your house very toxic and dangerous to your health.
You may lack access to vaccines and modern drugs because the nearest hospital does not have regular power to keep the medicine refrigerated. You are desperately poor – and the lack of electricity helps to ensure that you will stay that way.
This may seem an unreal scenario, but for the 1.3 billion people around the world that lack access to electricity, it is an overwhelming problem. This is especially true in the developing world – more than 95 percent of those without electricity are either in sub-Saharan Africa or developing Asia, and 84 percent live in rural areas.
Lack of power remains a major obstacle to any progress in global development. According to Fatih Birol, the chief economist of the International Energy Agency (IEA), “Lacking access to electricity affects health, well-being and income. It is a problem the world has to pay attention to.” By designating 2012 the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All, the United Nations (UN) is placing much needed emphasis on the problems of energy access many persons on the planet are facing.
According to the IEA’s analysis, it would be possible to achieve universal energy access for the world by 2030 with around $48 billion a year in global investment. However, this target is not being met – approximately $9 billion a year is currently invested in solving the problem. To make matters worse, most of that investment goes toward improving energy access in urban areas, which leaves those in rural communities in the dark. Even if investment rises to $14 billion a year, the IEA expects that 1 billion people will still be without power in 2030. “What’s being done now clearly isn’t enough,” says Birol.
With rising oil prices, the problem can only get worse. Environmentalists sometimes welcome higher energy prices as a way to promote conservation and efficiency, but in developing, energy-starved countries, high prices can be economically crippling.
You might want to know, “But how exactly can the energy problem be solved?” One way is to invest in big projects consisting of major fossil fuel plants and electrical transmission lines. However, this sort of infrastructure would be more useful in cities and might be unable to reach the rural areas that are so in need of energy. Additionally, at a time when we are concerned about global warming, this carbon – heavy option is not the best choice.
This is where the option of renewable energy comes in. It is both practical and environmentally friendly. Solar power, for instance, can be installed quickly and cheaply in areas where power lines are not erected, providing enough power for light and basic services. With smart investment, the IEA believes that achieving universal energy access would increase global carbon emissions by only 0.7 percent by 2030 – a reduction in the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.
Energy poverty is, of course, only a piece of larger economic poverty, but providing energy is one of the best ways out of it too. Access to affordable and reliable energy services is essential to reducing poverty and improving health, increasing productivity, enhancing competitiveness and promoting economic growth.
A look at the satellite image of the earth at night would reveal large areas of the planet radiating light and other stretches cloaked in darkness – an electric map of wealth and poverty. We need to get to the place where everyone can have a light.

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