Can Renewable Energy Eliminate Energy Poverty Around the World?

You’re likely familiar with the term “poverty,” but what exactly is energy poverty? Energy poverty is a major development issue, affecting nearly 1.3 billion people. It refers to a lack of access to efficient modern energy, which often makes a significant impact on economic development, small-scale enterprise, educational opportunities, infant mortality, gender equality, and general quality of life. Simply put, energy poverty is a big deal!

The world is struggling to use less carbon than we do now, while still helping under developed countries get access to energy. Naturally, renewable energy is one of the ways to accomplish this—both on and off an electrical grid.

Renewable energy is perfect for this type of dilemma because not only does it reduce or eliminate carbon emissions and pollution, but it also doesn’t require a clunky energy grid to produce energy. For example, solar panels only require the energy of the sun, and wind turbines only require the power of the wind. These technologies tap into the very essentials of the environment and harness their power safely and efficiently.

Ending energy poverty requires the right tool for the job: distributed energy, which renewable energy production makes possible.

The difficult part of solving the issue of energy poverty has always been finding a way to efficiently and cheaply provide billions with the energy they need. To make this possible for large amounts of people covering wide areas of land by creating a traditional power grid infrastructure would be time-consuming, costly, and vulnerable to many problems. It is especially important to remember that most of our current energy grid is based on outdated technology. Current technology should be used in these endeavors if we hope to achieve success.

It is important to recognize that for those living beyond the energy grid, on-site renewable energy is a viable solution.

Jigar Shah makes a great comparison of energy generation sources to Internet access, suggesting that to say a power grid is necessary to provide cheap electricity to every home is akin to saying that to provide Internet access to the entire world, fiber optic cables must be installed everywhere. We know this is not true, as we live in a world dominated by wi-fi.

Renewable energy is incredibly versatile, and at Star Energy Partners we are excited about its potential to change the world!