Enough Energy for all? Fuel Poverty at home and abroad
In an age of profligate energy use and booming energy demand in the developed world, 3 billion people in the developing world have no access to modern energy provision. This means that nearly half of the world's population has limited or no access to modern water treatment, health care, agriculture, nor to the lighting and electricity that make modern business and education possible. They cannot store food in a fridge, they cannot heat water in a kettle, nor turn on a lamp to study in the evening. The traditional methods of lighting, heating and cooking with plant and animal matter as fuel can be unreliable, unhealthy and dangerous. In developing communities that can afford to use some fossil fuels, the recent and sustained price rises especially of oil, have had a hard-hitting impact.
Meanwhile in the energy profligate West, thousands of poor people suffer ill-health as a result of their inability to heat their homes adequately. Fuel poverty is a contributor to the tens of thousands of excess winter deaths which occur in Europe each year. Ireland, Spain, Portugal and the UK suffer from particularly high winter death rates, due in part to relatively low thermal standards in housing. Predicted energy supply shortages in the next decade are likely to exacerbate fuel poverty if governments fail to ensure that all people have access to the energy they need.
How can European governments integrate fuel poverty issues at home and abroad into their energy security strategies? What measures can be taken to bring about more equitable sharing of the world's energy resources?
Feel free to share your thoughts and ideas on this project. Contact Policy Officer Neil Endicott by email nendicott@qcea.org or call 00 32 2 234 3061.
