LED and solar technology is liberating remote communities from dependence on unhealthy fuel, explains US department of energy scientist Evan Mills
A sixth of humanity spends upwards of $40bn (£26bn) per year on lighting (20% of the total energy spend for lighting), yet enjoys only 0.1% as much illumination as does the electrified world. Looked at another way, the unelectrified poor spend 100- to 1,000-times as much per unit of light as do people on the grid. A myriad of fuels are used for this purpose, including kerosene, diesel, propane, candles, grass and wood, flashlights with disposable batteries, and even discarded tire rubber. The corresponding greenhouse-gas emissions equate to those of 30m American cars.
Fuel-based lighting is an example of how the hyper-inefficient use of energy plays a role in trapping people in poverty with a negative environmental impact affecting everyone. The spectre of fuel-based lighting extends far beyond its energy use, hampering health and safety, impeding better livelihoods and saddling governments with crippling energy subsidies.
Related: Life without light in rural India: why solar lanterns can’t compete with the grid
Related: On several frequencies, light guides the way to development