Reading the history of the development of electricity in North America was fascinating. Not only that, but realizing just what it took to bring light and power to homes, neighborhoods, and cities makes one realize just how incredible the science truly is. It's impossible to read such a history without trying to imagine what it would have been like to live during a time where the simple flipping of a switch to light your house was an unfathomable concept. But the concept of prevalent power and modern implementation of electricity proves itself to be yet another "luxury" that much of the rest of the world lives without. Think about it. The infrastructure that was so carefully described in the text is basically invisible to consumers like you and me. Call me naive, but learning about the stages of generation, transmission, and distribution of electric power, a system that is no doubt much more complicated than the book describes, made me realize once again just how little I know about how the world works. The countless power lines that line the highways and fields have assumed an almost transparent quality; we don't see them! Yet when power outages like the massive east coast blackout of 2003 happen, where more than 50 million people were without power, it becomes much more evident just how much we depend on the resource.
So here we are, more than 100 years after the advent of electrical power, and yet there are hundreds of millions of people living without electricity. CNN recently published an article on their website describing the fact that an estimated 1.3 billion people live without electricity. According to their report, the International Energy Agency reports that an estimated 20% of the world's population live "without the simple luxury of a lightswitch." Countries, such as Africa, still use the kerosene lamps to bring light to family dwellings after dark. The article highlights just how problematic the usage of fuel-based lighting can be on issues such as carbon dioxide emissions. The use of this "dirty light" is estimated to cost an average of $38 billion per year (largely to the already impoverished consumer). Additionally, the amount of fuel required for such use is roughly 77 billion liters. What is the result of such consumption? Dr. Evan Mills, the founder of the Lumina Project, a clean energy initiative for developing countries, states that "[t]he combustion of fuel for lighting consequentially results in 190 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to one-third the total emissions from the UK." Patrick Avato, director of the Lighting Africa program, notes that "[i]ndoor air pollution from kerosene wick lamps can cause fatal respiratory problems over time." Additionally, he notes, "[d]eaths from accidental fire are also all-too common...." It's quite interesting to consider how the U.S. similarly relied on kerosene, albeit more than 100 years ago. Just imagine if the U.S. still relied on fuel-based light for our homes. We would likely be experiencing the same problems and costs as Africa, except on a much larger scale. Avato notes that "Africans alone spend $10 billion a year on kerosene, and there are 600 million people without electricity."
The good news is that individuals like Avato and Dr. Mills have taken large steps to try to remedy the problems with electricity in developing countries. Engaging the private investor community has been difficult, but these individuals are confident that providing cleaner energy resources can and will provide the kind of return that investors want.
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