Imagine living without the modern energy sources like electricity unable to browse, eat well, sleep in cosy and warm homes. For billions of people globally, they face energy poverty every day. Energy poverty brings out a threat to human security with over 1.2 billion people globally lacking access to electricity.
Moreover, Energy poverty is the least cited form of global destitution that affects the well-being, physically healthy and able to prosper for the affected people. It means a lack of access to the modern forms of energy like electricity, and it’s attributed to interaction between energy inefficiency, low income and energy prices. However, countries like New Zealand are opting for cheaper and affordable energy systems like solar panels. So, here how Energy poverty affects people well-being
- It Prevent them from accessing health facilities for emergencies
For the doctor working in areas prone to energy poverty, it restricts them from working after sunset, hence, unable to handle health emergencies. Access to energy helps to lengthen the working days for medical staff and increases the number of patients attended to in a day.
Additionally, when the clinical facilities lack electric lighting, they avoid doing lifesaving procedures and examinations. Conducting childbirth or invasive surgeries using poor lighting poses an additional risk. It means for the areas prone to energy poverty it’s hard to save a life. Furthermore, areas with energy poverty make it hard to keep life saving medications, blood work and vaccines.
- Energy Poverty leads to usage of dangerous power Alternatives
Due to lack of electricity, most people opt to use kerosene lamps, open indoor fires, coal or charcoal that becomes pollutant leading to various illnesses. Kerosene may lead to cancer, asthma and impaired lung function. It also increases infectious diseases like tuberculosis, while coal and charcoal causes different respiratory diseases.
- It leads to increased winter deaths
At the most extreme of winter, many deaths occur each year due to lack of proper heating and proper housing quality with the right energy insulation. Lack of heat during cold seasons may lead to respiratory problems, hypothermia and cardiovascular attacks. These conditions may become deadly, leading to death, especially to the older and younger generation. Electricians from Juice Electrical advise using LED energy to decrease mortality level caused by lack of energy and save on bills.
- Energy Poverty leads to mental health
Energy poverty may lead to general anxiety and depression due to different stressors contributed to the living conditions. Such conditions include
- Chronic thermal discomfort that leads to feeling shivery and cold all day and night due to dampness and living in cold
- Worrying about the energy bills and how to settle them down especially during the winter season
- Concerns about debts and stigmatization
- Enduring the discomfort of cutting down on food to afford and save on the energy bills
- It hinders Economic Growth
Energy opens doors to sanitation, education, health care and industries. Lack of proper lightning prevents environment accessibility, thus blocking the creation of more industries that make people economically progress through employment. On education, lack of energy may prevent children from reading in the evening. And on health care, it blocks access to safe and faster medication and treatment. While on social-economic, it prevents families from learning of different ways to generate income and interacting with the world.
Bottom Line
Lack of energy affects everything from attracting good teachers to medical staff to well-equipped schools to cooking. Mostly women and children bear the wrath of energy poverty since they spend most of their time cooking in explosive energy and collecting firewood. Kicking off energy poverty transforms the whole community making it reliable and safe and ripe for development growth.