User:Keyle.horton/Energy poverty

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Regional Analysis
Energy poverty is a complex issue that is sensitive to the nuances of the culture, time, and space of a region. Thus, the terms “Global North/South” are generalizations and not always sufficient to describe the nuances of energy poverty, although there are broad trends in how energy poverty is experienced and mitigated between the Global North and South.

Global North
Energy poverty is most commonly discussed as “fuel poverty” in the Global North where discourse is focused on households' access to energy sources to heat, cool, and power their homes. Fuel poverty is driven by high energy costs, low household incomes, and inefficient appliances. (a global perspective) Additionally, older people are more vulnerable to experiencing fuel poverty because of their income status and lack of access to energy-saving technologies. According to the European Fuel Poverty and Energy Efficiency (EPEE), approximately 50-125 million people live in fuel poverty. Like energy poverty, fuel poverty is hard to define and measure because of its many nuances. The United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland, are one of the few countries which have defined fuel poverty to be if 10% of a household's income is spent on heating/cooling. Another EPEE project found that 1 in 7 households in Europe were on the margins of fuel poverty by using three indicators of checking for leaky roofs, arrears on utility bills, ability to pay for adequate heating, mold in windows. High energy prices, insufficient insulation in dwellings, and low incomes contribute to increased vulnerability to fuel poverty. Climate change adds more pressure as weather events become more cold and hot, thereby increasing demand for fuel to cool and heat the home. The ability to provide adequate heating during cold weather has implications for people’s health as cold weather can be an antagonistic factor to cardiovascular and respiratory illness.

Global South
Energy poverty in the Global South is largely driven by a lack of access to modern energy sources because of poor energy infrastructure, weak energy service markets, and insufficient household incomes to afford energy services. However, recent research suggests that alleviating energy poverty requires more than building better power grids because there is a complex web of political, economic, and cultural factors that influence a region’s ability to transition to modern energy sources. Energy poverty is strongly linked to many sustainable development goals because greater energy access enables people to exercise more of their capabilities. For example: greater access to clean energy for cooking improves the health of women by reducing the indoor air pollution associated with burning traditional biomasses for cooking; farmers can find better prices for their crops using telecommunication networks; people have more time to pursue leisure and other activities which can increase household income from the time saved from looking for firewood and other traditional biomasses, etc. Because the impacts of energy poverty on sustainable development are so complex, energy poverty is largely addressed through other avenues that promote sustainable development in regions within the Global South.

Africa
Africa’s unique challenge with energy poverty is its rapid urbanization and booming urban centers. ''Lack of access to modern energy services in African cities is linked to stagnant incomes for residents. On average, only 25% of African city-dwellers have electricity access. Historical trends show that Africa’s rapid population growth has not been proportionally matched by increased access to electricity. The rise of poverty in urban centers in addition to the growing population and energy demand is driving up the cost of electricity, making energy even more inaccessible for Africa's least advantaged individuals.''

South Asia

'''Energy poverty in South Asia encompasses more than just unreliable, unaffordable access to energy; it also includes the broader dimensions of the growing demand for electricity, access to energy, energy dependence, environmental threats to the energy system, and global pressures to decarbonize. Energy demand in South Asia has grown at an average annual rate of five percent in the past two decades, and this demand is projected to double by 2050. The demand for electricity in particular has been driven by the increasing population and the development of industry throughout the region. Although a push for energy efficiency has substantially reduced electricity demand due to economic growth, the electricity system in the region is still struggling to meet the needs of the growing population and economy.'''

In 2020, 95.8 percent of the total population in South Asia, and 99.7 percent of the urban population, had access to electricity, making it the second-largest region in the world with an electricity access deficit. However, in India only ten percent of homes in a village must be connected to the electricity grid in order for that entire village to be considered electrified. Other complications that lead to energy poverty include: flaws in the energy system that result in power losses, load shedding practices that shut down the grid during peak periods, and power that is stolen through informal electricity lines.

'''The reliability of the electricity system can also be hindered by the source of the electricity generated. In 2014, South Asia imported one-third of the total energy consumed in the region. Due to this energy dependence on imported fuel, energy resource scarcity and fluctuations in global price can result in higher costs for electricity in South Asia and can therefore make electricity services less accessible for the least advantaged people. The issue of energy insecurity is compounded when climate change is factored into the equation. South Asian cities like Delhi in India are bearing the social and fiscal costs of this demand-supply gap, resulting in a power crisis.'''