Energy Rethinking - use less save more

IBM and international charity Practical Action have announced the launch of Energy Aid, a new global charity that aims to alleviate energy poverty. Not to be confused with fuel poverty – something some in the developed world are confronting this winter – energy poverty is simply the absolute lack of adequate (or any) electricity for heating, lighting, cooking, communications and mechanical work.

Jonathan Steel, CEO of the new charity, described electricity as an “enabler” and called lack of access to it a poverty issue. Steel said 1.3 billion people around the world are without access to any electricity and 2.7 billion cook over open fires, contributing to 1.4 million deaths a year – more than malaria.

Stephen Leonard, CEO of IBM UK and Ireland and Chairman of the Trustees of Energy Aid explained that Energy Aid will provide support through three strategies:

Global awareness A campaign planned for 2012 will raise awareness of lack of energy access, supporting fund-raising that will be made available to qualifying projects.

Open knowledge base  Key to the success of the project is a major, global data base of resources, technology, research information, areas of need, project success stories and case studies, available to NGOs, charities and other bodies working in this area. The data base aims at reducing the level of failure of energy access projects through collaboration and distribution of best practice. Describing the role of the knowledge base as one of encouraging horizontal collaboration, Leonard said, “Not one of us alone is as smart as all of us together.”

Creation of an Investment Fund The Energy Aid fund will  operate as a patient investor in long term, game-changing projects in higher risk environments. The fund will look for opportunities to create economically viable and sustainable energy markets which will in turn attract private investment to achieve scalability.

Started at Start

The project arose from an idea first suggested by Trace at an IBM Sustainability Summit under the auspices of  Start, an initiative of The Prince’s Charities Foundation to promote and celebrate sustainable living.   Trace said he believed the charity would create ” a unique opportunity” for business leadership in global energy access, to “create an initiative which can help lift billions of people out of poverty.”

In terms of the carbon footprint of adding billions of people in the developing world to the global energy grid, Simon Trace CEO of Practical Action and an Energy Aid trustee said that the total impact to the world’s carbon load would be 0.7%. A figure well within our own carbon reduction targets for the next decade.