There are 7.44 Billion people on Earth today. Of this amount approximately 15% or 1.1 Billion peopled have no access to electricity. In Africa alone, 598 Million people do not have electricity. The whole sub-Sahara Africa, with a populations of 910 Million consumes only 145 terawatt hours of electricity per year, which is less than the 4.8 Million people who live in the State of Alabama. This is the equivalent of one incandescent light bulb per person of three hours a day.
Because of the lack of access to electricity and modern energy sources, people around the world, especially in rural communities, struggle to break out of the cycle of poverty. Reliable energy access empower individuals to be more productive and give them the ability to read and study during the night hours. Education is the most fundamental basis of people becoming more productive in the World.
Without electricity, families have no clean source of light, leaving millions to rely on expensive and dangerous alternatives. Many use homemade kerosene lamps which are a poor source of light. Kerosene lamps emit toxic black smoke, eat up to 30% of a family’s income and are extremely hazardous. Inhaling the fumes from just one kerosene lamp is equivalent to smoking 40 cigarettes per day. In developing Countries, two-thirds of women diagnosed with cancer are non-smokers. Smoke and flames caused by these hazardous materials kill nearly 2 million people per year, mostly women and children.