People, Prosperity, Planet, Peace & Partnership

10 images on why Clean, Affordable Energy for all is a necessity

Responsible Business | Sep 19, 2016

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Energy is central to nearly every major challenge and opportunity the world faces today. Be it for jobs, security, climate change, food production or increasing incomes, access to energy for all is essential.

Sustainable energy is opportunity – it transforms lives, economies and the planet.

Below you will find 10 convincing images that prove universal access to modern energy services is achievable.

1. Artificial Sun

By @ahermin

China’s nuclear fusion breakthrough produces ‘artificial sun’ that could be an alternative solution to our energy woes.

An artificial sun can provide limitless clean energy through controlled thermonuclear fusion,” said Xu Jiannan, a researcher at the China Academy of Engineering Physics.

Energy is the dominant contributor to climate change, accounting for around 60 per cent of total global greenhouse gas emissions. (UN.org)

2. Light up my life

By @d.light

A man smiles in Tanzania, as he is now able to work after dark using a d.light solar lantern.

About 1.2 billion people still live without access to electricity. (Source: WorldBank.org)

3. Juxtaposed

By @NateJC

In Florida, Tampa Electric Company has started to build a massive solar array next to its Big Bend Power Station.

“We’re pleased to be able to demonstrate our commitment to providing our customers with more renewable energy by taking advantage of declining solar system prices and land we own at Big Bend,” said Gordon Gillette, president of TECO.

4. Green Energy in black and white

By @Photosbykev

Wind power farms generate between 17 and 39 times as much power as they consume, as compared to 16 times for nuclear plants and 11 times for coal plants, according to a study of Midwestern wind farms by the University of Wisconsin.

5. Health Problems

By @AP/press Association Images

3 billion people rely on wood, coal, charcoal or animal waste for cooking and heating. (Source: UN.org).

The combined effects of smoky and dirty fossil fuels, burned in an open fire or stove, in a home with poor ventilation, ultimately killed between 3.5 and 4 million people in 2010 alone.

6. The Bay Lights

By @StevenDavisPhoto

The Bay Lights installation by light artist Leo Villareal includes 25,000 individual white LEDs along 1.8 miles (2.9 km) of the cables on the north side of the suspension span of the bridge between Yerba Buena Island and San Francisco in the USA.

In 2019, LEDs are expected to achieve 53% penetration of the global lighting market. (Source: statista.com)

7. New York Skyline

By @JavierGil

New York is the most wasteful megacity in the world according to a 2015 report on the per capita energy consumption of 27 global megacities. (Source: Earth Institute – Columbia University)

With a population of 22 million people it generates more than 33 million tons of waste each year, much of it from construction, while Tokyo (population 34 million) produces about 12 million tons.

8. Knowledge through the Darkness

By @gronnjenter

While solar lamps are making a positive impact, many parents still must decide whether their children eat dinner in the dark or do homework in the dark.

In sub-Saharan African over 90 million students are educated in places that have no power.

9. Bahrain World Trade Centre

The Bahrain World Trade Center (BWTC) is a 50-floored, twin tower complex that was built in 2008 by the world-renowned architectural firm Atkins.

The two towers are interconnected by three sky bridges, each of which are holding 225 kW wind turbine. These turbines supply up to 15% of the twin towers need, in other words, it helps in reducing the building’s energy consumption and carbon discharge.

10. Charging up

By @Mobisol

In Tanzania a man uses a Mobisol solar system in his home to run a small business charging neighborhood phones.

Businesses cannot grow, neither can new jobs be created or critical services provided, without affordable and reliable access to lighting and power.

Countries with electrification rates of less than 80% of the population consistently suffer from reduced GDP per capita. (Source: one.org)

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