Question

In 2015, the United Nations set 17 Sustainable development goals to be achieved by the 2030.Research and select three of these goals (other than number 7),and describe the role of electricity access in achieving them.

Answer 1

1. End poverty:

Production and commercialisation of efficient stoves as well as the rise of the renewable sector (e.g. sale, installation and services of solar panels, pico PV lamps etc) create jobs and small business, leading to income generation for both women and men.

Furthermore, families save money and time due to reduced fuel demand for cooking and lighting.

Access to energy services is a pre-requisite for economic development and makes entrepreneurial activities beyond daylight hours possible.

2. Provide food and end hunger: 95% of staple food needs to be cooked before they can be eaten. Not only in humanitarian settings like refugee camps the supply with sufficient cooking fuels is of high relevance to enable people to prepare their meals but improved access to efficient technologies and fuels also makes the preparation of more nutritious food that needs to be cooked for a long time (e.g. beans) more likely.

3. Ensure quality education: Efficient cooking energy:

• children spend less time on collecting firewood thus have more time to go to school.
• Women and girls spend less time on cooking due to more efficient cookstoves
• Use of less fuelwood reduces the cost for school feeding programmes, thus more children attending school get a warm meal

lighting:

• permits home study even in the evenings
• makes evening classes possible