Response to PPEO

Even before reading the first two chapters of Poor People’s Energy Outlook I believed for a fact that access to energy improved people’s lifestyles.  In the 21^st century it is hard to fathom why people still spend hours on tasks such as milling, grinding, and de-husking that could be completed by machinery in a matter of minutes.  The extent to which people’s lives are unnecessarily difficult became clear through the discussion in chapter two of Poor People’s Energy Outlook.  With limited or no access to a source of energy, the time required to complete the most mundane tasks, like washing laundry detract significantly from the opportunities available to make a living.  A day spent under limited hours of operation where large portions of time are allocated to simple tasks is inefficient.  The access to energy and the implementation of energy in communities that suffer from this inefficiency can significantly improve the quality of life for residents by expanding employment and educational opportunities.  Agriculture dominates the economies of many developing nations, and provides direct evidence about how energy can influence the success of an industry; access to energy has the ability to not only increase the product yield, but also improve the quality of the final product, enabling it to be sold at a higher price.  However, I believe that the most influential asset of access to energy lies in the ability to develop small-scale economies, which the text referred to as MSEs.  To expand the economies of developing countries having access to successful service, manufacture, and production-based activities help to expose citizens to opportunities beyond agriculture. 

            The clear benefits to having energy are overwhelming; however, the poverty in which many citizens of developing nations are caught erects barriers to obtaining reliable energy sources.  Simply completing every-day tasks use up all available hours of daylight, making it nearly impossible to spend time learning about or developing sources of energy.  To conclude, it becomes apparent by the end of the text that the most reliable and plausible sources of energy in developing countries are also the most innovative and cleanest.  The prospect of such incredible progress by 2030 is both exciting and very encouraging.