Global Energy Inequality

            When people talk about Global Energy Inequality, we might be a little bit confused with the term. What’s the meaning of Global Energy Inequality? We might think that it is about the inequalities of energy spreading. Yes, it is. Once we talk about Global Energy Inequality, we do not necessarily narrow the scope. Global energy means so widely, it can be electricity, thermal energy, and so on. The talk about energy should not only focus in one kind of energy, but as well as another.

            Nowadays, energy is more often used by people to finish certain task. There are so many activities that need energy, especially electricity. However, the spreading of energy becomes unequal since the population gets bigger and bigger. Moreover, it is suspected that the countries with the biggest population such as China and India are the most disadvantaged countries by the unequal spreading of energy in the world. There are still many families who live in the dark area, meaning that no adequate energy distributed. Moreover, some mothers still use the solid fuel to cook for foods. This is somewhat unhealthy to be consumed and will affect the welfare of human beings.

            Day by day, human activities become more complex and dependent toward technology. The modern technology particularly needs modern energy as well which is healthier. It means that we need more and more energy to fulfill our needs. United Nations has taken this problem into account by making Millennium Development Goals (MDG) by 2000 which were signed by 193 countries around the world. These goals contain eight points which focus on many aspects of life. One of them is “eradicating extreme poverty and hunger”. In MDG, it is indicated that increasing access to modern energy services is necessary for combating poverty. However, for some degrees MDG doesn’t explicitly address energy for the poor. This condition brings into question “what is the best solution for equalizing the modern energy?” It seems that nobody is able to answer it, yet question it more and more often. As a student, we particularly should think about how to find the answer, not necessarily about what is the answer. It is more about process, not the result in particular. The answer will come up automatically after all the processes have been done. 

By:

Dewa Ayu Puteri Handayani, 2012