Peabody Energy today launched a campaign aimed at addressing what they describe as “the world’s number one human and environmental crisis – energy poverty”.”
The company says the “Advanced Energy for Life” campaign is aimed at “building awareness and support to eliminate energy poverty, increase access to low-cost electricity and improve emissions through advanced clean coal technologies.” The campaign will “work to educate and mobilise world leaders, multi-national organisations, a wide range of institutions and stakeholders, and the general public.
“In any action plan to end global energy poverty and increase access to low-cost electricity, all energy forms are necessary,” said Peabody Energy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gregory H. Boyce.
“Coal is the world’s most abundant energy source and fastest-growing major fuel. And coal is expected to surpass oil as the largest energy source in coming years, according to the International Energy Agency and other analysts. So coal plays a special role in the war to end global energy poverty and increase access to low-cost electricity while using today’s advanced technologies to improve emissions. Coal is key to human health and welfare along with a clean environment. ”
“Coal is a fundamental environmental solution when turned into electricity and synthetic natural gas at large scale,” said Boyce. “Coal-fueled electricity and synthetic natural gas can eliminate widespread deforestation from gathering biomass as well as the devastating effects of energy poverty.” And coal is a unique fuel of the future based on its density, availability and cost benefits.
“The drive by some to reduce coal use and make energy scarce and expensive is unsustainable, hurting people and harming the environment,” said Boyce. “We need to recognize the enormous health and environmental benefits in ending energy poverty, eliminating household air pollution and increasing access to low-cost electricity. Everyone in the world deserves to live as well as those in developed nations. Let’s use more energy, more cleanly, every day.”
“More than a decade ago, the United Nations Millennium Goals called for a rapid halving of extreme global poverty by 2015 – and a half century ago, U.S. President Johnson declared war on poverty,” said Boyce. “Yet today, 3.5 billion people in the world lack adequate access to energy, and more than 4 million people needlessly die each year from the effects of energy poverty. We have the technologies and the global resources to end this crisis. All of us must work together toward realistic solutions.”
“The need for modern energy is enormous. Half of the world’s 7 billion people lack adequate access to energy, including 1.2 billion children, based on data from the International Energy Agency and the World Bank. Household air pollution from indoor fires is estimated to be the fourth leading cause of death in the world, and results in a stunning 100 million years of life prematurely lost as measured by Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY), a metric established by the World Health Organization. Each DALY represents one year of healthy life lost to disease.”
“These sobering statistics demonstrate that energy poverty is the real human and environmental crisis facing the world today,” said Boyce. “The greatest crisis we confront is not an environmental crisis predicted by computer models, but a human crisis fully within our power to solve. For too long, we have been focused on the wrong priorities.”
“Also driving the need for affordable energy are longer-term demographic trends. The global population is expanding by more than 200,000 people each day. And urban areas are forecast to grow by more than 70 million annually through 2020, according to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.”
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