Over the course of the reading I found myself shocked at how limited electricity is worldwide. 17% of the world population had no access to electricity in 2010! Of course as the reading explains this number could be vastly miscalculated based on poor data collecting techniques--this surprised me a lot as well. I had assumed that whatever methods we've been using to collect counts and data on this crucial topic have been carefully vetted and very reliable. In reality much of what we know about energy accessibility among other issues is a mere estimation. Something else that this reading shed light on for me is that low income families can generally still accomplish--at least somewhat--the necessary tasks to survive (such as cooking, heating, lighting) but the levels of work, waste, and danger involved are the real evils of not having access to clean energy. It is startling that 4.3 million people die every year from indoor pollution. I didn't even know indoor pollution was a problem let alone fatal on such a scope of magnitude.
I'm very curious to see how the implementation of SE4ALL as outlined in the reading pans out over the next 15 years. I wonder how different counties will fail or succeed in implementation based on their political motivation and financial resources. It seems energy is one of the most crucial pillars of development and that improvements in accessibility will not only help families on an individual level but also benefit the "business ecosystem" and help sustain communities on a broader scale. Hopefully governments and NGOs can get past the immediate financial commitment in realizing that in the long term, energy access will ultimately save countries exorbitant amounts of money made up in commerce and the welfare of their citizens.
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