Energy Poverty Creating Respiratory Disease Epidemic

Energy Poverty Creating Respiratory Disease Epidemic

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Limited access to clean sources of energy, known as energy poverty, makes nearly half the world’s population reliant on burning wood, animal waste, coal or charcoal to cook. This leads to severe respiratory diseases that kill roughly two million people worldwide each year.

It is often women and children who suffer the most from indoor air pollution, and who carry the burden of collecting fuel to burn, a new study reports. Beyond the health and gender equity implications, burning biomass is also associated with environmental concerns such as carbon emissions and climate change.