From the IEA 2010 World Energy Statistics, the country with the lowest electricity consumption is Haiti at 23 kWh /capita. The country with the highest consumption is Iceland with 49,818 kWh/capita. In between come Ethiopia at 42 kWh/capita, Kenya at 156, India at 566, Iraq at 1267, China at 2453, France at 7,703, the US at 13,647, Canada at 17,053 and Norway at 24,868 kWh/capita. For the world as a whole the average consumption is 2,782 kWh/capita.
The average is 18 times less than the maximum and the minimum is 120 times less than the average. And of course the average in every country itself represents an enormous spread between individuals.
To put this into the perspective of living standards and the quality of life, the electricity consumption of household goods is typically as follows:
- One 60 W light –bulb for 8 hrs per day consumes 175 kWh/annum,
- Typical 19” colour TV (70 W) for c. 5 hrs per day 125 kWh/annum
- Table fan (20 W) for c. 12 hours per day 88 kWh/annum
- Desktop computer (100 W) for 8 hours per day 290 kWh/annum
- Refrigerator (80 W), continuously, 700 kWh/annum
- Freezer 150 W continuously, 1300 kWh/annum
To have access to one 60 W light bulb when you have none is an enormous improvement in the quality of one’s life. To have access to a fridge so that shopping and cooking every day while also holding down a full-time job is no longer necessary is the difference between freedom and slavery for many women in the developing world. It is a sobering thought that if every Haitian used just one 60 W light bulb for 8 hours every day, the electricity consumption in Haiti (and therefore electricity generation) would increase seven-fold!
The k2p blog 