Globally, nearly 800 million people don’t have access to electricity, and more than 2.6 billion people, largely in sub-Saharan Africa, rely on fuel like biomass, kerosene, or coal for cooking, the International Energy Agency reports.
Energy poverty and economic poverty often go hand in hand. Limited access to energy can mean children don’t have adequate lighting to do homework at night, which may hinder their education and subsequent employment opportunities. It may contribute to unhealthy living conditions and health issues like malnourishment caused by not having enough cooking fuel.
The Ralph Lowe Energy Institute at the TCU Neeley School of Business aims to equip its students to become leaders in the energy field and fight the global energy crisis.
“We’re in the midst of a critical transition in one of the largest commodity markets in the world — and talking about how this affects access to energy,” said Ann Bluntzer, the institute’s previous director who developed the Energy MBA program and now sits on the institute’s board of advisors. “We will need more energy, all types: fossil fuels, renewables, nuclear and hopefully new technologies that haven’t been invented yet in order to move to a clean energy future.”
The answer may lie in a hybrid model of legacy and renewable energy sources, according to Bluntzer.
“For some highly populated countries like India, look at how many people are still burning wood for basic needs like cooking food or providing heat,” she said. “In India, going 100 percent renewable would take a long time.”
A mix of options might improve energy access for nearly 1 billion people, providing a route to being able to power a laptop or refrigerate food.
The institute’s curriculum expanded to address energy poverty, climate and other broad topics, and the school added a second certificate focused on sustainability and environmental and social governance (ESG).
Bluntzer and Mike Slattery, chair of environmental sciences in the College of Science & Engineering and now acting director of the institute, worked together on an Energy MBA curriculum that includes courses on energy poverty and on how energy companies are transitioning from fossil fuels to sustainable and renewable energy.
The duo agreed on the importance of adding undergraduate classes on renewables and climate.
“When you look at energy consumption, delivery and production, you really can’t ignore energy poverty because access to energy is not equally distributed around the globe,” Slattery said. “Students are surprised when first exposed to these statistics … but they’re also ready to make a difference.”
Students aren’t just learning about energy poverty on a global scale but also closer to home.
While most Americans have access to electricity, one-third of U.S. households, about 37 million, experience energy poverty, Nature Energy reported in 2020. Research also shows that low-income households — those with annual income of $24,998 or less — spend up to three times more of their income on energy as households that make up to $90,000 annually, and many have had to forgo food and medicine to pay utility bills.
Hoping to establish a better understanding of these situations, TCU is preparing students through the Energy Innovation Case Competition. Teams from universities across the nation have a few hours to propose innovative solutions to an oil and gas industry problem, applying theory to real global situations.
The goal is to “give students an opportunity to tackle a problem that energy companies are currently facing,” said Le’Ann Callihan ’90, vice president of Fort Worth-based AAPL/NAPE, an oil and gas industry professional alliance that co-sponsors the competition with TCU. “Many companies are increasing their efforts in the environmental and social governance realm and finding solutions to energy poverty is a part of that responsibility.”