Global poverty is measured with various deprivation indicators, and two of them have to do with energy: 1.3 billion people lack access to electricity, and 2.6 billion can cook food and keep warm only by using open or unprotected fires generating toxic smoke. These are major inequality and health issues – electricity is required to preserve drugs and vaccines; according to the World Health Organization, open fires in homes cause diseases that kill 4 million people a year – that hold back development, cause harm to the environment, and disproportionately affect women. In 2015 the United Nations acknowledged the problem in its 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals. Goal no. 7 is: “Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”. This informative book offers real case studies and highlights the issue’s importance and urgency.

Pippo Ranci teaches Economic Policy at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan and is a former president of Italy’s Electrical Energy and Gas Authority.

Matteo Leonardi is a consultant in the fields of energy and environmental policy and development cooperation. From 2008 to 2011 he managed the Best Ray project in Tanzania.

Laura Susani is in charge of biofuel and renewable energy initiatives for Edipower, in which the A2A multi-utility corporation holds a majority share.