For much of the past two years, Bureau of Economic Geology Director Scott W. Tinker has been traveling the world to film a crucial documentary that illustrates the crisis of energy poverty. Some 2.5 billion people live in some form of energy poverty today. Access to secure energy impacts all other major humanitarian issues, including hunger, shelter, clean water, education, healthcare, human migration, empowerment of women, and more. Those who do not have energy access suffer from energy poverty.
With partner and Emmy-winning filmmaker Harry Lynch, Tinker has produced Switch On, a new film which examines the very human story of energy poverty to raise awareness of this global problem. They traveled to rural villages and urban slums in Colombia, Nepal, Kenya, Vietnam, and Ethiopia to discover some of the creative approaches being deployed to bring electricity, water pumps, cook stoves, and irrigation to those with no energy.
Switch On builds on the remarkable popularity of Tinker and Lynch’s award-winning global energy film, Switch. Switch On will be screened this spring in limited release, but a trailer can be viewed here: https://vimeo.com/366525473.
“Energy poverty is pervasive,” Tinker said. “Eradicating it will impact the whole world in countless positive ways. It’s not just the right thing to do. It’s the only thing to do.”
For more information about Switch On, visit SwitchOn.org, and to help end energy poverty, contact the Switch Energy Alliance at info@switchenergyalliance.org.
Images courtesy of the Switch Energy Alliance and Arcos Films.
