EarthSpark International

EarthSpark International empowers communities by eradicating the causes and effects of energy poverty. We achieve this by developing local businesses and country-scale supply chains for clean and efficient energy technologies; providing technical education and training to farmers, students and small and micro-enterprise owners; and mitigating local environmental damage caused by energy poverty. Energy poverty is a development trap. It refers to the circumstances which both cause and result in a dependence on low-quality energy sources and inefficient energy end-use technologies. Poverty is perpetuated by the high cost of using inefficient fuels and technologies as well as the innate lack of productivity associated with this use. The use of these fuels and technologies is often accompanied by resource depletion or environmental degradation, which in turn limit productivity and growth in an ongoing positive feedback loop. By taking a two-pronged approach which addresses both the causes and effects of entrenched energy poverty, we enable communities to lead themselves out of this deadly trap.