Ascending the Energy Ladder | Energy Central

Our World in Data: The ‘Energy Ladder’. I love great succinct, graphical data. Rich individuals use electricity or propane/methane gas to cook.  “But 30% of the world do not have access to these clean, modern energy sources.” The World Health Organization came up with a visuzlization called the ‘energy ladder,’ which shows the dominant source of household energy at different levels of income, from very low on the left to very high on the right. “The [very] poorest households burn wood and other biomass, like crop waste and dried dung.” But those who can afford it cook and heat with charcoal or coal. The ‘solid fuels’ comprise these 4—plus coal. “When we track the share of households using clean fuels for cooking—an important metric in energy access—this is the definition of clean fuels that is used.” Burning solid fuels on open fires or simple stoves ‘fills a dwelling with toxic smoke, often to pollution levels that are far higher than in even the most polluted cities in the world.’ This results in millions of deaths annually. The black-and-red plot is the LADDER which families ascend as their incomes improve. The other graphic is  called a SCATTERPLOT, which may be in either table or chart format. But it is even more complex in that it has a slider which allows a variety of settings + shows change over time from 1990 to 2021. You can search for this article by realizing the title of this piece is an active link, or by performing a reverse image search of either of the graphics, or by simply trusting this link: https://ourworldindata.org/energy-ladder [works only on some social media]. Myself, I hate to tap on links; they are not as trustworthy as Walter Cronkite was. So, use the link only if you are feeling lucky.