Energy poverty affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide who lack access to reliable, affordable, and clean energy. It is a structural problem rooted in geography, income inequality, and outdated energy infrastructure. Renewable energy technologies are increasingly seen as part of the solution, but getting clean energy to the people who need it most requires more than good intentions. It requires the right technologies, the right investment, and a serious look at where energy demand actually comes from.
Fossil fuel dependence keeps energy costs high for those least able to afford them
When energy systems are built around fossil fuels, prices are tied to global commodity markets that are volatile, opaque, and largely outside the control of local communities or governments. For households and small businesses in lower-income regions, that means energy bills that can spike without warning. The people most exposed to energy poverty are also the least able to absorb those shocks. Shifting toward locally generated renewable energy—whether solar, wind, or emerging clean technologies—breaks that dependency and creates more stable, predictable energy costs over time.
Industrial energy demand is the blind spot in most energy poverty conversations
Most discussions about energy poverty focus on household electricity access. But industry accounts for 37% of total global energy consumption, and the vast majority of that is used for heat. When industrial energy costs rise, so do the prices of food, medicine, building materials, and other goods that lower-income populations depend on. Decarbonising industrial heat is not just an environmental goal; it is an economic one, with real consequences for affordability across entire supply chains. Addressing this blind spot means taking industrial clean energy seriously, not just residential solar panels.
What is energy poverty and who does it affect?
Energy poverty is the condition of lacking access to sufficient, reliable, and affordable energy services. It affects people across both developing and developed countries, including households that cannot heat their homes, communities without stable electricity, and industries that depend on costly fossil fuels. The problem is shaped by income levels, geography, infrastructure gaps, and energy pricing structures.
In lower-income countries, energy poverty often means no electricity at all, or access only through expensive and polluting sources like diesel generators or charcoal. In wealthier nations, it more commonly shows up as energy stress, where households spend a disproportionate share of their income on energy bills and are forced to choose between heating and other basic needs.
The people most affected tend to be those with the least political and economic power: rural communities, low-income urban households, and small-scale producers in energy-intensive industries. For these groups, energy is not a luxury; it is the foundation of health, productivity, and economic participation.
Why is industrial heat such a hard problem to decarbonise?
Industrial heat is difficult to decarbonise because most high-temperature processes require continuous, reliable energy at temperatures that electricity and many renewable alternatives struggle to deliver cost-effectively. Around 80% of industrial heat is still generated by fossil fuels, and replacing that heat with clean alternatives requires either major infrastructure investment or entirely new technologies.
Electrification works well for low-temperature applications, but many industrial processes, including those in food production, chemicals, and paper manufacturing, require sustained heat above 500°C. At those temperatures, electric solutions become expensive and often impractical at scale. Hydrogen is another option, but it requires new pipelines, storage systems, and supply chains that most industrial sites do not yet have access to.
The result is a sector that wants to decarbonise but faces real technical and financial barriers to doing so. For sustainability managers at industrial companies, this is not a theoretical challenge; it is a daily operational reality. The pressure to reduce Scope 1 emissions is growing, but viable pathways to do so remain limited for many facilities.
How can renewable energy technologies help address energy poverty?
Renewable energy technologies help address energy poverty by reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels, lowering long-term energy costs, and making clean energy accessible in regions where grid infrastructure is limited or unreliable. Solar, wind, and emerging clean fuels can be deployed at a range of scales, from village microgrids to industrial facilities.
The connection between renewable energy and energy poverty is partly economic. When energy is generated locally from renewable sources, communities are less exposed to global fuel price volatility. Over time, the operating costs of renewable systems tend to be lower than those of fossil fuel alternatives, which helps make energy more affordable for households and businesses alike.
There is also an industrial dimension. When clean energy technologies reduce the cost and carbon footprint of producing essential goods, those savings can work their way through supply chains. Lower-cost, lower-emission industrial heat means more affordable food, packaging, and manufactured products, which matters most to people already stretched thin by energy costs.
What is iron fuel technology and how does it work?
Iron fuel technology is a circular, carbon-free energy system that uses iron powder as a solid-state energy carrier. The iron powder is burned to generate high-temperature heat, producing only iron oxide as a by-product. That iron oxide is then collected, transported to a production facility, and converted back into iron fuel using hydrogen, completing a closed loop with no carbon emissions from combustion.
The process works in four stages. Iron powder is stored and transported to industrial sites. It is then burned inside a boiler, generating a flame of up to 2,000°C and producing steam, hot water, or hot air for industrial processes. The iron oxide by-product is collected and sent to a production facility. There, it is regenerated into iron fuel using low-carbon hydrogen, ready to be used again.
We developed this technology at RIFT as a spin-off from Eindhoven University of Technology, and it has now been demonstrated at industrial megawatt scale at Technology Readiness Level 7. Our Iron Fuel Technology achieves up to 95% energy efficiency and produces near-zero direct CO₂ emissions. The only carbon output comes from a pilot safety flame, resulting in just 10 kg of CO₂ per megawatt-hour of thermal energy, compared with the much higher emissions of conventional fossil fuel boilers.
What makes this relevant to energy poverty is the stability and predictability it offers. Iron powder is a solid fuel that can be stored and transported without the complex infrastructure that gas or hydrogen requires. That makes it a viable option for industrial sites in regions where energy supply chains are unreliable or where fossil fuel costs are unpredictably high.
Which industries are best placed to benefit from clean energy innovation?
Industries with high and continuous heat demand are best placed to benefit from clean energy innovation. These include food and beverage production, specialty chemicals, and pulp and paper manufacturing. These sectors rely on sustained high-temperature processes and face growing pressure to reduce carbon emissions, making them natural candidates for cleaner industrial heat solutions.
Food and beverage companies, for example, use heat extensively for pasteurisation, sterilisation, drying, and cooking. These processes run around the clock and cannot easily be interrupted, which means any clean energy solution needs to be reliable and consistent. The same applies to paper mills and chemical plants, where heat is central to the core production process.
These industries also tend to operate in regions where energy costs are a significant share of total production costs. A more stable, predictable energy supply—especially one that reduces exposure to fossil fuel price swings—has a direct impact on their ability to offer affordable products to consumers.
What are the biggest barriers to scaling renewable energy for industry?
The biggest barriers to scaling renewable energy for industry are high upfront investment costs, infrastructure limitations, and the price gap between clean and fossil fuel energy. For many industrial operators, the financial case for switching is not yet strong enough to justify the operational disruption and capital commitment involved.
Infrastructure is a particular challenge. Many industrial sites are not located near renewable electricity grids capable of supplying the volume of power they need. Hydrogen networks are still in early development across most of Europe and beyond. This means that even when companies want to switch, the physical infrastructure to support that switch may not exist at their location.
There is also the question of technology readiness. Many clean alternatives are still at early demonstration stages, which makes industrial operators cautious about committing to large-scale deployment. Sustainability managers need confidence that a technology will perform reliably before they can build an internal business case for it.
The cost gap between fossil fuels and cleaner alternatives remains a real obstacle, even as renewable costs continue to fall. For companies operating on thin margins, the difference between fossil fuel pricing and clean energy pricing can determine whether a project is viable at all. Bridging that gap requires a combination of smarter technology design, supportive policy, and long-term fuel supply agreements that give operators the price certainty they need to commit.
How Iron Fuel Technology helps with industrial energy decarbonisation
We built Iron Fuel Technology specifically to address the barriers that make industrial decarbonisation so difficult. Our approach is designed to be practical, cost-competitive, and compatible with existing infrastructure, so companies do not have to choose between sustainability and operational continuity.
- Drop-in compatibility: Our Iron Fuel Boiler integrates with existing boiler systems, so there is no need to replace your entire setup to get started.
- Near-zero direct CO₂ emissions: Iron fuel combustion produces no carbon dioxide, helping companies reduce Scope 1 emissions without waiting for hydrogen infrastructure to mature.
- Price stability: Long-term fuel supply agreements give industrial operators the cost predictability that fossil fuel markets cannot offer.
- High energy efficiency: Our boiler system achieves up to 95% energy efficiency, outperforming many conventional fossil fuel systems.
- Proven at scale: The technology has been demonstrated at TRL 7 in the Netherlands, with the first commercial contract already signed.
If you are responsible for your organisation’s decarbonisation strategy and want to understand whether Iron Fuel Technology is a fit for your operations, explore our clean heat solutions or get in touch with our team to discuss your specific situation.