of this amount oil products received billion natural gas billion fossilfired electricity billion and coal billion fossil fuel consumption subsidies in countries with low levels of access to modern energy amounted to billion and subsidies in these countries for residential use of kerosene electricity and liquefied petroleum gas lpg sometimes labelled fuels for the poor were less than billion international energy agency b thus the problem of energy access is one mainly of distribution not of absolute amounts of available resources however it is clear that there are a number of barriers to deployment and adoption of more efficient energy converters as well as technoeconomic limits to be considered solutions to overcoming the known barriers exist but they require longterm commitment and a stable systemic approach by decision makers