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Biomass has emerged as an important and promising energy source, particularly in developing countries, owing to continuous research for sustainable energy sources that do not interfere with food, water or land needs. This study introduces the surplus availability factor (SAF), minimum, average and maximum biogas production technique in the assessment of crop production data in 2020 to provide a more precise and current estimate of Cameroon's crop residue and municipal solid waste (MSW) bioenergy potential. Crop residues contributed roughly 96% while MSW contributed the remaining 4% of the total bioenergy potential of 606 PJ per year. The bioenergy potential was calculated using crop production statistics derived from the FAOSTAT database of the Food and Agriculture Organization, while the residue-to-product ratio (RPR) and surplus availability factors (SAF) were found from related studies. The study concludes that crop residues and MSW have significant energy potential capable of meeting the country's electricity, transport fuel and biogas demand while simultaneously mitigating climate change through the capture of about 1.6 billion kg of CO2 through biogas recovery. It also highlights the lack of accurate and up-to-date data on the country's biomass potential and recommends ground data collection and geospatial mapping of areas with enormous potential for these resources to guide policymakers and investment plans.

This study presents a techno-economic analysis of a mini-grid solar photovoltaic system for five typical rural communities in Chad while promoting renewable energy systems adaptation and rural electrification. The assessment techniques include the establishment of the socio-economic state of the rural communities through a field survey. The costs of system development, electricity tariff and sizing of energy production are realised via the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) technique. Sensitivity analysis was carried out to identify the parameters that affect the evolution of the LCOE during the life cycle of the project. The results have shown that the annual energy production at all sites varies between 233 MWh/year and 3585 MWh/year. The highest amount of energy production is estimated at Guelendeng at a rate of 3218 MWh/year and a capacity of 2041 kW, while the lowest is predicted at Mombou at a rate of 211 MWh/year and a capacity of 134 kW. The standard LCOE for the system during the 25-year lifespan in the five villages is estimated at 0.30 €/kWh except at Mailo which was 0.31 €/kWh. This cost per kilowatt-hour is more attractive and competitive compared with the current rate charged by the national electricity company.

Abstract Seychelles is among four countries in the African continent with 100% access to electricity, of which over 90% of the energy is generated from fossil fuels. The energy transition is a crucial enabler of sustainable development and climate resilience. Therefore, this study seeks to understand the determinants of solar PV uptake based on a stratified random sample of 130 households on Mahe Island, Seychelles. We applied logistic regression and descriptive statistics to analyze the driving factors of a household decision regarding the adoption of a solar PV system. Results indicated that access to credit and monthly household income influenced the adoption of solar PV systems at the 1% significance level. Independent variables such as gender, age, and education of household heads, including family size that were significant in other studies, were not significant in the current study. Cost-saving (100%), energy security (91.7%), and environmentally friendly perceptions (76.7%), and access to loans (56.7%), were chief among the motivational drivers of the 60 households that had adopted solar PV systems. Whereas, for the non-adopters, the four most essential barriers cited were cheap electricity (82.9%), high initial cost (65.7%), existing loans (52.9%), and long payback time (40.0%). For the communal approach to solar PV systems in Seychelles to be successful, the adoption barriers that occur at the level of households should be considered.

More than half of the urban population of Sub-Saharan Africa lives in informal housing conditions. While urban areas are, in general, characterized by a high electrification rate, residents of informal settlements are still affected by energy poverty, the use of traditional energy sources and unreliable electricity supply. The aim of the study is to give an overview of different renewable-energy-based solutions which are able to improve local energy provision. These are Solar Home Systems, Mini-Grids, and Energy-Hubs. The technologies are compared to another option for improving energy supply, namely Grid Expansion. The analysis is based on 24 Key Performance Indicators, which can be classified into technical, economic, environmental, social, and political dimensions. The selection of indicators is based on the challenges prevalent in informal settlements that impede a comprehensive, sustainable energy supply. The literature-based indices are used to determine which of the four technologies is a suitable solution for minimizing the challenges prevailing in informal settlements. The resulting matrix provides a holistic comparison and serves as a decision aid in selecting the appropriate technology for future projects in informal settlements, depending on local conditions and the needs of the population. The results show that the Energy-Hub is a valid alternative for energy supply improvement in Informal Settlements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a feasibility analysis of the technical, environmental, and economic sustainability of an existing mini-grid technology system in Nigeria. The study investigates the cost and other operational parameters of the Gbamu-Gbamu solar–battery–diesel hybrid mini-grid, specifically the 85 kWp solar PV installation in the Ijebu East Local Government area of Ogun state. Situated within the Owo forest in South-West Nigeria, the mini-grid aims to reduce the effects of global warming and promote sustainable technological development in rural communities by increasing energy access through renewable sources. To assess the system's viability, this research utilized RETScreen Expert software to validate the techno-economic and environmental sustainability of the installed mini-grid solar–PV–battery–diesel system in the region. Climatic data for the study were obtained from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The results demonstrate that the system is economically feasible and environmentally viable, as indicated by the positive net present value (NPV) and an average monthly irradiance of 4.78 kW/h/m2. Furthermore, the system achieved a 92.9% reduction in GHG emissions, provided a reasonable payback period of four years, and enabled a yearly electricity export of 203 MWh. These findings highlight the system's potential to enhance energy access and mitigate climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decades of government subsidies for LPG and electricity have facilitated near-universal clean cooking access and use in Ecuador, placing the nation ahead of most other peer low- and middle-income countries. The widespread socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic has threatened the resilience of clean cooking systems globally, including by altering households' ability to purchase clean fuels and policymakers' considerations about continuing subsidy programs. As such, assessing the resilience of clean cooking in Ecuador during the pandemic can offer important lessons for the international community, especially other countries looking to ensure resilient transitions to clean cooking. We study household energy use patterns using interviews, newspaper reports, government data on household electricity and LPG consumption, and household surveys [ N = 200 across two rounds]. The LPG and electricity distribution systems experienced occasional disruptions to cylinder refill delivery and meter reading processes, respectively, which were associated with pandemic-related mobility restrictions. However, for the most part, supply and distribution activities by private and public companies continued without fundamental change. Survey participants reported increases in unemployment and reductions in household income as well as increased use of polluting biomass as a secondary fuel. Ecuador's LPG and electricity distribution systems were resilient throughout the pandemic, with only minimal interruption of the widespread provision of low-cost clean cooking fuels. Our findings inform the global audience concerned about the resilience of clean household energy use on the potential for clean fuel subsidies to facilitate continued clean cooking even during the COVID-19 pandemic. • Robust distribution systems for LPG and electricity ensured continued access to clean cooking fuels during lockdowns. • Households maintained primary cooking with clean fuels despite pandemic-induced reduced earnings. • Most households maintained their usual cooking fuel stack (LPG + biomass), but increased firewood use frequency. • Government policies offered additional subsidies for electricity consumption during lockdown. • Induction use was rare in study areas; but increased nationwide according to billing records. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amongst the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ensuring energy access in developing countries while reducing global emissions of greenhouse gases is critical. To achieve such goals, international cooperation combined with investments in research, technology, infrastructures and capacity building are paramount. The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 on access to affordable and clean energy, includes both targets at the domestic and international stages of energy policy. However, trade-offs are emerging in the monitoring phase of SDG7 and its targets, signalling the need for stronger coherence at all stages. Here, we assess to what extent policy coherence exists, and is or is not maintained, considering internal and external energy policy in Europe. We find that a higher level of coherence exists in internal than external energy policy. This result questions the overall positive contribution and commitment of European countries when it comes to facilitating energy access in developing countries. The results also highlight the positive effect of common policy frameworks and the need to rely more extensively on new means for governing and improving international policy coherence. We identify key trade-offs and co-benefits to be addressed for achieving improved policy coherence and call for a common framework that unifies internal and external energy policy in Europe for accelerating progress towards global access to clean energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this internet-based world where a large amount of information exists on the World Wide Web (WWW), the information retrieval systems are mainly centred on topic-based classification. Numerous efforts and time have been consumed for relevant information extraction through major search engines if the data is not organised correctly. Ontologies proved to be an effective technique for representing and retrieving information, which is the key idea in semantic web applications. Ontologies not only help in efficient knowledge representation and information retrieval, but it also helps in mapping the hidden knowledge about a subject. This paper discusses the process and method of building ontology on the "Energy access" domain. The methodology is based on the tools used in developing the ontology. Several tools are used to create an ontology. Protégé is a most popular tool for ontology editing and for developing ontology.1 In this paper, various aspects like super class and subclass hierarchy, creating a subclass, instances for class illustration, query retrieval process, visualisation, and graph views have been demonstrated by using protégé software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inaccessibility of modern energy in low-income countries (LIC), especially in the Sub-Saharan African (SSA) region, continues to be a problem in the 21st century. The lack of access to modern energy has led to an inability to implement developmental structures and initiatives. While considerable progress and successes have been realised in the last three decades with increased activities and global commitments from international governments and multinational agencies through electrification projects in the SSA region, SSA countries remain off-track in their efforts to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7. This is mainly demonstrated in sparsely populated rural regions where the high cost of centralised power generation, poor transmission and distribution infrastructures and economic factors have been a major barrier to electricity expansion. Although the use of RES (i.e., decentralised or stand-alone systems) have been acknowledged by the International Energy Agency (IEA) to be the least expensive route to improving access, its impact has not been effectively demonstrated regionally. Decentralised RES use in SSA countries have not seen significant uptake and/or enjoyed long-term sustainability owing to a number of factors. Malawi, despite its significant hydropower resources and the favourable proximity of its inhabitants to grid infrastructures, still has one of the lowest levels of access to electricity globally, with 86% of the population having no access to electricity. The country provides a good case study to investigate factors limiting electricity access in SSA countries. This paper explores the main issues that have historically hindered the uptake and sustainable operation of decentralised RES in the country. Recommendations to facilitate a potential improvement in RES use as a pathway to improved universal energy access are then put forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While recent years have seen the rapid growth of off-grid solar power, ten per cent of the world's population, the majority in sub-Saharan Africa, still lack access to electricity. Meanwhile, standalone solar home systems using pay as you go (PAYGO) mobile money have been proposed as a key solution to meeting the target of universal access to energy under Sustainable Development Goal 7. These systems are being deployed in various regions of the global South, including East Africa and to a lesser extent West Africa. I investigate how through PAYGO, off-grid solar electricity in sub-Saharan Africa is being transformed into a cash flow, a financial asset and a conduit for consumer debt. In so doing I analyse evolving relationships between some of the key actors and institutions involved in this process, including mobile banking platforms such as M-Pesa, 'next generation utilities' such as M-KOPA and BBOXX, and powerful mobile network operators such as Safaricom and MTN. Theoretically I conceptualise energy access as a new frontier of 'electricity capital', a developing field from political economy and energy geography, which is concerned with the way in which technological developments in the electricity sector are reconfiguring relationships between different institutions of the state, industry, finance, and users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In developing nations like Ethiopia, especially in rural and semi-urban regions, reliable access to electricity through grid-based systems is often limited or unavailable due to inadequate energy infrastructure. To tackle this issue, photovoltaic (PV) technology plays a crucial role in converting solar energy into electricity, especially in remote regions. This study focuses on assessing the daily and monthly energy exposure of PV arrays located near Fiche town, Ethiopia. The study utilizes four network types - Feedforward Backpropagation (FFBP), Cascade Feedforward Backpropagation (CFBP), Error Backpropagation (EBP), and Levenberg-Marquardt (LR) - with eight input variables and a training-testing split of 70%-30% to estimate global solar radiation (GSR). Hidden and output layers are employed with a sigmoid and linear function as activation functions, respectively. The results reveal that the expected mean daily and monthly horizontal global solar radiation (HGSR) ranges between 3.282 kWh/m2/day ≤ HGSR ≤ 6.967 kWh/m2/day and 4.628 kWh/m2 ≤ HGSR ≤ 6.613 kWh/m2, respectively. Furthermore, the study determines that the daily energy delivered to the PV system and available from the PV array to load falls within the range of 0.656 kWh/m2 ≤ Ed ≤ 1.394 kWh/m2 and 0.567 kWh/m2 ≤ El ≤ 1.205 kWh/m2, respectively. The average results for the study period from 2016 to 2021 were 1.175 kWh/m2 and 1.015 kWh/m2 for the Ed and El, respectively. These results demonstrate that PV arrays near Fiche town have abundant solar energy resources, making them highly attractive for electricity generation. Furthermore, utilizing solar energy from PV arrays can help mitigate indoor pollution in the rural communities surrounding Fiche town.

Non-Interconnected Zones (NIZ) are a challenge for countries in terms of providing energy service coverage that is both economically and environmentally sustainable. Although some microgrid planning strategies allow for scaled-down energy solutions for these areas, a solely electrical approach does not facilitate the integration of a range of energy vectors. Considering the above, this study presents a multi-objective approach to optimally scale multi-energy systems (MES) in NIZ in Colombia to minimize both costs and pollutant emissions. The methodology is based on the MOPSO algorithm, which provides a set of optimized solutions that can be selected according to multiple criteria. The capabilities of the methodology are tested through a comparative study of microgrid planning in the Bahía Málaga area on Colombia’s Pacific coast. The results present solutions with lower costs and lower environmental impact, benefits that can be applied in other NIZ worldwide.

In 2017, the Economic Community of West African States launched its Policy for Gender Mainstreaming in Energy Access with each member state tasked to create a National Action Plan (NAP). This study explores the case of Sierra Leone to understand how stakeholders have influenced the NAP process, and what that might mean for implementation. Using the Actors, Objectives, Context framework with interview data from key gender and energy actors, we find elements that make Sierra Leone’s NAP unique, such as addressing systematic barriers, explicitly promoting solar energy and heavily relying on civil society for implementation. The study finds that a policy focus on gender reflects both a push from international donor organisations and the national efforts of civil society. Sierra Leone’s NAP reflects the tension between the high priority of gender politics at the national and international level and more immediate interest from the Ministry of Energy and government actors on economic development. It affirms the uneasy co-existence of the liberal and liberating view of women in international development with some evidence that the liberal view prevails. Still, despite the government’s focus on economic development, poor engagement with the private sector and cultural barriers are likely to hamper the inclusion of women into the energy industry.

In this work, we explore how locally led innovations can advance sustainable energy access in low-income regions of Africa. Given the emphasis of the Sustainable Development Goals on the importance of affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy, we critically assess how local innovations can address the unique challenges of regions characterized by informality and low purchasing power and where existing grid-based electricity supply is weak. Through case studies, we highlight successful initiatives in expanding energy services access, including product bundling, pay-as-you-go financial models, leveraging existing supply chains, and securing strong funding support. Our findings underscore the importance of local ownership, contextual knowledge, and the adaptation of innovations to specific socio-economic and cultural conditions. By comparing the case studies, we identify common strategies that can contribute to the effectiveness of local innovations in improving energy access and sustainability that can inform efforts to replicate and scale up such initiatives. We conclude by identifying common elements contributing to the success of these cases and their significance, focusing on those crucial for achieving speed, scale, and impact.

In June 2017, the Economic Community of West African States adopted the Policy for Gender Mainstreaming in Energy Access to integrate gender equity in West Africa’s energy and climate policy making. The policy represents the first regional gender and energy policy in the world, establishing a framework to enhance understanding at the nexus of gender and energy, improve the inclusivity of policies, programs, and initiatives, and increase women’s participation in the field of energy in the public and private sectors. Each member state developed a National Action Plan (NAP) to operationalize these goals and align implementation with national contexts and policy priorities. This study examines the experience of Senegal’s NAP development, from 13 semi-structured interviews of key stakeholders and document review. We use the Actors, Objectives, Context political economy framework to understand how Senegal’s economic and political structures, historical and social context, and influence of key stakeholders shaped their efforts to mainstream gender in the country’s energy sector. We then describe four main objectives of actors in government, civil society, and the development space involved in policy development, summarizing these as: electricity access, economic development, access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking, and gender equity. We find that the objectives of government and development actors are reflected in the emphasis on energy access in the NAP and the government’s long-term development agenda, though a critical lack of engagement with the private sector has limited the policy’s efforts to mainstream women across energy sub-sectors beyond clean cooking. Women’s civil society organizations, historically less engaged with energy issues, have nonetheless achieved considerable success in advocating for increased women’s political participation. This advocacy has set a precedent for policies promoting ‘positive discrimination’ for women and marginalized groups, evident in policy activities aimed at electrifying women’s economic sectors.

This perspective investigates the impacts of disparate energy disruptions during Winter Storm Uri, which in 2021 caused severe power outages across the state of Texas leading to numerous deaths and billions of dollars of damage to property and infrastructure. The paper focuses on the potential injustice along ethnic lines in the distribution of power outages across the state. By analyzing data from the hourly rate of power outages aggregated by counties in Texas we find that among rural populations, Hispanic households faced substantially higher outage rates throughout the storm compared to other racial and ethnic groups. This reveals an inequitable distribution of energy disruptions. We propose that further nuances may be uncovered if more granular data were made available, delving into intra-county disparities. Only through comprehensive examination and proactive measures can we mitigate the adverse effects of future energy disruptions and safeguard the well-being and lives of all citizens, irrespective of their race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status.

Households that burn biomass in inefficient open fires—a practice that results in $1.6 trillion in global damages from health impacts and climate-altering emissions yearly—are often unable to access cleaner alternatives, like gas, which is widely available but unaffordable, or electricity, which is unattainable for many due to insufficient supply and reliability of electricity services. Governments are often reluctant to make gas affordable. We argue that condemnation of all fossil fuel subsidies is short-sighted and does not adequately consider subsidizing gas for cooking as a potential strategy to improve public health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The research aims to identify which healthcare facilities (HCFs) in Ghana are suitable for electrification using photovoltaic mini-grids to increase their energy self-sufficiency and reliability of services provided. Additionally, the study categorises the HCFs in two groups: those with and without or with poor access to electricity supply, identify settlements within their catchment area, and determine the electricity demand for identified HCF sites and their surrounding communities. The research assesses the most suitable mini-grid system setup to electrify identified HCF sites and the impact of including the demand of surrounding communities into the energy system modelling. Finally, the study aims to determine the accumulated solar mini-grid potential to electrify all identified HCF sites. The study findings highlight the importance of integrated planning between the health and energy sectors to ensure high-quality health services. Solar mini-grids are identified as a promising solution for electrifying HCFs and improving energy self-sufficiency. However, it is recommended to avoid transferring findings between different types of health facilities due to their unique characteristics. The study also emphasizes the importance of balancing the energy flow and stabilizing the energy system through the combination of HCFs and surrounding communities’ demand. It is crucial to assess the electricity demand carefully based on context-specific characteristics, such as the type of HCF and the number of households considered. Overall, the study provides valuable insights into the potential of solar mini-grids to increase energy self-sufficiency in HCFs and the importance of careful planning and context-specific assessments.

Refrigerators are widely used by consumers with access to the electricity grid but rarely used in off-grid settings where households rely on a limited supply of electricity such as that by a stand-alone solar home system, because refrigerators’ power consumption requires a solar system size that is unaffordable for most consumers. Reducing the power consumption of refrigerators by improving their efficiency is one solution to this issue. In this paper, we assess the technical potential and costs of using commercially available technology to reduce the energy consumption of small (50- and 100-L) refrigerators. Our analysis shows that refrigerator electricity consumption can be reduced by about 50% and 70% using commercially available energy-efficient components at an incremental cost of about $45–$60 and $100–$120 per unit, respectively. Further, we find that highly efficient small refrigerators can be potentially available less than $300 if they sold at scale unlike much higher prices seen in the market today. We also find that the total annualized cost of an off-grid solar home system (including the cost of the refrigerator) can be decreased by about 50% if the most efficient refrigerator we analyzed is used, compared with the same energy system with a standard refrigerator because the additional cost of the efficient refrigerator is significantly lower than the cost savings due to smaller capacity requirements for panels and batteries. We recommend that policies such as awards, procurement, and standards be considered to facilitate the adoption of energy-efficient refrigerators in off-grid and microgrid settings.

Rapid urbanisation and global environmental transformations require rethinking the material and social configurations of cities. The concept of 'transitions' has gained traction to guide such processes of infrastructure change towards net-zero, resilient societies both in academic and policy conversations. In this paper, we examine what notions of change are deployed in these debates. Specifically, we argue that transition theory conceptualises change as triggered by intentional actions and innovations by emphasising the functional drivers leading change. While deliberate actions cause changes, not all change follows strategic intent. Instead, transitions also depend on contingent relations between social actors and material objects, which cannot always be planned or anticipated. The concept of 'urban infrastructure landscape' helps reveal the non-strategic aspects of transitions. The example of improved cookstoves in Maputo, Mozambique, demonstrates the change envisaged in current energy policy and the changes on the ground. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global COVID-19 pandemic causes hundreds of thousands of deaths and has created a catastrophic economic and health crisis around the World. Transportation, manufacturing industries, business and people's movement came to almost a halt and sharp oil and gas prices reduction were observed. The impact of the pandemic for sub-Saharan countries like Ethiopia, which was already struggling with many economic and social welfare problems, is more evident than in other wealthy nations around the World. In Ethiopia, the general energy access rate is 44% and in healthcare facilities is only about 10%. Therefore, the response for the COVID-19 pandemic is challenging, since activities such as information sharing, communication with health centers, diagnosis and medical treatment require electricity access. This paper aims to assess the impact of the pandemic on energy access plans during and post-pandemic. The paper analyzed, the status of the current COVID-19 outbreak in Ethiopia, the energy access situation in health facilities, and the impacts of COVID-19 on energy access during and post-pandemic periods. Data related to the universal energy access plan of Ethiopia, the impact of energy access on healthcare services and the impact of the pandemic were reviewed for the assessment. The analysis indicates that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ethiopian healthcare facilities and on the overall universal energy access plan is immense and to minimize the global impact short and long-term policy responses are identified and urgently recommended. Furthermore, powering healthcare facilities with microgrids composed of solar panels and battery storage systems could be one cost-effective and sustainable solution for the speedy and effective response of the pandemic challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The policy decision of extending electric power transmission lines to connect a remote area to a primary grid vs. developing local electricity generation resources must be informed by studies considering both alternatives' economic and environmental outcomes. Such analysis must also consider the uncertainty of several factors such as fuel prices, the cost and performance of renewable and conventional power generation technologies, and the value of environmental benefits. This paper presents a method for this analysis, making two main contributions to the literature. First, it shows how to characterize the two alternatives (i.e., main-grid extension vs. local power generation) in detail for precise quantification of their capital and operating costs while guaranteeing that they are both adequate to meet forecast demand and operating reserves. Second, it shows how to properly account for the economic and environmental implications of renewable energy intermittency and uncertainty through the optimization of capital investments and hourly operations. The method is illustrated by applying this analysis method to Saudi Arabia, where the government is struggling to outline a strategy to meet residential and commercial loads reliably and sustainably in the country's remote, scattered, isolated areas. To meet this demand, the Saudi government is considering two main alternatives: (1) extending the primary power transmission grid; or (2) installing an optimal combination of off-grid distributed generation (DG) resources, including solar PV, wind, diesel, oil, heavy fuel oil, and Li-ion batteries, to generate the electricity locally. Results suggest that under most scenarios of capital costs, fuel prices, and costs of air pollution, developing a microgrid with a large share of wind and solar power is more cost-effective than extending a primary grid 150 km or more away. Extending a primary grid powered by gas-fired combined-cycle power plants is more economical only if the load is not very high, the distance is not more than 350 km, and oil prices are relatively high compared to natural gas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass has emerged as an important and promising energy source, particularly in developing countries, owing to continuous research for sustainable energy sources that do not interfere with food, water or land needs. This study introduces the surplus availability factor (SAF), minimum, average and maximum biogas production technique in the assessment of crop production data in 2020 to provide a more precise and current estimate of Cameroon's crop residue and municipal solid waste (MSW) bioenergy potential. Crop residues contributed roughly 96% while MSW contributed the remaining 4% of the total bioenergy potential of 606 PJ per year. The bioenergy potential was calculated using crop production statistics derived from the FAOSTAT database of the Food and Agriculture Organization, while the residue-to-product ratio (RPR) and surplus availability factors (SAF) were found from related studies. The study concludes that crop residues and MSW have significant energy potential capable of meeting the country's electricity, transport fuel and biogas demand while simultaneously mitigating climate change through the capture of about 1.6 billion kg of CO2 through biogas recovery. It also highlights the lack of accurate and up-to-date data on the country's biomass potential and recommends ground data collection and geospatial mapping of areas with enormous potential for these resources to guide policymakers and investment plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many women of remote communities in the Global South (GS) are highly vulnerable to natural disasters caused by climate change, due to their low adaptive capability. Inclusion of gender considerations has been emphasized in national adaptation plans and initiatives aimed at reducing vulnerability. However, the potential of low-cost electricity-based solutions in promoting climate change adaptation is largely unexplored. In countries of the GS, remote communities have adopted stand-alone solar home systems, which are often inefficient and require significant investments for upgrading. In this work, a model of an off-grid DC microgrid with distributed generation and storage is proposed, allowing individual households to obtain extra energy through neighborhood-level prosumer power sharing. The benefits of power sharing are evaluated through the development of a mixed-integer linear program using load requirements based on the World Bank's Multi-Tier Framework for household energy access. The results show that households with prosumer power sharing can access more than 60 % extra energy compared to their stand-alone status with up to 34 % reduction in Levelized Cost of Energy. Access to additional energy can allow vulnerable households to access energy services in the household to potentially improve climate change adaptation opportunities in agriculture, livelihood and educational sectors, among others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investments in energy access and clean energy for Global South countries are considered unprofitable or untenable unless the electrification projects open new avenues of income stream for the affected communities. This study proposes to use energy as a community currency to resolve the economy-ecology dichotomy, crowdfund the electrification project, provide an additional income stream to the community, and thereby ease the addition of clean energy capacity. The study compares the incomes, trade surplus, economic inequality, cost of reliable electricity, and carbon footprint of three newly electrified communities from Cambodia in three scenarios: before and after electrification and a simulated scenario when energy is used as a community currency. The simulated results from our study show that using energy as a community currency helps the newly electrified communities towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) better than conventional electrification. Our results suggest that using Energy as a community currency reduces the cost of reliable energy by at least 5 %, increases income levels by at least 4 %, and reduces the carbon footprint by at least 6 % for a newly electrified community when compared to the conventional electrification process. However, the effects on income inequality could not be confirmed. The results are also simulated with different proportions of household expenses towards externally produced goods, dominated by food expenses, which showed that using energy as a community currency benefits households with lesser dependency on externally produced goods. The overall results suggest that the use of community currency is likely to contribute towards poverty alleviation, access to electrified cooking, lesser consumption of fossil fuel, more hours of study time for children, affordable clean energy, decent economic growth, promote sustainable industrialization, incentivize responsible consumption and institutionalize self-sufficiency at the grass-roots level. Thus, it positively impacts 7 SDGs (#1, #7, #8, #9, #11, #12, #13) directly and 5 SDGs (#3, #4, #5, #6, #16) indirectly, leading to the sustainable development of newly electrified communities. • The use of energy as a community currency for newly electrified communities is proposed based on the existing concepts of energy tokens and similar concepts from previous studies. • Household-level data on annual energy consumption and energy production from 3 Cambodian villages is used for simulation and is compared with the pre-and post-conventional electrification scenarios. • The effect of community currency and electrification is measured on household and community income, community trade surplus, economic inequality, cost of reliable electricity, and annual carbon footprint. • The proposed concept reduces the cost of reliable energy by at least 5%, increases income levels by at least 4%, and reduces carbon footprint by at least 6% in the 3 newly electrified communities when compared to conventional electrification. • Energy as a community currency can be a viable climate financing tool with the potential to resolve the economy-ecology conflict, thereby contributing towards the achievement of 7 SDGs directly and 5 SDGs indirectly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a techno-economic feasibility analysis of hybrid renewable energy systems for four household categories in rural areas of Chad was studied based on the multi-criteria assessment technique. The problem of this study is to know the best optimal solution in the technical and economic feasibility study of the decentralized mini-grids for the rural electrification of isolated villages in Chad. The main objective of the work is to assess technically, economically and environmentally the feasibility of six scenarios of hybrid systems in five isolated sites in Chad. The performance analysis involved six scenarios of possible hybrid solutions while achieving a supply-demand balance for sustainable electrification of the remote villages, using the HOMER software. The results have shown that the optimum combination of the hybrid system was the photovoltaic/battery system with a Net Present Cost (NPC) of US $ 328,146 and it was found at Etena village. The photovoltaic/Wind/Diesel/Battery hybrid configuration was the least optimum system and it has appeared in Mandelia village. In terms of energy cost, the lowest Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) was estimated at US $ 0.236/kWh in a photovoltaic/Wind/Battery configuration at Koundoul site and the highest costs US $ 0.363/kWh in the photovoltaic/Battery configuration at the Linia site. It is established that hybrid solutions can be developed to make electricity available and accessible to the population of the remote rural areas in Chad. However, it is imperative that the local government must subsidize the diesel price to promote the adaptation of the abundant renewable solutions.

Across many developing nations, such as Rwanda, the absence of electricity has significantly reduced the economic impact of rural communities. A common practice in some locations is to process farm products using locally fabricated machines, which diminishes the quality and quantity of production while simultaneously increasing the danger of illness. Recent studies suggest that hybrid power systems, such as those based on renewable energy sources, could support the development of a climate change adaption and low-emission economy in a post-pandemic future. According to this study, the current electrification rate and the variables that restrict electricity access speed are investigated, and some solutions to overcome these issues are proposed. According to the findings of this study, the connection of rural areas is delayed by the presence of remote and low-density villages, because the access to the utility transmission lines is both expensive and complex. For this reason, the study proposes a novel microgrid design where it suggests an installed solar PV mobile mini-grid that can provide a group of households with energy, so enabling them to obtain economical and environmentally friendly energy. Results have proven that the proposed model is an adjustable and expandable generation and distributed storage. To a greater extent, the installation of a single device at a residence can even result in the establishment of an expandable DC microgrid, which then can develop in a cost-efficient manner when additional neighbors are joined to the grid. Eventually, the microgrid will be able to alter the way in which processing equipment is utilized. The solution is also expected to contribute to the advancement of clean technology in the pursuit of universal electrification.

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is home to 75% of the world’s unelectrified population, and approximately 500 million of these live in rural areas. Off-grid mini-grids are being deployed on a large scale to address the region’s electrification inequalities. This study aims to provide a comprehensive review of the research on the off-grid renewable mini-grids in SSA. The study covers the current status of the level of deployment of off-grid mini-grids. It also reviews multi-criteria decision-making models for optimizing engineering, economics, and management interests in mini-grid siting and design in SSA. The statuses of financing, policy, and tariffs for mini-grids in SSA are also studied. Finally, the current status of energy justice research in respect of mini-grids in SSA is reviewed. The study shows the important role of decentralized renewable technologies in the electrification of SSA’s rural population. Within a decade since 2010, the rural electrification rate of SSA has increased from 17% to 28%, and 11 million mini-grid connections are currently operational. Despite these gains, the literature points to several injustices related to the present model by which SSA’s renewable mini-grids are funded, deployed, and operated. Hence, several recommendations are provided for the effective application of the energy justice framework (EJF) for just and equitable mini-grids in SSA.

Achieving universal electricity access by 2030 is one of the energy-related development targets in Nigeria and the electricity access rate is estimated at 62%, with urban being 91% and rural 30%. In line with the set SDG7 target of achieving universal electricity access by 2030, this study examines the least-cost options for providing electricity access to thousands of unelectrified communities in Nigeria using the open source spatial electrification toolkit (OnSSET). The study focuses on the coverage area of one of the distribution companies, i.e. Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCo) which covers Kaduna, Kebbi, Sokoto, and Zamfara States in the North-Western part of Nigeria. Spatial data covering different areas such as population, digital elevation, energy resource availability, coverage of the distribution lines, among otherswere obtained from different sources and used in the OnSSET model. The result shows that by 2030, mini-grid PV will be the least-cost technology option for 58.82% of the unelectrified communities, followed by grid-extension (20.87%), standalone PV (20.15%), and mini-grid hydro (0.17%). Further, by 2025, the total number of settlements to be electrified will be 18,182. The number of settlements electrified by 2030 will be 22,727 with an estimated population of 15.4 million. To the achieve universal electrification, a total investment of US$4.97 billion is required by 2025 with an additional US$2.88 billion by 2030. The study recommends that the state and local governments should play a key roles in providing enabling environment for community-led off-grid projects since most of the settlements require electrification projects that are less than 20 kW.

Quality in healthcare service is essential in giving rural dwellers a good standard of living. It has been established that many rural locations in Sub-Saharan Africa away from the grid connection have difficulty accessing electricity. The inaccessibility of reliable energy and essential medical equipment was the leading barrier to improved healthcare delivery in these rural locations. The deficiency of basic medical equipment to power essential services due to limited or unreliable electricity access has reduced rural healthcare workers' care capabilities, resulting in higher mortality rates. This paper, therefore, reviews the existing energy solutions for rural healthcare facilities, thereby analysing different approaches and the geographical energy mix and ascertaining the effectiveness of various techniques and energy mix as solutions to effective healthcare delivery in healthcare centres. Hybrid Renewable Energy Sources (HRES) microsystems, like microgrids incorporated with solar panels and battery, is identified to ensure higher and more reliable energy access in rural healthcare centres. At the same time, the adoption of Demand Side Management (DSM) in the HRES deployment in countryside healthcare facilities is reported to decrease the initial cost of installation and improve efficiency. Lastly, in improving energy access, rural electrification planning is achieved through modelling tools related to energy access modelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the economic viability at the pre-feasibility level of a hybrid methanol and biomethane plant based on biogas coupled to a photovoltaic (PV) power plant and a proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer. The reference case settled in Uganda consisted of two units powered by a 200 kW PV plant and grid power: a 25 Nm3/h anaerobic digester and a 140 kW PEM electrolyzer-based methanol plant. Its production of 33.3 tons of methanol and 70.1 tons of biomethane per year can provide cooking fuel for 750 households. Response Surface Methodology was used to evaluate the impact of the three main factors on the simple payback period (PBP). The size of the PV plant had the most significant impact on PBP, followed by the cost of electricity, the interaction between these factors, and the PEM electrolyzer capital cost reduction, in this contribution order. These findings point to energy generation costs as the primary factor affecting the economic viability of these small-scale designs, even more than the PEM's capital cost. The response surface analysis revealed that only in a reduced region of the design space are values found that meet the threshold of 10 years for plant economic viability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to clean energy for cooking is central to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 7. Latest predictions suggest that this goal will not be met by 2030, with further setbacks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigated the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions on household cooking fuel, practices and dietary behaviours in a peri-urban community in Central Cameroon. Using surveys (n = 333) and qualitative semi-structured interviews (n = 12), we found negative financial impacts and high levels of food insecurity, with 83 % and 56 % of households reporting reduced income and insufficient food, respectively. Households reduced food intake and cooking frequency and relied more heavily on local sources (e.g., farmland) to feed their families. Changes in primary cooking fuel were less pronounced and fuel choice was inherently linked to cooking behaviours, with some households utilising LPG more often for simple tasks, such as reheating food. Local systems were key in sustaining food and fuel access and households demonstrated resilience by employing numerous mechanisms to overcome challenges. Our findings underline the vulnerability of households in maintaining sufficient food intake and sustaining clean cooking, highlighting how policy needs to take a nuanced approach considering food-energy dynamics and strengthening local systems to ensure access to clean energy is resistant to system shocks. • Household cooking fuel and food access impacted due to COVID-19 pandemic in peri-urban Cameroon • Over 80 % of households reported reduce income, resulting in insufficient food and cooking less frequently. • Fuel use changes inherently linked to changes in cooking practices, such as using LPG to reheat after bulk cooking • Local systems key in supporting sustained food and fuel access • Understanding food-fuel dynamics and strengthening local systems is vital to maintain clean cooking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over 61 % of Cameroonians continue to rely on polluting fuels for cooking with negative consequences for health and the environment. To understand current and potential use of electricity as a clean energy source for cooking (eCooking), we conducted a mixed-methods study among households from three major urban/peri-urban centres in Cameroon: Douala, Yaoundé and Mbalmayo. Survey data from 1509 households, followed by an intensive one week "cooking diary" with 25 primary cooks and 10 semi-structured qualitative interviews, provided detailed information on cooking behaviours and fuel choices. Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) was preferred for daily cooking, with firewood or charcoal used for traditional dishes. Electricity was used only as secondary or tertiary fuel by 20 % (n = 311) of survey respondents and only used once a week or less, mainly to cook rice and pasta or boiling water. For those households using eCooking, the most common appliances were rice cookers and hobs; smart-meters attached to the eCooking appliances showed high voltage fluctuation (<160 V to 250 + V) which are suboptimal for sustained eCooking use. To scale up adoption of electricity for clean cooking policies for (i) subsidising cost, (ii) strengthening reliability of service provision and (iii) addressing safety concerns are needed in addition to awareness-raising of the benefits and practicalities of using eCooking appliances for everyday meals. • Cameroon has an high electrification rate but eCooking is not actively promoted. • eCooking is not popular even among more affluent households in urban settings. • eCooking appliances are mainly used to cook quick meals or boiling water. • LPG is the preferred cooking fuel in Cameroon among urban households. • Greater access to affordable eCooking appliances and reliable electricity is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study revisits the energy-happiness paradox hypothesis using the context of a developing nation. We used Indonesia as a case study, a unique archipelagic country with sparse subnational energy infrastructure, leading to the persistent regional energy access gap. We employed an instrumental variable technique to obviate conventional bias in the happiness regression. The model utilised a newly available national-level household survey on life satisfaction and historical data on digital maps of Indonesia's electricity infrastructure conditions in 1985. Unlike the phenomena known as the energy-happiness paradox found mainly in the developed countries that suggest the null relationship between having energy access and people's happiness, our finding reveals a positive effect of electricity access on people's happiness. We also show that the mechanism in which the effect operates is through individuals' satisfaction with housing conditions. The heterogeneity analysis shows that the impact of electricity access on happiness is more prominent in the lagging region. It justifies the placed-based policy strategy by the government in developing countries for expanding electricity access in favour of disadvantaged areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The provision of electricity to rural off-grid island communities is considered a practical initial approach to achieving Just Energy Transition. Often, these communities are powered by diesel generators running on conventional fossil fuels that typically translate to higher electricity tariffs. The use of renewable energy technologies is deemed as the practical approach to electrify these islands. However, there is a need to define how these off-grid communities consume electricity to provide a more robust approach to load demand profiling. This study proposes an alternative path analysis approach to determine causality relationships between socio-demographic attributes of households and their ownership of electrical appliances, as an approach to ascertain electricity consumption. The approach is applied in three island communities in Palawan, Philippines where electricity is provided by diesel generators. A comprehensive survey considering age, gender, income, education, household size, and employment status was done in the three island communities. Path analysis using the R lavaan package was completed to determine causality and the results were compared with traditional correlation analysis. Results of both path analysis and correlation analysis show that income and education have the strongest significance in determining household ability to own appliances, and thus electricity consumption while age is not statistically significant at all. All other factors show weak to moderate significance. The results of the research provide a critical baseline approach to load demand profiling that can help stakeholders to conduct more efficient energy planning and develop more pragmatic strategies towards 100% household electrification and Just Energy Transition. • Provision of electricity to rural off-grid island communities as an initial approach to achieving Just Energy Transition • Alternative path analysis approach to find causation between household socio-demographics and electricity consumption • Determining correlations and causality using structural equation modeling [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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