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Energy access remains a challenge for many countries, as recognized by sustainable development goal 7 of the United Nations Development Programme. Although the Myanmar government has set a target of 100% electrification by 2030, less than half of the households are currently connected to the national grid. To expedite electrification, decentralized approaches should be considered. Mini-grids are an effective alternative that can fill the gap between a solar home system and the national grid; however, many of the existing mini-grids in Myanmar are powered by diesel generators. Diesel fuel is significantly more expensive in rural areas than in urban areas due to high transportation costs. Although mini-grids powered by solar photovoltaics and batteries are cost-competitive with diesel generators, the deployment of renewable energy-based mini-grids is slow. In this study, we analyzed the barriers to mini-grid deployment and prioritized the barriers. We conducted a questionnaire survey with stakeholders using the analytic hierarchy process to identify the prioritization of each barrier factor. The K-means clustering method was used to determine tendencies and showed that there was no single, dominant solution. Our results confirm the difficulty of mini-grid deployment and suggest multi-pronged approaches that go beyond economic considerations.

Traditional fuels have both environmental and health impacts. The transition from traditional to clean cooking fuel requires significant public policy actions. The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) is one of the primary policies launched in India to eradicate energy poverty among households. Past studies have focused on the drivers that motivate rural households to adopt clean energy and identified the bottlenecks for adoption of clean energy in developing countries. PMUY’s success in terms of scale and pace is critical in the national drive to provide access to clean energy fuel to each citizen. The present study focuses on two objectives. First, we investigate the intensity of adoption and refill of LPG under the PMUY scheme. Second, we use household and other demographic characteristics to examine the factors that influence households’ decision on using LPG as a cooking fuel. Empirical results show that rapid growth has been witnessed in the provision of subsidized LPG connections. However, the annual average refill status stands at two LPG cylinders per beneficiary household indicating that the majority of the beneficiaries have failed to refill their LPG cylinders. This imbalance between rapid enrollment of LPG and limited refill among beneficiary households indicate the continued usage of traditional sources of energy for cooking. From the primary survey conducted in the rural tribal communities of Odisha, we observe that household income and education played a significant role in adoption of LPG and continued usage of LPG gas. Additionally, the logit and ordered probit models identify that membership in self-help groups, accessibility and awareness of LPG are the major adoption drivers. In conclusion, policy makers need to address the challenge of refill status among PMUY consumers. Further, educating households on health benefits through SHG and creating accessibility at village level can actively increase the usage of LPG.

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.

United Nations SDG 7 is that, by 2030, there will be an affordable, reliable and clean universal access to energy (UAE). To reach this goal, technological and social issues should be considered jointly. In this paper, the approach used by the Non-Governmental Organization “Luces Nuevas Internacional” is presented. Luces Nuevas has successfully provided basic electricity access to sparse rural communities in rural Bolivia. This paper emphasizes the methodological aspects of the approach. The key ingredient to the success is the involvement of all the stakeholders in all steps of the solution. In this way, end users feel the solution as their solution. Therefore, they are willing to use and properly maintain the devices that they buy to obtain electricity access. The case of the Tipas community shows that this approach can provide access to energy to every family that desires it. The experience shows that reaching SDG 7 requires taking into account not only the technological and economic aspects, but also the social aspects of the problem. End users involvement, from the beginning, of an electrification project is key to its success.

Half of humanity about 3 billion people are still relying on solid fuels for cooking and heating. Of that, about 2.5 billion people depend on traditional biomass fuels (wood, charcoal, agricultural waste, and animal dung), while about 400 million people use coal as their primary cooking and heating fuel (UNDP and WHO 2009). The majority of the population relying on solid fuels lives in Sub-Saharan Africa and in South Asia. In some countries in Central America and in East Asia and the Pacific, the use of solid fuels is also significant. The inefficient and unsustainable production and use of these fuels result in a significant public health hazard, as well as negative environmental impacts that keep people in poverty. Strategies to improve energy access to the poor have focused mainly on electricity access. They have often neglected non electricity household energy access. It is, however, estimated that about 2.8 billion people will still depend on fuel wood for cooking and heating in 2030 in a business-as-usual modus operandi (IEA 2010). The need for urgent interventions at the household level to provide alternative energy services to help improve livelihoods is becoming more and more accepted. This report's main objective is to conduct a review of the World Bank's financed operations and selected interventions by other institutions on household energy access in an attempt to examine success and failure factors to inform the new generation of upcoming interventions. First, the report provides a brief literature review to lay out the multidimensional challenge of an overwhelming reliance on solid fuels for cooking and heating. Second, it highlights how the Bank and selected governments and organizations have been dealing with this challenge. Third, it presents lessons learned to inform upcoming interventions. And finally, it indicates an outlook on the way forward.

This article deals with the quality of energy generated in the autonomous mini and micro hydroelectric plants located in the mountainous regions of Cuba, where they are the only source of energy supply. The quality of energy generated and its availability are a right to the inhabitants of these communities, on an equal footing with those whose supply is through the electricity grid. In this sense, the legal and technical norms existing in Cuba, while defining equality of rights, also impose unviable technical and economic conditions.

This paper presents an empirical analysis of public energy access imperative on economic growth in South Africa. The paper is motivated by current paucity of research regarding rural energy provision and economic growth in South Africa. Hence, this research adds a nuanced contribution to the literature by examining the relationship between rural and urban energy provision and economic growth in South Africa. Time series data on public electricity provision for South Africa were collected from 1998 to 2017 from the World Bank economic indicators’ data archive. After testing for unit root, a cointegration regression was conducted. Results from the statistical analysis indicate a cointegration relationship between urban and rural energy provision and economic growth in South Africa. This relationship is positive and significant – indicating that increased energy access for urban and rural dwellers is a veritable tool for stimulating economic growth. The paper’s finding is germane for public policy makers in charge of public energy provision. The paper highlights the need for improved public energy provision to rural communities. Further research is needed to examine the role of rural energy provision on the growth of informal economy in South Africa.

As the world’s population continues to grow and the demand for energy increases, there is an urgent need for sustainable and efficient energy systems. Renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, have the potential to play a significant role in meeting this demand, but their intermittency can make integration into existing energy systems a challenge. Moreover, the development of sustainable energy systems has become even more critical in recent years, due to a confluence of events, including the decline in fuel prices, geopolitical conflicts, and the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The decrease in fuel prices has led to a decline in investment in renewable energy and has slowed the transition to sustainable energy systems. Additionally, geopolitical conflicts and pandemics have highlighted the need for resilient and self-sufficient energy systems that can operate independently of external factors. Also, energy storage technologies play a critical role in achieving this goal by providing reliable backup power and enabling microgrids to operate independently of the larger power grid. As such, developing efficient and effective energy storage technologies is essential for creating sustainable energy systems that can meet the demands of modern society while mitigating the impact of external factors. In this regard, this work provides an overview of microgrids’ latest energy storage technologies, including their applications, types, integration strategies, optimization algorithms, software, and uncertainty analysis. Energy storage technologies have a wide range of applications in microgrids, including providing backup power and balancing the supply and demand of energy. Different energy storage techniques have been discussed, including batteries, flywheels, supercapacitors, pumped hydro energy storage, and others. Moreover, integration strategies of energy storage in microgrids, models, assessment indices, and optimization algorithms used in the design of energy storage systems are presented in detail. The capabilities of software used in energy storage sizing are explored. Further, uncertainty analysis in modeling energy storage devices is presented and discussed. This state-of-the-art technology has been prepared to demonstrate the effectiveness of energy storage technologies in microgrids, providing valuable insights for future developments in the field.

Bangladesh is one of the world's poorest countries. Nearly 80 percent of the nation's 140 million people reside in rural areas; of these, 20 percent live in extreme poverty. Geographically, many low-lying areas are vulnerable to severe flooding, while other regions are prone to drought, erosion, and soil salinity. Such an unfavorable agricultural landscape, combined with mismanagement of natural resources and increasing population pressure, is pushing many of the rural poor to the brink. Because Bangladesh is such a poor country, it also is one of the world's lowest energy producers. Total annual energy supply is only about 150 liters of oil equivalent per capita (International Energy Agency, or IEA 2003); in rural areas, conditions are even worse. Compared to other developing countries, Bangladesh uses little modern energy. Despite its successful rural electrification program, close to two-thirds of households remain without electricity and, with the exception of kerosene, commercial fuels are beyond reach for many. Moreover, biomass fuels are becoming increasingly scarce. Collected mainly from the local environment as recently as two decades ago, bio-fuels are fast becoming a marketed commodity as access to local biomass continues to shrink. This study, the first to concentrate on Bangladesh's energy systems and their effects on the lives of rural people, drew on these background studies, as well as other World Bank-financed research on indoor air pollution (IAP) and rural infrastructure, to present a rural energy strategy for the country. Much of this study's analytical underpinning was based on several background studies. This study also reanalyzed data from earlier research to better understand the benefits of modern energy use for rural households, farm activities, and small businesses.

Energy poverty is a serious problem affecting many people in the world. To address it and alleviate it, the first action is to identify and measure the intensity of the population living in this condition. This paper seeks to generate information regarding the actual state of energy poverty by answering the research question: is it possible to measure the intensity of energy poverty between different Latin American countries with sufficient and equivalent data? To achieve this, the Multidimensional Energy Poverty Index (MEPI), proposed by Nussbaumer et al., was used. The results present two levels of lack of access to energy services: Energy Poverty (EP) and Extreme Energy Poverty (EEP). The last one, is a concept introduced by the authors to evaluate energy poverty using MEPI. Results of people living on EP (EEP within parentheses) are as follow: Colombia 29% (18%), Dominican Republic 32% (14%), Guatemala 76% (61%), Haiti 98% (91%), Honduras 72% (59%), Mexico 30% (17%) and Peru 65% (42%). A clear correlation between the Human Development Index (HDI) and MEPI is displayed, however some countries have relatively high values for the HDI, but do not perform so well in the MEPI and vice versa. Further investigation is needed.