Renewable Energy Resources And Rural Applications In The Developing World

This book discusses the status of small-scale, decentralized technologies to place them in a realistic context. It is based on symposia held at the meetings which address topics of current and continuing significance and in the areas in which science and technology impact on public policy.

The energy situation in developing countries is desperate.Because these countries are primarily dependent on fossil fuels--chiefly oil--for industrial growth, they have been hard hit by oil price increases. Further, in the rural areas, where most of the population lives, there are limited supplies of increasingly expensive diesel fuel or kerosene. Noncormzercial energy sources such as firewood, dung, and agriouZtural residues are generally used in rural areas, but under the pressure of growing populations the forests are disappearing. This is resulting in a critical shortage of firewood for cooking and heating, as well as in the destruction of the environment. In addition, when dung and agricultural residues are burned, valuable fertilizers are destroyed. Thus, the rural areas--the sources of food and fiber--face a particularly alarming situation.