 | Rural Energy and Development: Improving Energy Supply for Two Billion People (WB, 1996, 132 p.) |
 |  | (introduction...) |
| | Foreword |
| | Acknowledgments |
| | Abbreviations and acronyms |
| | Executive summary |
| | The new agenda |
| | The role of the world bank |
|  | Chapter one - Introduction |
| | (introduction...) |
| | The challenges ahead |
| | Past responses |
| | Chapter two - The rural energy situation |
| | (introduction...) |
| | Effects of biofuel use by the poor |
| | Pollution and health |
| | Ecological damage |
| | Energy efficiency |
| | The transition to modern fuels |
| | Chapter three - Emerging practices and policies |
| | (introduction...) |
| | Enabling people to choose from among alternative forms of energy |
| | Avoiding unnecessary subsidies |
| | Addressing market failures |
| | High start-up costs and risks |
| | External costs and benefits |
| | Emphasizing participation and institutional development |
| | Participation? |
| | Local institutional development |
| | Decentralization |
| | Recognizing the central role of good enabling conditions for development |
| | Chapter four - Options for rural electrification |
| | (introduction...) |
| | Progress to date |
| | Pricing and financial policies |
| | Cost-effectiveness and the choice of alternatives |
| | Costs of grid supplies |
| | Reducing initial investment costs by using appropriate design standards |
| | Micro-grids supplied by diesel generators |
| | Electricity supplies from renewable energy sources |
| | Regulatory and price reforms, unbundling, and privatization |
| | Implication for rural electrification |
| | Approaches |
| | Chapter five - Innovations in renewable energy |
| | (introduction...) |
| | Technical progress in using the solar resource |
| | Policies toward new renewable energy sources in rural areas |
| | Program development |
| | Prices |
| | Credit |
| | Taxes and subsidies |
| | Chapter six - Cooking fuels: toward more sustainable supply and use |
| | (introduction...) |
| | Improving end-use efficiency with biomass stoves |
| | Improving charcoal efficiency |
| | Developing more sustainable ways to supply biomass |
| | Agro-forestry and farm forestry |
| | Participatory to forest management |
| | Improving access to kerosene and gas |
| | Subsidies versus price liberalization |
| | Distortionary effects of high taxes on cooking fuels |
| | Chapter seven - The role of the world bank group |
| | (introduction...) |
| | Policies and operations since the 1970s |
| | Rural electrification |
| | The sustainable in a production and use of wood-fuels |
| | Renewable energy |
| | Project innovations and advisory services |
| | The way forward: a renewed commitment by the world bank group |
| | Broadening the scope of energy sector reform |
| | Investments |
| | Opportunities for partnerships |
| | Appendix |
| | World bank lending for rural and renewable energy projects, fiscal 1980-95 |
| | Methodology for estimation of world bank lending to rural and renewable energy projects |
| | Notes |
| | Bibliography |
(introduction...)
Recent developments in renewable energy technologies have greatly added to the options available for improving rural energy supplies. The main technologies suited to rural areas are micro-hydro. biogas. wind generators. wind pumps. solar heaters for hot water and sustainable ways to provide wood supplies. All these are important sources of energy anti can be developed further. as illustrated by the examples of China (box 5.1) and Pura in India (box 3.2).). A more recent development has been the use of photovoltaic (PV) systems to provide electricity supplies for such small-scale applications as electric lights; and domestic appliances. refrigeration for clinics. village water pumps, street lighting. and health clinics and schools. For small-scale applications in rural areas, PVs are often less expensive and more reliable than grid supplies or diesel motors. The encouraging feature of the Kenya example discussed in box 4.4 was that it was financed on a purely private basis (van der Plas 1994). Solar thermal electric systems using parabolic dishes are also showing much promise for small-scale supplies (Ahmed 1993).
Aside from their environmental appeal, new renewable energy technologies are attracting professional interest for several reasons. namely: the abundance of the solar resource. from which most forms of renewable energy are derived: technical progress and cost reductions: and the modularity of the technologies. The rest of this chapter will focus on technological progress and on the supporting policies needed if renewable energy is to be widely used in rural areas.
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