Energy for sustainable development: A case of developing countries

Today, there are 1.4 billion people around the world that lack access to electricity, some 85% of them in rural areas. Without additional dedicated policies, by 2030 the number of people drops, but only to 1.2 billion. Some 15% of the world's population still lack access, the majority of them living in Sub-Saharan Africa. The number of people relying on the traditional use of biomass is projected to rise from 2.7 billion today to 2.8 billion in 2030. Addressing these inequities depends upon international recognition that the projected situation is intolerable, a commitment to effect the necessary change, and setting targets and indicators to monitor progress. A new financial, institutional and technological framework is required, as is capacity building in order to dramatically scale up access to modern energy services at the local and regional levels. In this paper, we discussed the energy situation of the developing countries for sustainable development. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.