Exploitation of renewable energy for sustainable development and overcoming power crisis in Bangladesh

A developing country such as Bangladesh, where economic development without compromising the eco-friendly environment is a burning issue, needs huge supply of power. Having very limited fossil fuels, sources of renewable energy such as solar, wind, biomass and limited hydro power are the probable alternatives to offset energy crisis in Bangladesh and similar other countries. Over three-quarters (76 percent) of Bangladeshi people are out of on-grid connected electrical power supply. Undeniably, it has limited natural gas being used for a large variety of purposes. Energy demand is estimated to increase exponentially, implying alarming supply and demand gap. Despite prospects of huge renewable energy sources, presently, this country has only 0.3 percent of renewable energy share to the total energy supply. This paper reviews the renewable energy status and its prospective use in Bangladesh as well as renewable energy technologies obtainable in Bangladesh. It also attempts to provide future research directions and show ways to harness renewable energies to meet the future demand. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.