Productive Use of Renewable Energy (PURE) for Economic Development in Developing Countries

There has been an increase in the deployments of renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass energy due to the concerns regarding global warming. This growth in renewable energy projects along with the technological innovations is leading to lowering costs, which is making available an array of renewable energy options to developing nations to address the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Although Africa's main discussions on renewable energy have been focused on large scale grid-connected power systems, this chapter presents the arguments that several renewable energy technologies are well-suited to providing modern energy services for low-income people. The article presents a comprehensive framework that highlights how to scale up a broad portfolio of micro-renewable energy solutions that can make a major contribution to achieving the MDGs.