Renewable Energy in Developing Countries: Challenges and Solutions

Running head: ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
Essay on renewable energy in developing countries
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ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
Introduction
Environment is one of the crucial parameters, which needs to be considered for
bestowing a quality lifestyle to the people. Keeping the environment clean adds value to the
existence of the people. Moreover, it is assistance in terms of preserving the ecological
biodiversity. Sustaining mentality towards the natural resources proves beneficial in terms of
catering to the needs of the future generation (Twidell & Weir, 2015). Herein lays the true
essence of the aspect sustainable development. This essay attempts to bring out the issue of
environmental development by looking into the renewable sources of energies in the
developing countries.
Renewable energy
This type of energy is derived from sources like sunlight, wind, rain, rides, waves and
geothermal heat. As a matter of specification, four main areas in which the energy is provided
are- electricity generation, air and water heating or cooling, transportation and rural energy
services. The report published by REN21 reveals renewable energy consist of 19.3% of
human’s global energy consumption. 24.5% of this energy is accounted as the electricity
generated in 2015 and 2016 (Ellabban, Abu-Rub & Blaabjerg, 2014). 8.9% of this energy
comes from biomass, 4.2% as heat energy, 3.9% as hydro electricity, 2.2% of energy is
derived from the usual natural sources. Worldwide investments contributed US$286 million
for renewable energies in 2015. This included China and United States, who invested in
hydropower, solar and biofuels.
Insight into the present issue from the perspective of Globalization
Globalization has altered the scenario of the developing countries. This includes all
the parameters including the energy resources. According to the recent economic report, the

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ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
market has revealed 1.6% increase in the energy need. Depletion of the natural energy
resources has necessitated the need for new sources of energy for catering to the needs of the
people. The developing countries have enough for fulfilling the demands of the population
(Hosseini & Wahid, 2016). However, over-exploitation of the natural resources is making the
conversation process difficult. In such a situation, summits and conferences are being
conducted for seeking suggestions towards reducing the carbon footprints.
Challenges
Poverty is one of the challenges towards implementing such plans. This is because the
malice contradicts the developmental issues. In such a situation, plans relating to the
installation of systems with low carbon footprints attain an interrogative parameter. Along
with this, increase in the emission of the harmful gases, which has contributed to the
environmental pollution (Omri, Mabrouk & Sassi-Tmar, 2015). Poor quality of the air along
with the sudden climactic conditions has generated the risk of cancerous diseases. Moreover,
the pollutants have adversely affected the living standards of the people. Commercialization
of the energy resources from the traditional energy resources has brought noticeable changes
within the market trends.
Importance of energy access
The main sources of energy in our surroundings are the street lights, community
spaces, schools, hospitals and most importantly the households. In the house, energy access is
needed for carrying out the basic activities telecommunications, cooking, entertainment,
washing among others. Access to energy is an important aspect in the small businesses. This
is in terms of production and creating job opportunities (Nematollahi et al., 2016). In the
hospitals, the requirements for energy are directed towards safer deliveries, vaccinations and

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ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
better health outcomes. Overall, it can be said that access to energy is vital for socio-
economic development of the developing nations.
Measurement of energy
The binary indicators measure energy. The scientists express concern regarding the
appropriateness of these indicators. Here, the parameters covered were whether the electrical
connection is flexible enough for producing the desirable service. Along with this, the
scientists are also concerned whether the technologies are capable in providing the access
levels properly (Huenteler, Niebuhr & Schmidt, 2016).
Solutions
Adoption of advanced technology helped in the development of systems, which
possessed flexibility in enhancing the productivity. Disparity between advancement in
technology and the quality of resources is a failure towards meeting the demands of the
public. Here, the heading “solution” attains an interrogative parameter. This failure sheds
light on the need for increasing the renewable sources of energy in the developing countries.
Developing a framework can prove advantageous in terms of exposing appropriate attitude
towards achieving sustainable development (Nejat et al., 2015). Adopting machines, which
possesses flexibility in measuring the levels of energy consumption can be an effective
example of the strategic approach. Within this, consideration of the production levels would
be assistance in terms of estimating the future effects.
Sustainable energy for all
The framework is basically a tool kit, which would help the developing countries in
gaining an insight into the benchmark level of consumption. This insight would enable the
personnel in keeping the energy level under control. For this, consideration of the existing