Smart Villages presents 16 essays by leading scientists and thinkers, providing policy makers, donors and development agencies concerned with rural energy access with new insights on the barriers to energy access in villages in developing countries – technological, financial and political – and explores opportunities and efforts to overcome them.
The book describes the personal opinions and experiences of experts. It tackles the idea of energy as a catalyst for development – health, food security, the lives of women and girls, the democratic process, national regulatory and fiscal policies, and employment. It reviews up-to-date research for promoting energy access in remote areas of the world.
Contents
Foreword
Tun Ahmad Sarji bin Abdul Hamid
Preface
Professor Sir Brian Heap
Concept
Energy for development – the concept
John Holmes and Terry van Gevelt
Development
Energy innovation for smart villages
Daniel M. Kammen
Transforming rural communities through mini-grids
AbuBakr Bahaj
Leapfrogging to sustainable power
R. Vasant Kumar
Smart villages – the Malaysian approach
Ahmad Zaidee Laidin
Energy Services, Health, Food and Politics
Can energy access improve health?
Wole Soboyejo
Energy provision and food security in off-grid villages
M.S. Swaminathan and P.C. Kesavan
Smart villages for smart voters
Mukulika Banerjee
Enablement through the Public and Private Sectors
Public policy targets for energy access
Benjamin K. Sovacool
Energy policies for off-grid villages in Tanzania
Andrew Mnzava
Will private-sector finance support off-grid energy?
Tobias S. Schmidt
Better Living
How electricity changed our lives
Michael J. Ssali
Energy and ICT for educational inclusion in Latin America
Javier González Díaz
Improving life for women and girls in Sierra Leone
Christiana A. Thorpe
A way of life: energy provision in Africa
Murefu Barasa
Reflection
A better future for the bottom billion 111
Deepak Nayyar