It is estimated that more than two billion people worldwide lack access to modern energy resources. Renewable energy has the potential to bring power to these many communities and individuals who function off the grid. This book describes the latest advances in distributed and off-grid renewable energy technologies and offers strategies and guidelines for planning and implementation of sustainable, decentralized energy supply. Coverage includes wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass systems planning and integration, economic assessment models and the role of legislative structures. -- Back Cover.

Distributed Renewable Energies for Off-Grid Communities: Empowering a Sustainable, Competitive, and Secure Twenty-First Century, Second Edition, is a fully revised reference on advances in achieving successful energy transition. Addressing the highly dynamic, complex and multidimensional process of a dominant socio-technical system transforming into another, this up-to-date reference addresses all stages of this complex process with data and figures to demonstrate how to tackle the process of changing a society's energy circumstance. This new edition provides an updated picture of renewables in communities and their use, covering energy concepts, strategies, prospects and combining all aspects to provide a roadmap to self-sustainable development. Addressing the influence of society on the development of renewable industry, this book provides guidelines with case studies, along with trends and innovative practices regarding renewable energy and their applications with a goal of successfully establishing smooth energy transitions in self-sustainable communities. - Includes case studies that provide solutions for future decentralized energy supply problems - Contains fully updated equations, data sections and figures for all energy technologies - Shares a blueprint for the development of self-sustainable Integrated Renewable Communities

Energy is directly related to the most critical economic and social issues which affect sustainable development such as mobility, food production, environmental quality, regional and global security issues. Two-thirds of the new demand will come from developing nations, with China accounting for 30%. Without adequate attention to the critical importance of energy to all these aspects, the global, social, economic and environmental goals of sustainability cannot be achieved. Indeed the magnitude of change needed is immense, fundamental and directly related to the energy produced and consumed nationally and internationally. Today, it is estimated that more than two billion people worldwide lack access to modern energy resources. Distributed Renewable Energies for Off-Grid Communities provides various options and case studies related to the potential of renewable energies along with their environmental, economic and social dimensions. Case studies provide you with solutions to for future decentralized energy supply. Expanded coverage over previous work in the field to include coverage of rural and urban communities Provides new solutions for future decentralized energy supply.

This publication is the theme study for the 73rd session of Commission to be held in May 2017. The main purpose of the publication is to call on policymakers in Asia and the Pacific for urgent actions to transition national energy sectors to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), particularly Goal 7. The energy sector transition is the only way to address the sizeable energy deficit which impede progress in energy access in a number of member countries. It will also address gaps between current commitments under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change and lack of coherent energy strategic and policy frameworks and actions held back progress of SDG7.

Selected, peer reviewed papers from the 4th International Conference on Civil Engineering, Architechture and Building Materials (CEABM 2014), May 24-25, 2014, Haikou, China

Hess proposes a theory of scientific and technological change that considers the roles of both industry and grassroots consumers in setting the research agenda in science and technology and he identifies alternative pathways by which social movements can influence scientific and technological innovation. He analyzes four of these pathways: industrial opposition movements organized against targeted technologies (as in the campaign against nuclear energy); technology- and product-oriented movements, which press for alternatives (as does the organic food movement); localism, which promotes local ownership (as in "buy local" campaigns); and access pathways, which support a more equitable distribution of resources. Within each pathway, Hess examines reforms in five areas: agriculture, energy, waste and manufacturing, infrastructure, and finance. Hess's theoretical argument and the empirical evidence he presents demonstrate the complex pattern of incorporation (of grassroots innovations) and transformation (of alternative ownership structures and alternative products) that has characterized the relationship of industry and activism.

This report, developed by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific in cooperation Asian Development Bank, offers an evidence-based look at progress at the regional and country level, providing an overview of long-term trends since 1990, and focuses on progress achieved in the most recent period, 2012-2014. Furthermore, it examines the key drivers behind progress, as well as identifies major challenges to achieving energy access, efficiency, and renewable energy objectives. Evidence is drawn from the Global Tracking Framework (GTF) data, as well as other international sources to provide a comprehensive view of progress in light of regional and national contexts. A strong focus is also placed on examining national policy frameworks and offering case studies to illustrate national approaches to common challenges faced by countries advancing the sustainable energy agenda.