Escaping the rural energy dilemma: A process for matching technologies to local needs and resources

Abstract This paper provides a five-step process for matching decentralized energy systems with energy needs and local resources in rural areas for developing countries. This process is designed to assist planners in selecting technologies for those locations where economic development and personal survival are threatened by the rising costs and growing scarcity of traditional and fossil fuels. Analytic tools are given for each of the five steps of the process, as well as the information needed in each phase of a project. Twelve criteria are presented to characterize both the energy need and the technologies. Three of these criteria are used to facilitate preliminary technology screening, while the others address site-specific temporal, climatic, economic, social, cultural and environmental considerations of the energy need and the technological alternatives. To illustrate the process, eight decentralized energy options are characterized and examined for their fit with a set of four basic human needs.