Global policy of rural electrification

Energy poverty and lack of electricity in the rural area exacerbate the poverty of the developing countries. The sustainable renewable technologies can be considered as efficient tools to reduce energy poverty whenever they are conducted based on an appropriate policy. Electricity can improve the human's lifestyle by increasing the level of health, education, welfare and technology. Currently, Sub-Sahara Africa with only 14.2% of rural electrification has the first rank in the world with lowest access to electricity, in that region around 585 million citizens has almost no access to electricity. The present study focuses on the general global policies to electrify the rural areas. In this regard, variety of plans and programs conducted by governmental and-private institutes are investigated. In the year 2011, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has developed three global strategies based on the world energy market that defines the overall world energy approach. In the present work, different technologies for rural electrification are taken into account in two major categories of grid connected and off-grid systems. Furthermore, based on sustainable development with emphasis on environmental consideration, the feasibility of electrification by using different types of renewable energies such as solar, biomass, hydro, wind and wave have been studied. Despite reliability of grid connection, results indicate that renewable energy sources are the best choice especially in areas far from grid connections. Challenges between financial institutes and executive agencies result in resource management and technology development in order to overcome existing barriers and issues. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.