More than two billion people worldwide have currently no access to grid electricity or other efficient energy supply. This is one third of humanity and the majority live in rural areas. The productivity and health of these people are diminished by reliance on traditional fuels and technologies, with women and children suffering most. Energy is the key element to empower people and ensure water, food and fodder supply as well as rural development. Therefore access to energy should be treated as the fundamental right to everybody. Renewable energy has the potential to bring power, not only in the literal sense, to communities by transforming their prospects.
This book offers options that meet the needs of people and communities for energy and engage them in identifying and planning their own provision. It describes updated renewable energy technologies and offers strategies and guidelines for the planning and implementation of sustainable energy supply for individuals and communities.

A one-stop Desk Reference, for engineers involved in renewable energies; this is a book that will not gather dust on the shelf. It brings together the essential professional reference content from leading international contributors in the field. The full range of renewable energies are explored including solar, wind, geothermal and bioenergy.
* A hard-working Desk Reference, providing all the essential material needed by energy and environmental engineers on a day-to-day basis
* Fundamentals, key techniques, engineering best practice and rules-of-thumb together in one quick-reference sourcebook
* Definitive content by the leading authors in the field, including Bent Sorensen, Paul Breeze, Galen Suppes and Truman Storvick