Faster than You Think: Renewable Energy and Developing Countries

Posted: 14 Oct 2019

See all articles by Channing Arndt

Channing Arndt

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Doug Arent

Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis

Faaiqa Hartley

Independent

Bruno Merven

University of Cape Town (UCT)

Md. Alam Hossain Mondal

Daffodil International University

Date Written: October 2019

Abstract

Since 2007, large and unexpected declines in generation costs for renewable energy systems, particularly solar but also wind, combined with policy measures designed to limit greenhouse gas emissions, have created a paradigm shift in energy systems. Variable renewable energy now dominates total investment in electricity power generation systems. This dominance of variable renewable energy in investment has thrust the systems integration task of matching electricity supply with demand to center stage, presenting new challenges for energy policy and planning as well as for the institutional organization of power systems. Despite these challenges, there is ample reason to believe that variable renewables will attain very high levels of penetration into energy systems, particularly in regions well endowed with solar and wind potential. Similar to their success with mobile phone telephony, many developing countries have a significant opportunity to leapfrog directly to more advanced energy technologies that are low cost, reliable, environmentally more benign, and well suited to serving dispersed rural populations.

Suggested Citation

Arndt, Channing and Arent, Doug and Hartley, Faaiqa and Merven, Bruno and Mondal, Md. Alam Hossain, Faster than You Think: Renewable Energy and Developing Countries (October 2019). Annual Review of Resource Economics, Vol. 11, Issue 1, pp. 149-168, 2019, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3468076 or http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-resource-100518-093759

Channing Arndt (Contact Author)

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) ( email )

1201 Eye St, NW,
Washington, DC 20005
United States

Doug Arent

Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis ( email )

15013 Denver West Parkway
Golden, CO 80401
United States

Faaiqa Hartley

Independent ( email )

Bruno Merven

University of Cape Town (UCT) ( email )

Private Bag X3
Rondebosch, Western Cape 7701
South Africa

Md. Alam Hossain Mondal

Daffodil International University ( email )

102 Shukrabad, Mirpur Road
Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1207
Bangladesh

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Abstract Views
261
PlumX Metrics