Integrating Energy Planning and Techno-Economic Development: A Solid Basis for the Assessment and Transfer of Energy Technology to Developing Countries

Introduction Developing countries which suffer from several technical and technological weaknesses and of under-developed socio-economic systems, also face energy shortages and inefficient energy systems. This situation gets worse if we take into account the high population growth rate in these countries. Such an enormous increase in population leads to a scramble for limited energy resources and increasingly causes environmental negative impacts (i.e. CO2 emission and global warming, natural resources depletion, deforestation) particularly those effects from consuming fossil fuels. There has been a steep reduction in oil prices since the middle of the 1980s caused by two main factors apart from political reasons: the development of alternative sources of energy, especially of renewable resources, and also the trend of efficient ways to use energy.