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by Douglas F. Barnes (Author)
Most people don't think much about electricity. They just flick a switch to light a room or turn on their computers to browse the internet. This is not true for over one billion of the poorest people in the world, who incredibly still do not enjoy the advantages of having electricity. Despite much progress, even today many still question the exact nature of electricity's benefits for the world's poor? Is rural electrification important for education and quality of life? Does it improve rural productivity? Can the poor afford electricity? The new edition of the classic book Electric Power for Rural Growth answers these questions and more. This second edition of a classic study on the impact of rural electrification on development is entirely rewritten. The book is faithful to the original household surveys from India, Colombia and Indonesia, but has a brand new chapter summarizing current research and tracing the development of benefit evaluation techniques over three decades. With the new international mandate to provide Sustainable Energy for All, Electric Power for Rural growth is perhaps more important today than when it was first published several decades ago.
Author Biography
Douglas Barnes has been involved in rural energy, household energy and international development issues for the last 30 years. First at Resources for the Future and later at the World Bank he worked on issues of energy, environment and equity in many different developing countries, and has continually been involved in the development and implementation of innovative household surveys. His many books and papers have changed the way international agencies have developed programs for rural electrification, renewable energy, biomass stoves and household energy. He won many honors for his work.
