Sustainability of power generation for developing economies: A systematic review of power sources mix

Abstract

With affordable and clean energy being one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG7), most developing economies are still caught up with the dilemma of inadequate power supply and heavy dependence on fossil fuel. This social menace is premised on rapid population growth, industrialization, modernization, etc. Even though these sources of power appear to be far-fetched from being sufficient, they are noted for creating a significant level of environmental pollution, global warming, and health-related risks. The Conference of Parties 26 (COP26) assembly held in Glasgow, United Kingdom, stressed the need to bring down the rising annual global temperatures to 1.5°, with developing economies having a significant role in achieving this target. This article has presented a review with insight into certain power generation metrics within the context of (SDG7). This span across the investigation of different energy modelling tools, their depth of effectiveness, the general pros and cons of energy policies premised on these tools, and progress made so far towards the development of an affordable and clean power sources mix in developing economies. A deduction was reached that there is an immense potential for power generation from affordable and clean energy sources as this bridges the enormous gap between power demand and supply as well as mitigates greenhouse gases (GHGs) effects.

Keywords

• Power generation
• Energy mix
• Sustainability
• Greenhouse gases
• Hydropower
• Bioenergy