This book emphasizes the critical need for a multi-dimensional approach to tackling energy poverty, advocating for an integrated strategy that addresses three interconnected dimensions: availability, accessibility, and affordability. It introduces a robust Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) framework based on a dynamic model that links off-grid energy supply to rural households primarily engaged in crop farming as a key economic activity.
The framework leverages the Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NDSGA-II), a powerful multi-objective optimization technique, to balance the trade-offs between costs and revenues, ensuring the sustainable delivery of energy services to rural communities. By underscoring the interplay between availability, accessibility, and affordability, the approach reveals that while costs are primarily associated with securing energy availability, revenues are essential for enhancing both accessibility and affordability.
This comprehensive and holistic strategy offers an innovative solution to the multifaceted challenges of energy poverty in rural areas, ensuring long-term sustainability and economic viability.
Need for Low Carbon Electricity Systems.- Access to Electricity:
Fundamental Challenges.- Optimised Electricity Systems.- Policy Analysis.-
Economic and Social Benefits.
Pitshou Ntambu Bokoro, Ph.D., is Distinguished Academic and Researcher in electrical engineering. He earned his bachelor's degree from the Durban University of Technology in 2006, followed by a masters from the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in 2011 and a Ph.D. from the University of the Witwatersrand in 2016. Dr. Bokoro's career at UJ began in 2007 as Lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering Technology. He has since advanced to Senior Lecturer, Head of Department, and Associate Professor and currently serves as Head of school. He is registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) and is Senior Member of SAIEE and IEEE. Additionally, he is Specialist Editor for the SAIEE Africa Research Journal (ARJ) and Book Series Editor for CRC Press, Taylor & Francis. As Mentor, he has supervised over 20 masters and nine Ph.D. students to completion and continues to oversee eight masters and seven doctoral candidates.
Gulshan Sharma, Ph.D., is Accomplished Academic and Researcher with over 17 years of experience in electrical engineering and power systems. He earned his B.Tech. from Punjab Technical University in 2007, an M.Tech. in electrical power system management from Jamia Millia Islamia University in 2009, and a Ph.D. from the Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur, in 2015. Dr. Sharma completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Pretoria from 2015 to 2016. He is currently Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering Technology at UJ, having previously
served as Senior Lecturer at the Durban University of Technology (DUT), where he chaired the Departmental Research Committee and represented the Faculty Research Committee. He serves as Academic Editor for the International Transactions on Electrical Energy Systems and the Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Dr. Sharma has secured research funding from esteemed agencies and published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters.
