Renewable electrification and sustainable industrialisation: Introduction

This book argues that debates about renewable electrification must move beyond their predominant focus on access to clean energy. Increased access to electricity makes important contributions to sustainable development but it does not produce the full range of co-benefits which can arise from green energy investments. The book argues that policy makers need to start focusing more heavily on questions of the development of local activities and capabilities in designing, constructing, and operating renewable electricity infrastructure. A key issue is the degree to which sustainable access to clean energy will be sustainable when these renewable energy supply mechanisms are often designed, constructed, operated, and maintained predominantly with foreign equipment, foreign financing, and foreign workers. This is what this book sets out to examine and discuss in the context of green industrialisation discourses. This chapter outlines the background to the sustainable industrialisation debate. It also specifies the objectives and provides an overview of the book and its key themes.