There is also growing interest in using environmentally advanced distributed power for grid-connected applications. For example, residential hydrogen fuel cells can provide all the electricity needed for a household, and even power surrounding houses through the grid. Such systems can be targeted to areas with transmission and distribution constraints to avoid costly grid infrastructure upgrades.
Reliable grid power is still the exception rather than the rule for most Africans, especially in rural areas. DES provides an opportunity for these nations to provide electricity cost-effectively to previously inaccessible populations while reducing environmental costs and improving national economic efficiency.
The DES Forum allowed participants to investigate these and other related questions. Due to the high cost of international travel, interested students based outside South Africa had to compete for travel funds by submitting relevant papers. This catalyzed important research on the applicability of the DES model in the African context. In addition to looking at case studies of DES projects, papers prepared for the Forum investigated the potential for various emerging DES technologies in Africa, the economics of the DES model in a developing country context, and the implications for DES of the existing regulatory and policy environment in South Africa and Kenya. A select subset of these papers may be published in an edited volume.
During the Forum, the wide range of presentations stimulated productive debate and generated a set of specific ideas to help African countries benefit from DES. A summary of these recommendations is expected to be published in a newsletter that is widely accessible to policy makers. It is hoped that this timely input will help South Africa and its sister nations in Africa take full advantage of the environmental, social and economic potential of DES.
The DESA SYLFF Forum provided a unique opportunity for students working in the emerging field of energy and development to exchange information and ideas regarding academic programs and career paths. The Forum also successfully introduced graduate students at SYLFF institutions to the technical, economic, environmental, and policy aspects of DES. Most importantly, the relationships forged during the Forum should yield important future collaboration on the subject among SYLFF students from Africa, the United States and Europe.
