The purpose of this work is to examine specific features of thermal and photovoltaic solar systems and their contribution to the sustainable tourism development of Mediterranean islands. In doing so, the best practices are studied and the factors which influence the transfer of these practices...

Women are the main producers of energy in developing countries and households are the main users of energy. Because gender roles and traditions have been largely ignored in energy, the global potential for renewable energy has been negatively affected. However, microcredit lending could fund...

There are now several concentrated solar thermal technologies (CSP), such as parabolic troughs and central receivers using various heat transfer media, that have reached the phase of initial commercial deployment for large-scale power production. Information about cost, performance and impact on...

The complexities related to the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) are considered quite high and only a relatively low percentage of the existing potential has been exploited in the developing world. Israel obtains a significant unexploited potential, especially regarding Renewable Energy Sources...

The necessity of minimizing environmental impacts of energy use, particularly those with potentially worrisome global effects, is perhaps the greatest challenge resulting from the twentieth century's energy advances. The renewable energy technologies of wind, biofuels, solar thermal and...

Rural electrification to help rural communities improve their quality of life needs to be designed in a sustainable manner with the intention of keeping village culture and environment from eroding. Micro-hydropower systems (MHS), especially run-of river schemes, are examples of renewable energy...

Yunnan is one of the less developed provinces in China, but has abundant energy resources, and is an ideal destination for tourists around the world due to its perfect climate and unique sightseeing resorts. However, energy consumption in rural households relies mainly on straw (12.15%),...

The consensus of the '92 Rio summit was that all development should aim for non-depletion of the earth's resources.The major growth region for the next decade is SE Asia and particularly the cities of South China for which Hong Kong is a role model with its dense urban construction. Recent Hong...

In order to improve living environment for the villages in Tibetan areas of Yunnan, this paper takes Shangri-La’s wooden architecture as research objects, analyses the site selection, plane layout, facade design, building materials and fabric detail of traditional rural housing by...

The complicated nature of regional development requires a more integrated approach to reflect its systematic picture. Multi-scale integrated analysis of societal metabolism (MSIASM) is such an approach as it integrates economic, social and ecological dimension. In this paper, we employ such an...