Electrification of Rural Areas: Energy Justice, Challenges, and Possible Solutions

Access to modern energy technologies is necessary for socioeconomic development of communities worldwide. Electricity is essential for providing education, improving health and hygiene, enhancing safety, creating job opportunities, and development of local industries. Although access to energy has not yet been established as a basic human right, it is considered as a derived human right. Rural communities are often the ones being impacted by energy injustice in the form of lack of access to reliable power. These communities are typically scattered over large geographical areas and are far away from the nearby cities, which makes electrification projects challenging due to the high capital costs and low rate of return. However, with the latest advances in distributed and renewable energy resources, off-grid systems are being considered as an emerging solution for rural electrification. In addition, mobile energy storage systems are gaining attention to overcome energy injustice in rural areas. In this paper, the concept of energy justice and the corresponding challenges are discussed along with existing and potential solutions to overcome injustice in access to electricity.