Renewable energy options for a Sahel country: Mali

This paper presents a critical appraisal of renewable energy options for Malian modern energy technologies. A critical review of different renewable energies is presented, some comparisons between the country and other Saharan countries are listed. The study shows that Mali energy is very poor compared with other Saharan countries and the level of firewood energy is very high and the one of modern energy is very low. The study also shows that only 10% of Malians have access to electricity, the rest depend on wood, charcoal, kerosene, and petrol for their energy needs. In term of renewable energy used, Mali's balance is better than some Saharan countries. That way can be appreciated just for the new promotion and sustainability of renewable energy policy targets of the country. As a poor Country Mali can more exploit it renewable energies to combat the poverty and especially in rural zone with very low rate of electricity about 1%. The utilization of the renewable energies can also be a good opportunity to fight the desertification and dryness in Mali which is about 60% of Malian territory.