TY - JOUR A1 - Mehta, Kedar A1 - Ehrenwirth, Mathias A1 - Trinkl, Christoph A1 - Zörner, Wilfried A1 - Greenough, Richard T1 - The energy situation in Central Asia BT - Energies T2 - a comprehensive energy review focusing on rural areas N2 - The northern part of the globe is dominated by industrialisation and is well-developed. For many years, the southern part of the world (South Asia, Africa etc.) has been a target of research concentrating on access to energy (mainly electricity) in rural regions. However, the Central Asian region has not been a focus of energy research compared to South East Asia and Africa. Despite plentiful domestically available energy resources, the energy supply in Central Asia is very unevenly distributed between urban and rural areas. Almost half of the total population of Central Asia lives in rural areas and there is a lack of access to modern energy services to meet primary needs. To analyse the energy situation (i.e., electricity, heating, hot water consumption, cooking, etc.) in rural Central Asia, this paper reviews residential energy consumption trends in rural Central Asian regions as compared to urban areas. Furthermore, the paper illustrates the potential of renewable energies in Central Asia. To perform the study, a qualitative comparative analysis was conducted based on a literature review, data, and statistical information. In summary, the presented article discusses the rural energy situation analytically and provides in-depth insights of Central Asian energy infrastructure. KW - Central Asia KW - energy resources KW - rural energy supply KW - energy services KW - renewable energy Y1 - 2021 UR - https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-haw/frontdoor/index/index/docId/1090 UR - https://doi.org/10.3390/en14102805 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:bvb:573-10908 SN - 1996-1073 VL - 14 IS - 10 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER -