Currently, wind-power systems are increasingly being integrated into networks for several families or a village. The utilization range has enlarged step by step, to include its use by frontier stations, road maintenance squads, microwave stations, meteorological observatories, island fishermen, navigation lamps on rivers and seas, etc. The concept of hybrid systems i.e., multi-energy sources can compensate each other. After realizing that the hydrogen is the cleanest available energy infrastructure of the future, industrialized nations have voted in the United Nations to start preparing standards for hydrogen technology. Therefore, African researchers and policy makers must make an effort to participate in this new energy resource.
Biomass fuels supply more than any other fuel sources in Africa.
Fuelwood is the most affordable form of energy for rural inhabitants, and it has been persistently the commonest energy option for these people. This situation contributes significantly to deforestation, an activity also closely associated with land clearing for agriculture. Fuelwood is also an important source of energy for small scale rural industries and for agriculture which uses it mainly for crop drying, particularly tobacco curing. The continued decline in the reliability of rainfall, and hence, in agricultural production in the rural areas, has brought about various initiative on alternative sources of income such as brick making, beer brewing and bakeries, which are supported primarily by fuelwood. In the power generation sector, the potential of biomass energy crops and plantations depends on the land area available, the harvestable yield, its energy content, improved conversion efficiency and the co-generation technology used.