1. Developing countries  difficult to define  countries that are not industrialized  human development index HDI < 0.8  group far from uniform

2. Energy consumption and income level

3. Three subsets  least developed countries, or LDCs  heavily dependent on the official development assistance (ODA)  newly industrialized countries, or NICs  high GDP growth rates  other DCs  set of countries that remains quite heterogeneous but nevertheless share enough common features

4. High rate of population growth  2 % per year against 0.6 % in industrialized countries  DCs: very diverse and evolving reality  internal discrepancies that may be higher than those that distinguish them from industrialized countries

5. Dual societies  modern sector  quite similar to that of industrialized countries  elites, big cities  commercial energy sources, including oil  traditional sector  agricultural and pastoral economy  disinherited masses, rural and city slums  free and locally available energy (firewood, vegetable waste, wind, draft animals, etc.)

6. Non-commercial energy  67% in Africa  80% in sub-Saharan Africa  55% in Asia  32% in China  18% in Latin America

7. Oil-importing DCs  more strongly affected than industrialized countries by the oil shocks  lack of energy networks  inter-energy substitution limitations  oil is the most appropriate energy source

8. Energy problems of the poorest  residents of rural areas  in 2011, 53.5% of the DCs population  unsufficient rural electrification programs  cooking largely supported by firewood or charcoal  poor sanitary conditions  lighting provided by oil lamps, harmful to health

9. Energy problems of the poorest  inhabitants of the cities, including slums  rather low standard of living  but access to commercial energy

10. Firewood crisis  more than 2.7 billion people use firewood  1980: over 100 million people lived in areas with a shortage of firewood  5% of tropical forests are destroyed every ten years  annual rate of deforestation: 13 million hectares  in cities, charcoal preferentially to firewood  higher heating value  ease of transport over long distances and of storage

11. International programs  increasing the productivity of existing resources  creating new forests through reforestation programs  organizing the distribution of firewood  improving conversion techniques

12. Inconclusive results  inadequate programs  in 1980, the plantations in the Sahel were 32 times lower than necessary  considerable socio-cultural difficulties  disappointing improved stoves  difficulties to disseminate technological change in traditional rural societies  subsistence economy outside the monetized sphere

13. Substitution by LPG

14. Commercial energy needs  transport  urbanization  industrialization  electrification

15. Transport  need for mobility  significant decline of vehicle prices  almost captive market for oil  electric vehicles (including motorcycles)  reduce fuel consumption  reduce pollution in cities  master new sectors of a promising technology

16. Urbanization  large rural exodus  since 2008, 50% of the world population lives in cities (more than 80% in 2030)  substitution by commercial energy  air conditioning

17. Industrialization  relatively low energy efficiencies  prerequisite on the path of development

18. Electrification  growing much faster than GDP  major social impact  lighting  television (provides a first access to information and culture)  possibility of storing medical drugs  small household appliances  main obstacle: cost of electrification programs

19. Characteristics of DCs  oil crisis  crisis of traditional fuels  strong rural component  industry in building  lack of infrastructure  transport heavily dependent on oil