Whilst Europe and the Western World have set targets to go &lsquo;carbon-neutral&rsquo; by 2050, the third World countries are oblivious. As usual, they don&rsquo;t see what goes on, until it&rsquo;s passed!<br />Achieving the &lsquo;zero-carbon&rsquo; status might be a long stretch for those in pursuit &ndash; particularly as embedded carbon is still an enigma; what can however, not be denied, are the positive impacts this venture will have on their environments, and energy economies.<br />Attaining carbon neutrality, not only needs political will; But it also requires financial capabilities too. Elements, that are far and few in the third World countries.<br />But I say, if we don&rsquo;t have the muscle, we can leverage on the brains!<br />On face value, we could easily point corruption, and the lack of political will, as the major reasons for the energy crisis in developing countries; A closer review will however, expose a greater depth to the wroth.<br />And whilst we can trade blames forever, on the negligence of governments and governmental institutions in finding smart solutions to energy problems in these regions; the facts do clearly show, that &lsquo;approach&rsquo; is more of a problem, than &lsquo;intent&rsquo;.<br />I have a theory that sees energy efficiency as a compulsory prerequisite to renewable energy deployments, before optimal value can be gotten from grid installations, in third World countries. This is a proven technique for energy savings, carbon reduction and energy sustainability. And the UK retrofit initiative, is a testament to this.<br />Currently, in developing Countries, emphasis is mostly placed on grid deployments. Having massive energy potential from the sunlight, doesn&rsquo;t necessarily translate into successes in Solar Photovoltaic grid installations; And the third World countries are fast realizing this.<br />I highlighted earlier, that we don&rsquo;t have the financial muscle of the western World. But what we&rsquo;re not in short of, is skills adaptation.<br />The retrofit agenda in the United Kingdom - though produces the desired energy results; could at times, be very capital intensive. And capital, is what we don&rsquo;t have in developing countries! Even when the capital is available, some other unsavory uses are found for them.<br />This then highlights the need for tailored energy efficiency approaches, that would be applicable for third World countries.<br />For starters; in developing countries, social amenities are often provided by the citizens themselves - with governments lacking in their basic responsibilities. Hence, it is unfeasible to expect home owners to single-handedly retrofit their homes, knowing fully well that the costs applicable, would be enormous.<br />In this book, I outlined simple ways through which, technicians, energy consultants, individual home owners and businesses in developing countries, can apply energy efficiency initiatives, before renewable energy installations are deployed.<br />This, will not only guarantee energy savings and the smarter use of energy; but will also start us, on our own national quests to carbon neutrality.