ABSTRACT
Small island developing states (SIDS) and comparable small insular territories are of limited sizes, possess vulnerable economies, rely on a limited local resource base and are environmentally fragile. Among several other constraints to their development is that, while they usually do not possess fossil fuel resources, they nonetheless rely principally on them to fulfill their energy needs. This is exactly what is found in the small island states and territories of the South-West Indian Ocean where fossil fuels account for some three quarters of the combined total primary energy consumption of Comoros, Mauritius, Mayotte, Reunion and Seychelles. This chapter provides a study area that includes the SIDS of Comoros, Mauritius and Seychelles as well as the French Overseas Department of Reunion and Departmental Collectivity of Mayotte. In the studied small islands, energy consumption is characterised by a rapid growth that is related to the combination of population growth, economic development and the increasing ratio of energy consumption per inhabitant.
