ABSTRACT
Globally, fossil fuels account for about two-thirds of electricity generating capacity, with the remaining third being almost all large hydro or nuclear, and only about 3 per cent of the total being from renewable energy sources (Marti-not, 2002). Given this scheme's generation background, during the past decades two developments have served as catalysts for change in the national energy policies of countries throughout the globe. On the one hand, the steadily increasing demand for electrical energy has created requirements for new capital investments that exceeded the ability of governments to provide, and on the other hand the growing concern about local and global environmental degradation, resulting from the burning of fossil fuels and their effect on global warming and other air pollution problems, has created pressure to spend funds to address these issues.
