Energy efficiency, renewable energy, and smart systems integration provides a rapid path away from local and globally polluting energy systems.  This general assessment is particularly true for impoverished areas or those impacted by conflict.  This is the case because the mixture of energy efficiency and renewable energy can generally be deployed far more rapidly and in more distributed a fashion than traditional, centralized, energy systems.

Kosovo is particularly in need, and particularly amenable to this sort of “rapid and green” development plan.  This project, started to identify and quantify opportunities to choose a clean path instead of an ongoing fixation on coal, has now spread to examine both national and regional opportunities in Southeast Europe.