Abstract As analysis of the energy situation in rural areas in developing countries has shown that the major cause of the prevailing energy crisis is the shortage of organic fuel (biomass). To cope with this crisis, therefore, technologies must be sought either to enhance biomass resources or to substitute for them. As the majority of the population in rural areas are poor, the technologies applied should not only meet energy needs; they must also be geared to particular economic and sociocultural conditions. Technically efficient, decentralized systems for the utilization of renewable energy can help in this by raising the availability of organic fuel resources (biomass) and meeting the demand for higher quality energy. Despite their advantages, however, there has as yet been no widespread dissemination of these technologies. The main reasons for this are discussed, and some precepts are presented upon which, it is argued, a strategy for overcoming these obstacles should be based.