however replicating the development path of industrialized countries based almost exclusively on fossil fuels would result in a level of emissions that would preclude reaching meaningful global targets with respect to emissions reductions renewable energies could in theory address both issues allowing developing countries to develop while limiting the growth in emissions from that part of the world such causality is best demonstrated at the micro level there is a wide body of literature showing how access to energy especially clean cooking energy and electricity radically improves livelihoods and basic development indicators