Electricity is a modern source of energy that is absent in many parts of the world especially in Sub-Saharan Africa where more than two thirds of the population are living without electricity. Cameroon, which is the focus of this case study, also has a low electricity access rate; 56.8% of its total population according to World Bank statistics. To mitigate this energy poverty approximately 70% of Cameroonians continue to use traditional biofuel energy for cooking, heating, and lighting such as fuelwood and coal. Biofuels are a type of renewable energy (RE) however, traditional energy use has detrimental health and environmental consequences especially in face of climate change, which creates questions on their continued sustainability. Furthermore, although Cameroon is rich in other renewable energy resources such as hydro energy and holds unharnessed solar potential, the country has failed to increase modern energy access to its population. These problems with RE development in Cameroon highlight that more concern should be accorded to sustainable energy development in order to maximize the benefits and decrease the environmental and social costs of energy development from both conventional (oil and gas) as well as renewable energy sources.