Sustainable domestic lighting options for poor people—an empirical study

The availability of sustainable and reasonably priced sources of energy for lighting is a prerequisite for the development of rural India. This study attempts to take a close look at the micro-level energy scene and its various options for domestic lighting, considering socio-economic condition of the poor people in rural areas. The concept of calculating levelized cost as cost per 300 lumen-hour is applied on source–device combinations of lighting and validated in Bargaon Community Development Block of Sundergarh District in Odisha, India, for finding out the low-priced energy sources for sufficient lighting. It is revealed that LED and CFL through solar photovoltaic and electricity should be the best choice of domestic lighting. Most of the households (97 %), even electrified, use kerosene regularly. There is a huge potential of biogas and solar photovoltaic which can overcome the problem of power cut, indoor pollution, carbon emission, etc. Supporting electrification to all households, this study is also justifying about efficient devices and off-grid power generation through SPV for all households and biogas for possible 2300 households. Government should immediately intervene, providing capital subsidy, micro-finance schemes, other credit mechanisms, training to local youths, etc. with adequate infrastructure and organizational development to make the clean energy such as solar home lighting system and biogas plant affordable and accessible by the poor villagers.     

Distribution of improved cook stoves: analysis of field experiments using strategic niche management theory

Close to three billion people globally and over 800 million in India are dependent on direct combustion of unprocessed solid biomass fuels in inefficient traditional mud stoves. Current cooking practices, besides causing serious health problems, are also being linked to emissions of climate change and pollution agents such as black carbon and ozone precursors. In India several initiatives have been taken up to tackle the problem but the present trajectory of limited technical and social change in cooking energy use is nonetheless persistent in rural areas. In order to develop and scale up alternative cooking technology options, we have analyzed, using the principles of strategic niche management, two projects implemented by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in nine villages in India. The assessment, while highlighting reasons for stability of the current cooking regime, also points to triggers that can destabilize the regime. The focus is also on assessing the influence of protection in the form of subsidies on the process of transition. User preferences relating to social and technical aspects have been analyzed, pointing to forced draft cookstoves as the preferred option notwithstanding cost reductions to address affordability concerns. The assessment indicates that while it is critically important to understand and address the preferences of users and to improve the technology, scaling up will depend on stove cost reduction through further research. Creativity in effective financing schemes and support structures put in place by fostering public–private partnerships are also needed.     

Fuelwood assessment at the micro-watershed level:a case study in Garhwal Himalaya,India

Biomass,as fuelwood,is one of the major sources of energy in rural areas,especially in the mountainous regions of the world.As the increasing human population exerts more pressure on the forest thereby inducing an adverse effect on the sustainability of the ecosystem,which consequently causes fuelwood crisis at a local level,this crisis is spatio-temporal in nature.Thus,the major objective of this study is to assess the sustainability of fuelwood at different probable scenarios at a micro watershed level.The present study was conducted in the Phakot watershed,the Tehri Garhwal district of central Himalaya in India,during 2006-2008.Based on the vegetation composition in the study area,the net primary productivity(NPP)value of the Oak forest,and mixed oak and sal forests,was used for the quantification of fuelwood availability in evergreen and deciduous forests,respectively.The fuelwood demand was calculated on the basis of seasonal fuelwood consumption values.Nine probable permutations for availability-demand scenarios assuming the existence of high(H),low(L)and average(A)conditions were analyzed for evaluating the stress.The available annual harvestable fuelwood in the watershed is in the minimum and maximum ranges of 2283.28 to 4066.00 tons,respectively,per year whereas it has a demand of 110.76 tons as the minimum to 3659 tons as the maximum annually.This shows that in the current availabilitydemand scenario,the watershed does not have fuelwood crisis in the present situation but needs to maintain the sustainability of the system.Based on our study,it is concluded that,globally,more spatio-temporal study is required to understand the issues at the local level.     

中国北方农牧区生存性碳排放特征与实证

以中国北方农牧区的内蒙古通辽地区为例,结合实地问卷调查,研究农牧民家庭生存性碳排放特征。研究提出了农牧民家庭生存碳排放评估指标体系,其中能源产品和非能源产品成为农牧民家庭生存性碳排放的两大来源。计算了农牧民人均能源消费碳排放量及食物消费碳排放量。研究结果表明:在能源方面,农牧民家庭生存性碳排放构成呈能源消费主导型,2008年,该区人均生存性碳排放总量为1 040.36 kg,其中矿物燃料、用电消费碳排放分别占总生存性碳排放的45.53%和30%;受传统生活方式影响,家庭用能结构粗放,以矿物化石能及一次生物质能为主,电能使用比例相对较低。在食物方面,农牧民家庭食物消费结构渐趋低碳化,2008年和2009年人均食物消费总碳排放量分别为78.42 kg和76.67 kg,以粮食消费占主导,占总消费量的60%;2009年与2008年比较,含碳量较高的粮食和食用油消费分别降低4%和3.8%。该区农牧民人均食物消费碳排放量只是美国的39.2%,英国的49.6%,日本的72%,属基本生存线碳排放。     

Evaluation of exposure reduction to indoor air pollution in stove intervention projects in Peru by urinary biomonitoring of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon metabolites

Burning biomass fuels such as wood on indoor open-pit stoves is common in developing regions. In such settings, exposure to harmful combustion products such as fine particulate matter (PM(2.5)), carbon monoxide (CO) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is of concern. We aimed to investigate if the replacement of open pit stoves by improved stoves equipped with a chimney would significantly reduce exposure to PAHs, PM(2.5) and CO. Two stove projects were evaluated in Peru. Program A was part of the Juntos National Program in which households built their own stoves using materials provided. In Program B, Barrick Gold Corporation hired a company to produce and install the stoves locally. A total of 30 and 27 homes participated in Program A and B, respectively. We collected personal and kitchen air samples, as well as morning urine samples from women tasked with cooking in the households before and after the installation of the improved stoves. Median levels of PM(2.5) and CO were significantly reduced in kitchen and personal air samples by 47-74% after the installation of the new stoves, while the median reduction of 10 urinary hydroxylate PAH metabolites (OH-PAHs) was 19%-52%. The observed OH-PAH concentration in this study was comparable or higher than the 95th percentile of the general U.S. population, even after the stove intervention, indicating a high overall exposure in this population.     

Levellised electricity cost for wind and PV–diesel hybrid system in Oman at selected sites

Solar and wind energy data available for Oman indicate that these two resources are likely to play an important role in the future energy generation in this country. In this paper, a model is designed to assess wind and solar power cost per kWh of energy produced using different sizes of wind machines and photovoltaic (PV) panels at two sites in Oman, which then can be generalised for other locations in Oman. Hourly values of wind speed and solar radiation recorded for several years are used for these locations. The wind profiles from Thumrait and Masirah island are modelled using the Weibull distribution. The cost of wind-based energy is calculated for both locations using different sizes of turbines. Furthermore, this paper presents a study carried out to investigate the economics of using PV only and PV with battery as an energy fuel saver in two villages. The results show that the PV energy utilisation is an attractive option with an energy cost of the selected PV ranges between 0.128 and 0.144 $/kWh at 7.55% discount rate compared to an operating cost of 0.128–0.558 $\kWh for diesel generation, considering the capital cost of diesel units as sunk.     

Pollutant emission rates from indoor combustion appliances and sidestream cigarette smoke

Particulate and gaseous emissions from indoor combustion appliances and smoking can elevate the indoor concentrations of various pollutants. Indoor pollutant concentrations resulting from operating one of several combustion appliances, or from sidestream tobacco smoke, were measured in a 27-m³ environmental chamber under varying ventilation rates. The combustion appliances investigated were gas-fired cooking stoves, unvented kerosene-fired space heaters, and unvented natural-gas-fired space heaters. Results showed elevated levels of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde, and suspended particles from one or more of the pollutant sources investigated. Our findings suggest that, of the sources examined in this study, nitrogen dioxide from combustion appliances and particles from sidestream cigarette smoke are the most serious contaminants of indoor air, if we use existing standards and guidelines as the criteria. An emission rate model was used to quantify the strengths of the pollutant sources, which are reported in terms of the mass of pollutant emitted per energy unit of fuel consumed (in the case of gas and kerosene appliances) and per mass of tobacco combusted (in the case of smoking).     

Invasive alien species as drivers in socio-ecological systems: local adaptations towards use of Lantana in Southern India

Lantana camara. L (hereafter Lantana) was first introduced by the British into India in 1807 as an ornamental plant. Since then the species has spread across the length and breadth of the country. Attempts to control Lantana in India have not been successful. In this study, we analysed the use of Lantana by local communities in southern India and identified the possible causes and consequences of its use through the use of a household survey of the socio-economic profile of the user and nonuser households and an analysis of the ecological history of the communities. Communities have been using Lantana for over 25–30 years and apparently such use was not prompted by external agencies. The characteristics of user and nonuser households were similar, except that Lantana users were more literate and had a greater number of occupations per household than nonusers. Per capita income was similar between user and nonuser groups. For nonuser groups, their main income sources were from trading (44 %), wage labour (32 %) and forest resources (23 %). In contrast, the Lantana user groups substituted their loss of income from forest resources (7 %) by income from Lantana (46 %). The ecological history revealed that Lantana was adopted as a resource at a time when it was increasing in the landscape and traditional bamboo resources were in decline because of overuse by commercial enterprises and mast flowering. This change in ecological resource availability prompted a major shift in livelihoods for some in the area.     

Environmental health, development and economic empowerment of rural women in Nigeria

Sustainable development is a process that has social, cultural, economic and ecological dimensions. The necessity of improving the quality of life of rural women in terms of socio-economic aspects in developing countries like Nigeria is the aim of this study. The study was carried out in four villages of Tonkere district (Okeake, Abagboro, Elefon and Akiri), situated on expansive university land at Ile-Ife and typical of rural settings in Nigeria. Data were generated from group meetings, local government and individual interviews and surveys. In rural Nigeria, women’s essential contributions to overall environmental health, development and economy are negatively influenced by domestic tasks such as gathering of fuel woods and biomass for cooking. In reality, wood burning, kerosene stoves, and open fireplaces emit significant quantities of known health-damaging pollutants. The significant emissions of health-damaging pollutants per unit activity, combined with daily use in close proximity to rural human populations mean household biomass fuel use exposes total population to important pollutants resulting in ill-health and premature dead. Application of solar energy collectors and hosts of solar devices is an alternative energy sources in rural areas that could best improve women’s health, socially and economically, and positively add to ecological dimensions. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

Fuelwood assessment at micro-watershed level in Northeast Himalaya: a case study in Manipur,India

Fuelwood is one of the major sources of energy in the domestic sector across the rural areas, especially in the developing regions across the world. The Northeastern Himalayan state of Manipur is dominated by the tribal population that largely depends on fuelwood from the nearby forest area. The entire dependence on forests for energy resources is affecting the sustainability of the forest ecosystem in the region, thus indicating the livelihood conditions. Since land-use land-cover change is the key driver to the change in resource availability of a region, the present study has tried to analyze the land-cover changes over a period 28 years. The second major component affecting resource availability is the increasing population pressure that leads to changes in the land dynamics, which directly affect the resource production. Based on the existing consumption pattern, the total consumption of fuelwood in the watershed ranges from a minimum of 289.992 tons/year to a maximum of 3545.719 tons/year with an average of 1561.956 tons/year in the year 2009 and simulated fuelwood consumption for the year 2021 is around 1469.260 tons/year. Nine different probable scenarios of resource are proposed to calculate the stress value that can be used by the policy-makers and planners for suitable policy implementation at the micro level with a complex social system.     

Fuelwood consumption in two tribal villages of the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve of the Indian Himalaya and strategies for fuelwood sustainability

Fuelwood is the only important source of energy in the mountainous region of the Garhwal Himalaya, India. Since the commercial source of energy is generally beyond the reach of ordinary people due to their poor socio-economic conditions and due to limited supply and lack of communication facilities for transport of LPG, the villages of the inner region of the Garhwal Himalaya depend on their fuel requirement from the forest. In the present study, two villages of the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve in Uttarakhand part of the Indian Himalaya i.e. Lata and Dunagiri located at 2,415 and 3,600 m altitudes, respectively, were selected for the study of socio-economic profile and vegetation and for estimation of per capita fuelwood consumption and the degree of disturbance. The study was conducted from 2002–2005. The population of these villages is migratory and belongs to the Bhotiya community, a scheduled tribe consisting of two subgroups known as Tolcha and Marchha. They grow traditional crops as well as cash crops. Important tree species used for fuelwood include Cedrus deodara, Pinus wallichiana, Cupressus torulosa, Taxus wallichiana, Acer indicum, Quercus dilatata and Viburnum cotinifolium. Maximum density among trees was shown by Pinus wallichiana (169.6 trees ha⁻¹) in village Lata and by Cedrus deodara (89.6 trees ha⁻¹) in village Dunagiri. The average per capita consumption of fuelwood in villages Lata and Dunagiri was 4.03 and 4.77 kg capita⁻¹ day⁻¹. Maximum number of trees (29 and 31% lopping for Lata and Dunagiri, respectively) belonged to disturbance class 1 (1–20% lopping) followed by the disturbance class 2 (20–40% lopping). Due to location of these villages in the buffer zone of the biosphere reserve, the fuelwood consumption may cause an adverse impact on the ecological status of this reserve, which urgently requires employing strategies for the conservation and management of this biosphere in terms of fuelwood sustainability e.g. regulation of livestock stock and grazing, using alternative sources of fuels, plantation of multipurpose trees and adoption of ecotourism.     

Thermal performance of a central annular cavity vessel with fins of a box-type solar cooker

Solar cooker is an alternate device used for reducing the problems of energy supply for cooking needs, especially in rural households. Though solar cookers have been commercialised in rural and other domestic areas, further research is still required to enhance the efficiency of the solar cooker. Previous studies have helped to ascertain that the central annular cylindrical hole in the cooking vessel reduces the length of the heat-transfer path and provides higher heat-transfer rate to the water kept in the vessel. Convective heat transfer can be further increased by providing additional surface area in the cylindrical hole. This study proposes a new cooking vessel with central annular cavity and fins attachment that will help in increasing the heat-transfer rate to the cooking vessel. Experiments are conducted with three types of vessels, i.e. conventional cooking vessel, cooking vessel with central annular cavity and cooking vessel with rectangular fins in the central annular cavity. For the annular cavity with fins vessel, a peak temperature of 98°C is observed. The maximum temperature difference of 30°C has been observed between annular cavity vessel with fins and conventional vessel. As the height of the lug is also expected to play an important role, experiments are conducted to determine the effect of lug height on the heat transfer to the cooking vessel. This study indicates that a lug height of 9 mm is optimum for maximum heat transfer to the cooking vessel.     

Environmental and health impacts from the introduction of improved wood stoves: evidence from a field experiment in Guatemala

Improved wood-burning stoves offer a possible solution that can simultaneously impact both problems of deforestation and problems of respiratory health in developing countries. We carried out a field experiment in which new fuel-efficient woodstoves were allocated in a Guatemalan village via the use of a lottery. A 2008 baseline survey was carried out on 2,148 individuals in 351 households, and then a follow-up survey was carried out in 2009, 4 months after households received the stoves. We found that households with the new stoves reduced wood consumption by an average of 59.1%. We also found indications of reductions in indoor air related health problems, where point estimates indicate a significant reduction in reported respiratory symptoms by 48.6% among women and 63.3% among children.     

Community livelihood and its dependence on nature resources under pressure of conservation

Conflict between conservation and community livelihood is a significant issue in China.Based on Sustainable Livelihood Framework(SLA),this study systematically analyzed livelihoods assets of a community in a Yunnan snub-nosed monkey conservation area and found that the livelihood pentagon of the community was shaped by multiple but frail and unstable income sources,abundant natural resources with restricted use right,underutilized labors,inadequate financial resources,inconvenient physical capital and weak social capital.Villagers'income heavily depended on forest,and grazing and nontimber forest products(NTFP)collection are common and major income sources for villagers.However,differentiation of income dependence on forest among villagers'groups showed that there is no close correlation between the level of income and the level of income dependence on forest.Households'daily life also heavily depended on the forest due to heating and pig-feed cooking;hence,fuelwood cannot be easily replaced by any other energy resource for a long period.     

Energy conservation and waste utilization in the cement industry serve the green technology and environment

The cement industry is one of the most energy-intensive industries consuming 4 GJ/ton of cement, i.e. 12–15% of the energy use in total industry. Energy cost accounts for 30% of the total cost of cement production. Seventy-five per cent of this energy is due to the thermal energy for clinker production. It is also found that 35% of this supplied thermal energy is lost in flue gas streams. Most modern kilns use pet coke or coal as their primary fuel. Instead, the municipal waste in landfills offer a cheap source of energy and reduce the environmental effects of dumping solid waste. The calcination and drying processes and the kiln need large quantities of thermal energy. About 40% of the total energy input is lost in the hot flue gases and cooling the stack plus the kiln shell. Hence, it is suitable to use an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) to recover the exhaust energy from the kiln. Alternatively, a 15 MW gas turbine engine combined with a steam turbine could be utilized. It was found that ORC produces 5 MW with a capital cost recovery period of 1.26 years. However, the gas turbine combined system produces 21.45 MW with a maximum recovery period of 2.66 years.     

Stand-alone hybrid energy system for sustainable development in rural India

Renewable energy system such as solar, wind, small hydro and biogas generators can be used successfully in rural off-grid locations where grid connection is not possible. The main objectives of this study are to examine which configuration is the most cost-effective for the village. One renewable energy model has been developed for supplying electric power for 124 rural households of an off-grid rural village in eastern India. The load demand of the village was determined by the survey work, and the loads were divided into three sub-heads such as primary load I, primary load II and deferred load. Locally available energy sources such as solar radiation and biogas derived from cow dung and kitchen wastes were used as sensitivity variables. This study is unique as it has not considered any diesel generator for supplying unmet electricity to the households; rather it completely depends on locally available renewable resources. Here in this paper, two different models were taken and their cost and environmental benefit were discussed and compared. The net present cost, levelised cost of energy and operating cost for various configurations of models were determined. The minimum cost of energy of $0.476/kWh with lowest net present cost of $386,971 and lowest operating cost ($21,025/year) was found with stand-alone solar–biogas hybrid system.     

Use patterns of natural resources supporting livelihoods of smallholder communities and implications for climate change adaptation in Zimbabwe

Declining crop and livestock production due to a degrading land resource base and changing climate among other biophysical and socio-economic constraints, is increasingly forcing rural households in Zimbabwe and other parts of Southern Africa to rely on common natural resource pools (CNRPs) to supplement their household food and income. Between 2011 and 2013, we combined farmer participatory research approaches, remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) to (1) understand the contribution of CNRPs to household food and income in Dendenyore and Ushe smallholder communities in Hwedza District, eastern Zimbabwe and (2) assess changes of the CNRPs in both space and time, and their implications on climate change adaptation. Across study sites, wetlands and woodlands were ranked as the most important CNRPs. Extraction and use patterns of products from the different pools differed among households of different resource endowment. Resource-constrained households (RG3) sold an average of 183 kg household^?1 year^?1 of wild loquats fruits (Uapaca kirkiana), realising about US$48, while resource-endowed farmers (RG1) had no need to sale any. The RG3 households also realised approximately US$70 household^?1 year^?1 from sale of crafts made from water reeds (Phragmites mauritianus). Empirical data closely supported communities’ perceptions that CNRPs had declined significantly in recent years compared with two to three decades ago. More than 60 % of the respondents perceived that the availability of natural resources drawn from wetlands and woodlands, often used for food, energy and crafts, has decreased markedly since the 1980s. Classification of land cover in a GIS environment indicated that CNRPs declined between 1972 and 2011, supporting farmers’ perceptions. Overall, woodlands declined by 37 % in both communities, while the total area under wetlands decreased by 29 % in Ushe, a drier area and 49 % in Dendenyore, a relatively humid area. The over-reliance in CNRPs by rural communities could be attributed to continued decline in crop yields linked to increased within-season rainfall variability, and the absence of alternative food and income sources. This suggests limited options for rural communities to adapt to the changing food production systems in the wake of climate change and variability and other challenges such as declining soil fertility. There is therefore a need to design adaptive farm management options that enhance both crop and livestock production in a changing climate as well as identifying other livelihood alternatives outside agriculture to reduce pressure on CNRPs. In addition, promotion of alternative sources of energy such as solar power and biogas among rural communities could reduce the cutting of trees for firewood from woodlands.