Alternate Energy

The objective of this research is to find future scenario for energy in rural India.
That may include energy generation, accumulation, transportation, distribution,
consumption, valorization, etc. Future scenarios also need to respond to the
issue of socio-economical and environmental sustainability.

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Energy- Mind Map

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User research - Tools and techniques
User research play a major role
in understanding peoples social
aspiration and technological
requirement. We have been
participating to the life of Indian
villagers to identify future
scenario of energy.
Interviewing
Using an interview protocol we
interviewed people about
technologies and their social
aspirations. We tried to
understand the way they
envisage the future for them and
their children.
Exploring
Pictures helps in revealing
peoples aspirations. It also helps
in confirming if people are
coherent with what they said.
For this particular project we
also used a picture set call
“energy timeline” for the user to
compare different sources of
energy.
Observing
Observing remains the best way
to understand how people do
things and why they do so. We
followed rural users in their daily
activity. Captured activities that
are relevant for future energy
scenarios.
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Social Trend- Mapping

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 Existing energy – Cow Dung

Gorakh Bohate collects cow His wife Chandrabagha, carries These cow dung cakes are dried
Function
dung from the shed. this dung to a place where she using the solar energy.
Cooking, Walls & Flooring- shapes it in circular format.
Cooling effect, Religious,
Manure, Business
Revenue, Construction,
Gas production, Vermi
culture.

Experience
Smell, Authentic,
Traditional, Ecological,
Aborigine. A lot of these cakes apart from These cost effective cakes are The remaining ash left after
the house are stored in a dome used by her for cooking cooking which is primarily used
Limit shaped structure, which is purposes. for cleaning the utensils.
Storage for the season, covered by plastic for the rains.
Needs to be dried,
Dependence on the cattle,.
Pressure Point: It is labour intensive and large storage and drying place.
Challenge
Lot of labour required,
Space for drying & storing Chock Point: It gives out smoke while cooking and is completely dependent
is required, Gives Smoke. on cattle.

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 Existing energy – Wood

Pappu Karade’s wife Rohini This wood is then collected in an Rohini and the other females of
Function
collects wood from farm area outside their house which the house use wood majorly for
Cooking, Heating the backyards or nearby jungles and can be used later. the cooking purposes.
house, Carpentry & then carries it to his house.
Construction, Brushing,
Medicine, Religious
Rituals, Making paper,
Making tools,
Transportation, Business
revenue & industry.
Experience
Smoke, Pollution, Believe
in Burning Practice. The wood is also used for Wood is also used by them Wood ash is used for cleaning
heating water that can be used during the winters for warming utensils and some exceptions in
Limit for various purposes like themselves and their houses. religious places.
Availability, Heavy, bathing.
Storage, Humidity, Not
instant, Control is difficult,
Health issue, Needs Pressure Point: It is labour intensive and large storage place. It is easily
substitute to burn. available but scarcity might create problems.
Challenge
Chock Point: It gives out smoke and causes a threat to the environment.
Transportation, collecting
wood, deforestation.

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 Existing energy – Petrol and Diesel.

Function
Driving automobiles,
Generators, Dry Cleaning,
Cleaning Mechanics.
Most of the villages used The equipments used for farming Another major use of this energy
motorcycles for commuting and also needed diesel for their source was in tractors used in
hence petrol was majorly used working. farming.
for vehicles.

Experience
Mobility, Smell.

Limit
Going to service station, Another usage that was
Expensive, Not to be observed was in running the
generators efficiently.
carried otherwise,
Fluctuation in price, Night
availability.
Pressure Point: Increase in prices, Purity of petrol.

Challenge
Transportation, Storage, Chock Point: Limited resources, Safety.
Safety, Purity of the petrol..

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 Existing energy – Kerosene

Function
Cooking Wood, Burning Wood, Lighting
Lamps Cleaning ,Repulsing Insect,
Washing Hair
Kerosene tricycle tanker
arrives at Dhamera village
panchayat every week. From
their it is distributed in Village
Uma like every villager can It is used by her as a secondary
purchase 10 litres of Kerosene in source after cow dung/ wood for
a month on the Ration Card (10 cooking.
litres given when no LPG
cylinder, 5 litre when 1 LPG
cylinder and 3 litres when 2 LPG
cylinder

Experience
Explosion, Smell

Limit
Container
Not easily available from P.D S He also mixes kerosene with
She also uses to light the Her husband uses it for
(Public distribution System diesel and uses it as a fuel for
kerosene lamps in her house maintenance of machine and
during power cuts at night. tools machine
Challenge
Alteration

Pressure Point: Available only once in a week

Chock Point: Only 101litres given when no LPG cylinder, 5 litre when 1 LPG cylinder and 3 litres
when 2 LPG cylinder

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 Existing energy - Biogas

The Rakshe household had The cowdung is then mixed with The liquid is then transferred into
Function sufficient cattle that generated the water in this concrete container. the dome structure where
COOKING required 40 kilograms of cowdung methane is then produced during
HEATING on a daily basis to meet the the decomposition process. The
LIGHTING requirements of the bio-gas gas thus generated is
systems. transferred via a pipeline into the
REUSE OF WASTE
kitchen for cooking and other
Experience uses.

CHEAP
CLEAN

Limit
DEPENDS ON THE WHEATHER
DEPENDS ON THE AVAILABLITY OF The remains after the methane This is then dried with other The earthworms that are grown
COW DUNG generation are transferred into household biodegradable waste using the vermiculture process
this structure. to be used in vermiculture are sold in the market for Rs
Challenge 1200 /Kg. The compost is used
CLEANING THE TANK
for organic farming in the family
farms.
MAINTANENCE CHARGE
INSTALLATION COST
Pressure Point: NEED SUFFICIENT CATTLE TO HAVE A BIOGAS SYSTEM
DURABILITY OF THE SYSTEM Chock Point: CLEANING THE TANK
LABOR INTENSIVE

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Existing energy - Gas

Function
Cooking, Heating Water,
Transportation, Lighting
In the rainy season the wood,
cow dung & other conventional
sources get wet / dampen
If these wet (conventional)
sources are used they generate
lot of smoke thereby making
cooking difficult and also
increases health hazards.
Then in such cases LPG is
primarily used for all purpose
cooking

Experience
Flame, Smell, Status
symbol, Clean, Insecurity
feeling

Limit
There is no smoke, it burns
Expensive, Difficult to get a
cleanly hence no health hazards.
new connection,

Challenge
Availability of equally clean
substitute in its absence. Pressure Point: Perceived as status symbol, inefficient distribution system, not
used as primary cooking medium.

Chock Point: cost, non-renewable

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 Existing energy - Solar

Function
Cooking, Heating Water,
Transportation, Lighting,
washing. Gaming, and
other related activities
Due to insufficient knowledge
this technology is still in nascent
stages.
This 10”X3” size panel costed
1600/- before two years to its
owner. It was purchased from a
science fair just out of curiosity
and for the sake of
experimentation
Currently it is supporting one
rechargeable lamp and one CFL
at an approx output of around 8
hrs.

Experience
Clean, trouble-free, zero
maintenance,

Limit
The owner is happy about zero
Dependent on availability
maintenance & would like to use Only deterrent is the cost of the
of sun, could not be used more of it equipment.
in night
Challenge
Expensive, unawareness
regarding its Pressure Point: very expensive, unawareness about the technology, specialized
feasibility/use/cost/installati technical support not easily available.
on/repairs & maintenance
Chock Point: require maximum exposure to sun-light of certain intensity, if broken
can’t be repaired (need replacement)

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 Existing energy - Electricity

Function
Cooking, Heating Water,
Lighting, washing. Gaming,
and other related activities
Could be generated using both Post-production supply is via No access to remote areas. The
renewable as well as non- grid and there is no difference in above depicted house doesn’t
renewable resources. distribution w.r.t. the source of have any electrical connection
production. since last 30 years.

Experience
Clean, easy to use,

Limit
Safety, heat loss & other
such unavoidable losses.
The nearest electrical line is
500mts far from that house and
for installation of connection he
has to pay 70000/-
He owns 5 acres of land and He owns TV & fridge but cant
irrigate it using a pump installed use. One rechargeable all-in-one
near the local river. Ploughing is is all what is serving as an
done by the bullocks. entertaining device.

Challenge
Supply less than demand,
restricted access to remote
areas, cost.
Pressure Point: main dependence on non-renewable resources, cost, needs wider
distribution network, irregular supplies, poor maintenance (may be due to lack of
man-power)
Chock Point: @#$%^&*&^%$#@

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 Existing energy - Wind

The Yuva Mitra NGO located The 1 kilowatt system was set The electricity generated is then
Function at Harsule village has installed up by Pawan Energy system at stored in a 1400 volt battery. So
PROVIDES ELECTRICITY a wind energy system to the cost of Rs 2 lakhs and was far the system has enabled the
supplement grid energy at their fully sponsored by HDFC. NGO to reduce its dependence
premises on the grid by 40% and can be
used to run a computer, 2 fans
and 2 lights.
Experience
IT LOOKS MODERN
AIDS IN CURBING CLIMATE CHANGE

Limit
DEPENDS ON THE WIND
Harsule and other adjoining The project is quite large as The energy that is generated is
vilalges are also home to seen by the large number of then connected to the grid.
Suzlons wind energy project. windmills in the area. =
Challenge
EXPENSIVE
THEFT OF INSTALLATION

Pressure Point: AMOUNT OF ENERGY GENERATED DEPENDS ON THE WIND

Chock Point: VIBRATIONS FROM THE WIND COULD AFFECT THE

STRUCTURE OF THE BUILDING

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Ecosystem chart of energy in rural India

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 Rural consumers consumption pattern

Available energy Kerosene to

Wood to light the
Wood, cow heat bath house
dawn or LPG water
to make tea

LPG to
Wood or cow make tea Wood or cow
dawn to dawn to
cook lunch cook dinner

Daily use 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00
of energy

Electricity for:-
Electricity for Electricity for
Mobile TV and light.
phone, UPS,
water pump
and fridge

Invertors

Mobile Phone. Water pump

Desired energy

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Rural socio-type - Visual mapping

This visual mapping provide a

graphical representation of the
popular culture in rural India.
Pictures have been placed
according to 4 criteria:

High-tech
high scientific and technologic
perception of the services.
Efficiency and trust into
technology.

Basic
Functional services deprived of
social or technologic added
value.
Fashion
Short term design trends.
Contemporary social value and
cultural innovation.

Traditional
Refer to the user tradition and
familiar comportment.

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Rural socio-type – Name sample

Socio-type
For developing new scenario of
energy in rural India we
identified 3 socio-type to
address innovation.

•Conservators- Traditional Innovators

•Followers- Class conscious
•Innovators- Trend Setters

Conservators.

Followers

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 Rural socio-type – Innovators

Innovators
Very curious and inquisitive
relating to technology. Efficiency
and trust into technology . They
were very open to taking risks
and trying new methods to save
Innovators
energy and also reduce costs.

•Passionate
•New Age
•Free thinker
•Long sighted
•Experimenting
•Risk taker
•Collaborator
•Joint Decision Maker
•Open minded
•Ready to learn
•Proactive
•Leadership
•Entrepreneurial

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 Rural socio-type – Innovators.

Innovators
Power distance
The people in this category were very
open to taking risks and experimenting
with technology, they also were very
open and willing to learn about new
technology and use them.
Collective - Individual
They were more keen on collective
efforts but did not want to wait for
other farmers and the govt. They were
ready to do individual efforts if
collaborative wouldn’t work.
Masculine - Feminine
Even though they were very forward
when it came to experimenting with
technology, the women of the house
were not involved in decision making
and were ding farming and other
household chores.
Control of incertitude
These farmers were very open to
taking risks and experimenting.
Long/short term orientation
They considered long term benefits
and hence were forthcoming to try new
things.

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 Rural socio-type – Followers

Followers
They are people who are into
themselves, more of a trend
follower than setting them.
The are very class conscious.
They prefer a comfortable and
are bend towards a luxurious
life.

•Self centered
•Individualist
•Followers
•Materialist
•Artificial

Followers

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 Rural socio-type - Followers

Followers
Power distance
They were more concerned
about the technology trends in
society rather than their
practical use. They were more
followers than leaders.

Collective - Individual
They were more self centric
and were unconcerned about
working collectively towards
societal goals
Masculine - Feminine
The woman of the household
was more empowered and had
an equal if not a larger say in
the household
Control of incertitude
Not risk takers….followers
implies -lower risk
Long/short term
orientation
They were more concerned
about the present than the
future- basically viewed things
from a short term perspective.
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 Rural socio-type – Conservators

Conservators
Thrifty, stores only essentials,
want value for money, close to
tradition, family head is
responsible for decision-
making.

• Self-sufficient
• Practical
• Peace of mind
• Rooted
• Contributor
• Follower
• Laggards
Conservators.
• Friendly

Followers

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Rural
Rural socio-type
socio-type –– Conservators
Socially concious

Conservators
Power distance
Savour time-proven
technological advancements,
does not believe in
experimentation

Collective - Individual
Collective within the family but
on societal scale more inclined
towards individualism
Masculine - Feminine
Decisions are taken by males,
females do most of
work(everything in home+some
field work),
Control of incertitude
Doesn’t believe in taking risks
They are the Laggards
Long/short term
orientation
They live in present. Their
worries are mostly
concentrated on improving
their present but they does not
care much about future.

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 Persona – Follower- Santosh
Followers
Power distance
Low , they have control of their
lifestyle, and don’t like to be told
what to do. They take decisions
based on what they observe in
society.
Collective - Individual
They are more individualistic in
nature and are predominantly
followers in essence they are
willing adapters of existing
successful trends in society.
Masculine - Feminine
The women was empowered
and took a lead on the domestic
and child rearing decisions.
Control of incertitude
Are unwilling to take risks.
Long/short term
orientation
They are typically short term
planners, but will opt for long
terms plans if they deem them
to be reasonable.
High-tech
Innovative
Traditional
Santosh Bhote is a farmer from the village of Parnadawadi. Basic
He is farmer by profession owning 1 hectare of land. His
wife Shoba is a school teacher at the Zillaparishad school.
They have 2 children a daughter 9 yrs of age and a 9 month
old son. The are a modern family in a rural area as they
mostly imitate city lifestyle as is apparent from their home
where they have done away with traditional architecture and
opted for a more modern style. Their sources of income
Include salary earned by shoba, rent from rooms that are
being rented to students from the nearby college. They use
the agricultural produce more for sustenance rather than for
income. They have bought a tractor for farming and have
funded it through at loan of Rs 3.5lakhs from HDFC bank.
They are comfortable using modern appliances as is
apparent from the presence of electronic devices such as
refrigerator, Television, video games, surround sound music
system etc. They discontinued using the domestic bio-gas
system that had been setup by their parents as they
considered it too labor intensive.
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Design direction for innovation

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 Prospective 01-Collaborative- Biogas plant.

The collection cart comes to the After the collection of the cow Once the gas is created it is
Collaborated house of Mr. Gote and buys the
dung.
dung from different houses it is
brought back to the central
collected and then sold and
distributed to the houses
energy resource biogas plant. according to their requirements.

Collaboration will involve

industry, government and each
individual participation.
People who are not interested
in doing a collaborative effort
could just sell the dung and get
paid for the same.
The waste generated after gas The earthworms in the vermi The vermi compost is then sold
Also they can buy the vermi
generation is then used to compost are sold by the to the villagers as discounted
composted manure which is produce vermi compost. company and the vermi compost rates depending on the amount
generated from the bio gas is sold to the villagers. of cow dung sold by them.
waste generated.
Some farmers could be
interested in collaborative effort Value Point: Source of income generated renewable source of energy is used,
, these could be the employment generation.
supervisors of the whole plant.
Efficiency Point: No waste generated.

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 Prospective 02- Self sufficient-Energy Consulting
Energy Consulting
The will now take informed
decisions.
Now, they will not be cheated
as all the concerned authorities
are taking up a collective
decision and a win win situation
is created for the end user.
Also, the end user gets shifted
to renewable source of energy
and that in turn helps the ç.
Pappu Karade from Dhamera These consultants then are These consultants also go and
has energy and electricity
problems so he decides to call
shown around the house by the
family members of Mr. Karade
study the whole area around his
house and farm and collect
WeSchool energy consultants. and they study the resources pictures and all the information
available and current usage. required.
+ + +
These consultants then go back and get in touch with the energy After proper consultation, the
related companies (eg: Suzlon), Local banks and the government WeSchool consultants go back to
and their technology experts and come up with a plan for self the Karade house and give them
the best energy resource along
sufficient for the farmer.
with subsidies and bank schemes.
Value Point: Saving Money, Self sufficient and customized solutions.
Efficiency Point: Use of sustainable and easily available source of energy.
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Prospective 03- Awareness

Gorakh Bohate has TV in He has a DTH connection Mr. Bohate wants to learn more
Awareness. House. attached to his house. It is the
replica of most of the village
about energy conservation and
more importantly about the best
house. ways to shift to better ways of
agriculture and organic farming
The will now take informed as well. But he does not have
decisions. access to information.
Also this could make the
There could be a channel that should be timed
farmers think about all
according to the power cuts which gives them
situations and make better information about energy conservation and
investments. better ways in agriculture.
Also there would be a TV which is on through
out the day at different places throughout the
village and this tv would have different shows
completely based agriculture requirements and
energy conservation.

Value Point: Awareness is created.

Efficiency Point: Information is available easily.

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 Prospective 04 – Contextual-energy generation from sewing machine

Contextual
It was observed that
most households in rural This machine is a representation This energy can then be used to
areas had a pedal sewing of the idea that a pedal sewing run any equipment such as light,
machine which was machine can be used to fans and other small household
generate power using a dynamo items.
being used by the which can then be stored in a
women in the household battery.
to generate some
income. This machine
could be connected to a
dynamo to convert
human energy to
electricity which could
be stored in a battery for
later use.
Value Point: free energy

Efficiency Point: non polluting and increasing fitness.

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 Prospective 05 – Intelligent Scenario

Pre-paid electricity
At times the electricity bill gives
shock and leaves one wondering
where & how did that much
electricity was consumed.
This disturbs the household
budget and this unnecessary
financial crunch forces consumer
to default.
Govt. loses revenue and
consumer end up paying late
payment fine. Hence both
stakeholders suffer loss.

Power distance
Indian consumers are tired of
long power cuts. Also they are
cost conscious and want value
for money. They are
comfortable with the pre-
payment option as then they A pre-paid option plan come with Now I can efficiently plan my It is a win-win situation for both
can effectively plan their a special meter which shows the budget and allocate resources the govt. and for the customer as
budget. e.g. Already a huge amount consumed and optimally without any more well.
remaining balance. surprises.
majority is using pre-paid
mobile connections though
post-paid option is available,
Value Point: reduces wastage, no surprises, easy budget planning, all time power,
no additional cost, various plans as per requirement

Efficiency Point: advance payments, saves power

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 Prospective 06 – Intelligent Scenario

Electricity bill payments
via cell-phones
Along with electricity bill come
home the anxiety of submitting it
by standing in long queues.
Today in village if a person
wants to pay the electricity bill,
he/she has to stand in a long
queue (as the computer literacy
is not prominent)
The people in Indian village are
adept in using mobile phones
and are using variety of value-
added-services.

Power distance
People are well-versed with the
usage of cell-phones and it has
become an integral part of their
life-style. No class and social
boundaries exist for using
mobile services(except for the A consumer just browse through The bill is paid and the consumer This anytime, anywhere, hassle-
type of hand-set). these value added services and receives a payment confirmation free payment mode is such a
opts for electricity bill payment message immediately. relief. No more headache of long
New and convenient service option. queues and missing deadlines.
like electricity bill payment via
mobile will be welcomed with
an over-whelming support.
Value Point: no queues, convenience of payment anytime-anywhere, no extra cost

Efficiency Point: timely payment, instant confirmation, absolutely secured

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Prospective 07- Intelligent distribution
Intelligent
distribution
An intelligent distribution of
electricity could help people in
developing pattern to water
their land and overcome power
cut in their house. It would
avoid wastage of water due to
the fear of power cut. Lower
the average energy
consumption and larger the
potential of agricultural
plantation that often run out of
water.
Pappu Karade would keep it’s Power cut can last for days and The intelligent energy program
pumps running 24h a day to
water its lands by fear of power
other farmer would similarly
over-water they lands until there
would develop technologies to
insure that every house and
cut from the electricity
department.
is shortage of water what is a
factor of dispute.
farms get a minimum of
electricity a day.
Technologies would calculate Farmers would not fear long Similarly domestic technology
the amount of energy needed for power cut and avoid wastage can be developed to overcome
every farmers and insure an of electricity. patterned short cut.
harmonious and regular
distribution of electricity.
Value Point: Improving life quality.
Efficiency Point: Saving energy, saving water, controlling energy consumption,
optimizing agricultural growth,
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Prospective 08- Intelligent distribution
Geo contextual
energy generation
Isolated villages may require
contextual sources of energy
generation to avoid the
investment and maintenance of
traditional electricity
distribution. In other hand there
is a want from the villagers to
sustain their economy
autonomously.
Dhamera is a very isolated The intelligence energy Dhamera village as a real
village 17 km away from the first
electrical pool that always run
department conducted a survey
in Dhamera to find a sustainable
economical potential. Banks are
ready to lend the funds for the
out of electricity. energy solution scheme. villages to buy a energy setup.
Dhamera village is very much Villagers have been trained to Energy helped Dhamera
exposed to wind thus the watch and insure basic villagers in developing their
intelligence energy department maintenance of the system. economy. They are now able to
preferred this source of energy. repaid the system lend to them.
Value Point: Self sufficient, customized solutions, sustainable.
Efficiency Point: Use of sustainable and easily available source of energy.
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