An integrated systems model for energy services in rural developing communities

Abstract

This paper develops a systems-based integrated model for investigating the impacts of various energy technologies as applied to meet specific energy needs in a rural developing village. The model enables the designer to examine of a variety of energy technology components subject to local and global constraints and reports the outcomes in terms of multiple objectives including energy consumption, climate effects, health impacts, cost analyses, and social considerations. It enables accounting for important application factors such as usability, multi-functionality, stacking and incomplete displacement of traditional methods, opportunity costs, effective discount rates, and impact to quality of life. Use of the model to analyze the baseline case of a well-characterized village in Mali revealed the conflicts between social, economic, and environmental objectives that often exist between stakeholders, highlighting the importance of attention to consumer preference. Analysis based on disaggregated energy needs illustrated that often the relative impacts between energy strategies are not immediately evident, suggesting that

A New Methodology for the Development of Appropriate Technology: A Case Study for the Development of a Wood Solar Dryer

“…Recently, methodologies have been developed that encourage the identification of technologies to address energy needs in the rural sector. For instance, MacCarty and Brynder [12] introduced a comprehensive methodological framework, although their method is not particularly focused on development of sustainable technology. In addition, Sianipar et al [13], proposed a comprehensive framework of evaluation oriented to the development of appropriate technologies, which considers planning, conceptualization of technology, as well as design and evaluation.…”

A Domain Specific Language to Simplify the Creation of Large Scale Federated Model Sets

“…Consider the following two component models drawn from MacCarty and Bryden's [20] village energy model, which is being modularized for use in a federated modeling system. The model presented in [20] is an integrated model of the comprehensive energy use of a small African village composed of smaller component models. We will select two models that are used internally, the fuel collection model and the fuel cost model.…”

“…MacCarty and Bryden [20] have identified the following factors as significant in prediction the adoption and impact of any energy device in the developing world:…”

“…• Desirability -perceived quality and aesthetic benefit • Disruption -ability of stove to fit existing cooking patterns • Convenience -ease of use and amount of attention required • Safety -safety of the device for the user and family have developed an integrated systems model [20] that accounts for these factors encompasses all the common energy needs in rural villages in the developing world. This model takes as input a set of energy components such as cookstoves, lighting equipment, water heating systems, etc., and performs a Monte Carlo simulation to predict the outcomes for a village, including energy access, environmental effects, health impact, cost, quality of life.…”

“…Of major concern when considering any energy intervention in the developing world is environmental impact. While this impact occurs in many forms, including CO2 and black carbon emissions, deforestation [20] and its impact on local agriculture should also be considered. Muth and Bryden [26] have developed an integrated systems model to predict sustainable levels of agricultural residue removal.…”