Renewable energy systems are ideally suited to be decentralized stations; each in its own area where it is best produced, and connected through a sort of virtual or smart grid for equitable power distribution. This also makes renewable sources the best idea to help with electrifying the almost 50% of Indians living in rural areas who still live without electricity. Because some of these rural populations live in very remote locations, it can be very hard for a normal grid system to reach them and provide adequate electricity. This is where the renewable energy sources come in and offers an economically viable means of connecting these people to energy. The Government of India has undertaken several initiatives’ to help provide the rural population meet their full energy needs including motive and cooking power. There have now been over 90,000 villages electrified using renewable sources along with free electricity being provided to about 12 million households that are living below the poverty line (Arora, D. S., et al., 2010).
Up until 2003 rural electrification was the job of the various state governments and the state electricity boards. But the Electricity Act of 2003 allowed for a term that authorized national policies on “non-conventional” energy systems in the rural areas of India with electrification from local distribution to rural areas. Because of this the pace of development of renewable energy sources has seen a great from that time forward. This was further solidified with the National Electricity Policy of 2005 that recognized electricity as essential in all aspects of life as a basic human need and that electricity supply to those in rural India is crucial to the development of the country as a whole (Arora, D. S., et al., 2010).
One interesting program that is mentioned in the Indian Renewable Energy Status Report with regards to rural electrification is the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy’s “Biomass gasifier-based/ off-grid power programme for rural areas”. This program is meant to fulfill the unmet electrification needs in many of India’s rural villages through the work of state agencies that are supposed to initiate, promote, support and coordinate the programs for new and renewable energies in each state, but also with the assistance of energy service companies, NGOs, cooperatives and manufacturers, forming a public-private partnership. Central financial assistance in India funds an element of this as well by concentrating on the human resource development and training for the support of the manufacturers and suppliers of the gasifiers to help to set up service centers in the surrounding areas of where the gasifiers are installed. The initial installation of the gasifier is funded by grants from the Government of India so this becomes a completely self-sufficient renewable energy source for those villages that a part of this program. The graphic below shows the closed system that is created with the implementation of the biomass gasifiers in villages. (Arora, D. S., et al., 2010).
When discussing these policies it is also important to address why it is important for rural areas to have electricity, especially with regards to health. In a study done by The World Bank they did research based on how electricity can effect many different aspects of health in rural communities. One of the studies that I found the most interesting was how access to information from both TV and radio can influence the individual’s health knowledge and so health behaviors and outcomes. The World Bank was hoping to see a correlation between TV or Radio access in the home and how that would affect their knowledge of contraceptives and would, in turn, bring down the fertility rate. From the study The World Bank was able to ascertain that, taken as a whole, access to a TV increases health and family planning knowledge and also increases the chances for the children of that family to be fully immunized. There was also a lower fertility rate recorded in 5 of the 9 areas studied. Though this is not related specifically to health clinics or better health care, knowledge of contraceptives and immunizations is very important for preventative health care, which is especially important in rural areas where access to any sort of formal health facility is either very limited or nonexistent (The World Bank, 2008).
References:
Arora, D. S., et al., (2010). Indian Renewable Energy Status Report, National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
The World Bank, (2008.). The Welfare Impact of Rural Electrification: A Reassessment of the Cost and Benefits. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTRURELECT/Resources/appG.pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment