Rural Hybrid Energy Enterprise Systems

About 20% of the UK population and 72% of the Indian population live in rural communities, where access to resources, amenities and services are inherently different to those of urban dwellers. Rural communities in both countries share similar challenges. Limited rural transport makes access to services difficult, time-consuming and expensive which disadvantage the poor, elderly and sick. Access to healthcare and affordable energy (for heating, cooling, cooking, refrigeration, lighting, household, IT use) is limited in rural areas and lack of employment opportunities continues to drive rural to urban migration, especially amongst young people. Universal access to clean and efficient energy sources has long been viewed as critical to global needs and expanding access to good quality, stable, energy options in rural areas is therefore essential. Not only does this help to address the problem of dependence on fossil fuels; it also enables rural areas in the UK and India to benefit from the multiplier effect of energy services on health, education, transport, telecommunications, water, sanitation as well as from investments in and the productivity of income-generating activities in agriculture, industry, and tertiary sectors. In this project we aim to develop community-scale hybrid renewable energy systems to bridge the urban-rural divide and promote a new model of sustainable rural living. Through technological innovations in small-scale energy generation coupled with appropriately tailored rural enterprise business models we will create Rural Hybrid Energy Enterprise Systems (RHEES) which can be adapted for local needs in the UK and India enabling communities to: tackle energy poverty; increase revenue generation to individuals and households; create new opportunities for rural industries; generate employment; decrease transport costs; improve socioeconomic status; and through using renewable energy technologies reduce environmental impact and promote natural resource conservation.

Different forms of energy may be crucial for increasing the range, quality and productivity of income-generating activity. In rural areas biomass is one of the most versatile energy-generating options, because of the diversity of feedstocks in rural areas, the range of conversion technologies available and the potential to provide a continuous and steady flow of energy services. We aim to develop innovative, low-carbon, sustainable biomass-fuelled hybrid energy systems that utilise wastes and residues and are designed at a scale suitable for rural community implementation to be affordable and to provide enterprise opportunities through value-added by-products. Through novel research the key technological challenges required for the wide scale deployment of anaerobic digestion and gasification in rural communities combined with fuel cell technology will be met whilst employing close integration with the resource and community aspects of the proposal. By engaging end-users in all stages of the development process, we aim to develop affordable and sustainable growth of our community-scale energy solutions to bridge the urban-rural divide.

The aim of this proposal is to design, develop, operate and maintain small-scale Rural Hybrid Energy Enterprise Systems (RHEES) considering relevant social, cultural, economic, education, ethical and environmental issues, which will ultimately bridge the urban-rural energy divide in typical rural communities of India and UK. The impacts of this proposal will be achieved through technological innovations in small-scale energy generation coupled with appropriately-tailored rural enterprise business models which can be adapted to derive livelihood benefits to meet local needs. Ultimately by scale-up and wider adoption, the technology and models developed in the proposal could have far reaching impacts for rural communities globally. Through deployment and assessment of these new technologies and their contribution to rural community empowerment derived from the benefits that tailored enterprise business models bring, we seek to create rural energy services that will impact on all of the themes outlined in the BURD call (energy, enterprise and healthcare) to make rural life an attractive and sustainable option for individuals and households.

The technology development and resource mapping elements of this proposal will provide clean, sustainable, stable and affordable energy. The use of waste biomass and renewable energy sources, coupled with the generation of sustainable liquid fuels, will result in a reduced reliance of rural communities on fossil fuels and ultimately in a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Over and above providing a stable energy supply, the outputs of this proposal will: tackle fuel and energy poverty; increase revenue generation to individuals and households; create new opportunities for, and benefits to, rural industries and generate employment and decrease transport costs. This will ultimately lead to better lifestyles; improved socioeconomic status; and through using renewable energy technologies reduce environmental impact and promote natural resource conservation. R&D on digested biomass residues, digester liquid and char will enable production of about 10-15 value added products (VAP) so that in addition to energy, biogas and compost, some products could be sold locally and to urban areas.

A sustainable energy supply will also lead to significant healthcare benefits, for example: clean, domestic water supply reduces medical expenditure; withdrawing household smoke derived from biomass cookstoves through use of biogas avoids respiratory diseases including TB; energy-secure agriculture would ensure lower malnutrition and healthier people (especially benefiting women and children); warm housing stock in winter and cooling in summer will increase well-being particularly amongst the elderly and infirm.

The research will have significant impact on education in rural communities. Training and up-skilling villagers in working with renewable energy sources and providing a basis for encouraging the application of business acumen in terms of enterprise optimisation and the production of value-added commodities will have significant impact on rural communities. The demonstration and development of technologies at field sites in both countries provides and ideal route for achieving this impact.

An important output of the project will be tools and models to provide objective assessments of the success of the implementation of technologies within different regions and countries. Through continual engagement with NGOs, energy researchers, policy think tanks and policy makers (see pathways to impact) it is proposed that the results of this research will lead to a step change in technology implementation, supporting localism agendas for rural communities and ultimately for the deployment and support of decentralised electricity systems in the UK and India.