Abstract
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.
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Notes
Kemp et al. (1998) defined SNM as “the creation, development and controlled phase out of protected spaces for the development and use of promising technologies by means of experimentation, with the aim of (1) learning about the desirability of the new technology, (2) enhancing the further development and the rate of application of the new technology”.
Field experience suggests that if the household is purchasing fuel wood, fuel savings are considered during the decision making process of whether to purchase an improved stove. Other indirect costs, such as health, drudgery and other social costs, are often ignored during decision-making.
A small but profitable segment of a market suitable for focused attention by a marketer. Market niches do not exist by themselves, but are created by identifying needs or wants that are not being addressed by competitors, and by offering products that satisfy them.
While most households in the project villages have an electricity supply, power outages are rampant, leading to electricity availability for 4–8 h per day. Major technical faults are also frequent, which results in no power access for 2–7 days at a stretch. This makes the option of solar/battery powered light attractive.
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Acknowledgments
The paper is based on two field-based projects being undertaken by the “The Energy and Resources Institute”, New Delhi. Project Surya is being implemented in close collaboration with the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, University of San Diego, California and the United Nations Environment Programme. The Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, New Delhi has funded the project on “Customization and dissemination of renewable energy technologies”. The authors would like to place on record the support and encouragement that the partners and funding institutions have provided. The authors also wish to acknowledge the residents of the nine villages for their enthusiastic cooperation in data collection.
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Handled by Frans Berkhout, Vrije Universiteit, The Netherlands.
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Rehman, I.H., Kar, A., Arora, A. et al. Distribution of improved cook stoves: analysis of field experiments using strategic niche management theory. Sustain Sci 7, 227–235 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-012-0162-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-012-0162-8