Grantee Research Project Results

Sustainable Energy Systems Design for a Tribal Village in India

EPA Grant Number: SU832464
Title: Sustainable Energy Systems Design for a Tribal Village in India
Investigators: Ramaswami, Anu , Willson, Bryan , Mancilla, Fernando , Grabbe, Robert
Current Investigators: Mancilla, Fernando , Troxell, Wade O. , Kirkpatrick, Alex , Ramaswami, Anu , Gitano-Briggs, Horizon Walker , DeFoort, Morgan , Grabbe, Robert
Institution: University of Colorado at Denver , Colorado State University
EPA Project Officer: Page, Angela
Phase: II
Project Period: September 1, 2005 through August 31, 2006 (Extended to December 31, 2008)
Project Amount: $75,000
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet - Phase 2 (2005) Recipients Lists
Research Category: P3 Challenge Area - Air Quality , Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development , P3 Awards , Sustainable and Healthy Communities

Objective:

Our project aims to sustainably meet the energy needs of more than 1000 villagers in the Narmada River Valley in Maharashtra, India, where a series of large dams are displacing more than one million indigenous people from their homes and land. The two principal features of our project are:
a) Developing an integrated energy system for the village integrating energy supply from various renewable resources with benign energy storage options in order to meet multiple energy uses such as home-lighting, home-cooking and community refrigeration;
b) Working with the community and our Indian partners to develop and field-test collaborative designs of the integrated energy system and its various components.

Attaining P3 Goals in Developing Nations: By using renewable energy resources, energy efficiency models and benign energy storage options, our project addresses environmental- and ecosystem- sustainability. By working closely with the community and through collaborative US-India design workshops, the energy systems developed in this work use low-cost local materials and indigenous skills, addressing socio-cultural and economic aspects of sustainable development.

Approach:

Building upon work accomplished in Phase 1 of this project, this phase will focus on: a) Field testing of three different scales and designs of wind generators for energy supply; b) Field trials of low-cost energy-efficient LED lighting units; c) Lab-scale and field testing of a community solar-zeolite refrigerator; d) Pilot demonstrations of home-scale wind turbines integrated with cook stoves for electricity; e) Lab scale exploration with selected pilot-demonstrations of three high impact energy storage ideas: spring storage for the home-scale wind generators, biogas generation-utilization in 2 stroke engines for community-scale work applications, hydrogen generation from wind resources with storage and electricity regeneration, suited for rural applications. Metrics for design success include performance, cost, adoption rate in communities, avoided fossil fuel use and air quality improvements.

P3 Project as an Educational Tool: This project will be employed in graduate and undergraduate-level education through the Global Engineering Program at CSU and through PLaCES student group at UCD.

Publications and Presentations:

Publications have been submitted on this project: View all 3 publications for this project

Journal Articles:

Journal Articles have been submitted on this project: View all 2 journal articles for this project

Supplemental Keywords:

Developing nations, energy efficiency, benign energy storage, renewable resources, solar energy, wind energy, zeolite refrigerator, biogas, hydrogen storage, wind turbines, RFA, Scientific Discipline, Geographic Area, Sustainable Industry/Business, POLLUTION PREVENTION, Sustainable Environment, Energy, waste reduction, Technology for Sustainable Environment, Ecology and Ecosystems, International, Environmental Engineering, energy conservation, energy storage options, sustainable development, waste minimization, environmental sustainability, India, conservation, energy efficiency, energy technology, engineering, solar energy, alternative energy source, resource recovery, solar zeolite refrigeration, wind energy, renewable resource, renewable energy

Relevant Websites:

http://carbon.cudenver.edu/engineering/places Exit

http://www.engr.colostate.edu/eecl/ Exit

Phase 1 Abstract
Phase 1 Final Report

Progress and Final Reports:

P3 Phase I:

Sustainable Energy Systems Design for a Tribal Village in India | Final Report

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The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.