S & T
for Rural Development – Synergy needed between NGOs and BARC
( Invited talk given at BARC,
Mumbai on 8 September 2003)
Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute
(NARI),
E-mail :nariphaltan@gmail.com
Good
afternoon ladies and gentlemen.
I must
thank Dr. R. Chidambaram and BARCOA for inviting me to give a small talk on
rural development. It is because of the
vision of Dr. Chidambaram that the core advisory group in rural technology has
been set up in his office and this seminar is a part of the series of steps he
has taken to sensitize the R & D establishments regarding rural
technology.
Rural
development is a very vast subject and hence I cannot do justice to it in 30
minutes but will try to give you some flavour of the type of R&D that can
be done to improve the lives of rural population. Consider the following facts.
·
Around 60-65% of rural population does not have
electricity. Even after 56 years of
independence they are still using 100 years’ old hurricane kerosene lamps for
lighting. In some states like Bihar and
·
Around 90% of rural areas use about 180 million tons
of biomass for cooking through extremely inefficient (10-15%) and smoky
stoves. Besides poor quality of end
result, use of smoky stoves is also detrimental to the health of rural women
[1].
·
Cooking and lighting energy constitute 75% of total
energy used in rural areas [1].
·
30% of our population most of whom live in rural
areas, earn less than Rs. 50/day.
·
There is no safe drinking water in any rural areas.
·
Rural
population has the same aspirations as those in urban areas and hence want
clean cooking energy like LPG and good light source. What should be done to
generate wealth so as to raise the income levels of rural population and to
provide them with amenities so that their lives are made productive and
comfortable ?
I
feel that both these things can be taken care by production of energy in rural
areas from renewable resources through advanced technologies and hence my talk
today will be on technology development for these areas and how BARC and other
advanced science and technological
centers can take part in this process.
I
will talk today about lighting and cooking since it consumes the maximum energy
in rural areas and will try to show how very sophisticated science and
technology from emerging areas like nanotechnology and biotechnology can be
used to provide solutions. And finally I
would like to talk about how S&T NGO’s like us and BARC can work together
for rural upliftment.
It can
safely be said that the history of present civilization is the history of
lighting. Without the increase in waking
hours for mankind all the major developments of this world might not have taken
place. Adequate lighting during evening
and night helped increase the productivity of people and enterprises. Adequate lighting should therefore be a part
of minimum needs program of any government for its people.
Presently
mankind knows two methods to produce light.
One is via thermal route where the fuel (like kerosene or oil) is used
to produce an incandescent flame so that yellow light results from heating the
soot particles. This type of light is
produced from open flame, candles and hurricane lanterns. Another example of thermal light is that
produced by the use of thermoluminescent mantles made of rare earth oxides
which are heated by high temperature flame.
Most of the pressurized mantle lanterns (generically called Petromax)
fall in the category.
All the
remaining lighting is effected by electricity.
This includes incandescent bulbs, fluorescent tubes, high-pressure
discharge lamps, etc. Since in rural areas of
The quality of light obtained from
flame type devices (hurricane lanterns, candles etc.) is very poor [< 100
lumens (lm)]. Besides it is based upon
incomplete combustion principle. Hence
the yellow flame produces soot, CO and CO2. In the confined space of
rural households the use of such lanterns can be injurious to health. However,
the light from pressurized mantle lamps (Petromax type) is comparable to
that from light bulbs or fluorescent lamps and hence these offer the best place
for improvement. The good lanterns in
this genre have efficient and complete combustion of fuel. Presently available “Petromax” lamps in
A major research program of mantle
type lantern improvement was therefore initiated at the Nimbkar Agricultural
Research Institute (NARI) in mid 1980s which resulted in the development
of “Noorie” pressurized lantern
[2]. It is lightweight (1.5 kg), easy to
light and doubles up as a cooking device.
It also has self-cleaning characteristics. The light output from Noorie
is ~ 1300 lm and is equivalent to that from a 100 W electric light bulb. It is a multifuel lantern and can run on
kerosine, diesel and ethanol (with slight modifications). Noorie lantern is very fuel-efficient and
consumes 40% less kerosene than the “Petromax” for the same light output.
However, development of Noorie lantern revealed that the bottleneck in light
output is the low efficiency of rare earth oxide thermoluminescent (T/L)
mantles. Presently the efficacy
(efficiency of light production is called efficacy) of these mantles is ~ 2-3
lm/W [2], whereas the efficacy of light bulbs is ~ 10-15 lm/W and that of
compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) is 50-70 lm/W [1].
Thus R & D is required in
developing better T/L mantles so that their efficacies can match those of the
light bulb. With such efficacies, liquid
fuel lighting will be superior to electric lighting in terms of overall power plant-to-light efficiency. Presently the overall power plant-to-light
efficiency for fluorescent lamps is ~ 14 lm/W. This includes power plant
efficiency of 30%, T&D losses of 20%
and fluorescent lamp efficacy of 60 lm/W.
For small distributed electricity system the efficacy can further reduce
to 10-12 lm/W since the efficiency of electricity production from diesel or
petrol in the 10-20 kW range is much lower than that of power plants.
The presently used T/L mantles in
pressurized kerosene and gas lanterns have not changed since Aurbach developed
them in
For
liquid fuel based lighting to progress it is necessary that alternative to
kerosene is developed. Thus the liquid
fuel should be produced from locally available biomass resources and made
available at affordable rates in rural areas. Liquid fuels that can be manufactured
from biomass sources are ethanol, pyrolysis oil and non-edible oils from tree
borne seeds. Ethanol and non-edible oils
have been used for cooking and lighting for quite some time [1]. However extensive R&D is required in
pyrolysis oil. This medium calorific
value (CV) fuel can be produced by fast pyrolysis of biomass at ~ 500-6000C. The biomass has to be dry with moisture
content of less than 15%. The ensuing
ensuring liquid has CV of 17 MJ/Kg and is equivalent to No. 6 heating oil. With some modifications it can be used for
cooking and lighting energy. There are
only 3 pilot plants producing pyrolysis oil in the world and there is a need to
develop and upgrade the technology for
Another
brand new technology, which is coming up in
Simultaneously
there is a need to work on distributed electricity based lighting. Energy
production in rural areas through natural resources like biomass, solar and
wind can provide large-scale employment and wealth to these areas. A study done by NARI showed that Taluka level
energy production from available agricultural residues could take care of all
its electricity and liquid fuel requirements.
Thus the agricultural residues available in the country can
theoretically produce about 55,000 MW power via the 10-20 MW Rankine cycle
based power plants. Besides our Taluka
study also showed that it could provide additional 30,000 jobs every year to
Taluka inhabitants and in the process produce Rs. 100 crores wealth annually
[4]. The study became the basis of
national policy on energy self sufficient Talukas and was run by MNES from the
middle to late 1990’s. However this was
before the 2003 Electricity Act and hence could not be sustained because
distribution and transmission of power were still with SEBs. Nevertheless it started the national program
of biomass based power projects and till
today about 40 stand-alone biomass based projects of 6 MW capacity each have
been financed in various talukas of the country. With the 2003 Electricity Act coming in force
I feel that decentralized energy production and distribution via renewable
energy will proliferate and will bring in tremendous wealth to rural
areas.
In
addition to the 5-10 MW biomass based power plants there is nevertheless a need
to develop very efficient power producing technologies in the range of 20 kWe to 1 MWe. These can be based on biomass gasifiers,
space age steam engines or new types of liquid fuel engines running on
renewable fuels like ethanol, pyrolysis oil or biodiesel. Even small scale (10-30 KWe)
nuclear powered thermoelectric generators as used in space program could
provide compact, decentralized long duration power in rural areas.
However,
two electricity-producing technologies for lighting need mentioning here for
further R&D. One is the development
of human muscle powered lighting system and the other is thermoelectric devices
for light. Recent advances in
lightweight and highly efficient permanent magnet D.C. (PMDC) motors have made
it possible to produce small amount of electric power via human muscles (range
of 40-60 W). This electricity together with rechargeable batteries can power a
light emitting diodes (LED) system for lighting. Among all light producing devices, LEDs are
one of the most efficient and long lasting.
Presently these systems are very expensive (US $ 50 for a handheld
flashlight). Hence R&D is required
in essentially three areas namely : development of very efficient and
lightweight PMDC motor (40-50 W), development
of efficient capacitors with
suitable electronics as a substitute for batteries, and development of cheap LED units. A cycle powered unit in which the members of
a household can take turns to charge the battery and which will give 3-4 hours
of light will be a great boon for rural
areas. This may be akin to Mahatma
Gandhi’s charkha except it will produce electricity instead of spinning cotton
and in Gandhian analogy may help in sustainable development. Use of LEDs with efficient batteries will
also be helpful in using photovoltaic (PV) units for lighting. Presently, because of poor efficiency of
batteries and light sources, a relatively bigger area of PV panels is required. This increases the cost of the system since
PV panels are the biggest component in the cost of these units.
Similarly
majority of rural households use biomass cookstoves for cooking no matter what
their economic strata are. The stoves
are very inefficient and smoky with about 10-15% cooking efficiency. An extremely efficient thermoelectric device
attached to the stove can produce 50-60 W of D.C. power. This power can be stored in suitable high
efficiency batteries for lighting. At
the same time part of the power can also be used to run a small fan for the
cookstoves. Recent biomass cookstove
designs have shown that air draft powered by a 5-10 W fan can double the
efficiencies of these stoves. A small
fan may also be useful in creating gasification in the stove, which can further
help the combustion process. Recent
developments in nanotechnology and new materials has also shown that very
efficient thermoelectric elements and
thermionic devices can be developed [1].
Some of these thermoelectric elements have been able to break the ZT
barrier of 1 and have reached a figure of 2.4.
ZT is a figure of merit which shows how good the device is in converting
heat to electricity. The higher the ZT,
the more efficient is the device. Materials experts think this is only the
beginning and predict that in 5-10 years these materials will form the basis of
solid state refrigerators (via Peltier effect) and small scale power generators
(via Seebeck effect). Similarly
nanotechnology has been used in making an efficient thermionic device for power
generation. R&D is therefore necessary in developing these devices
economically for cookstoves so that high temperature and soot loading can be
tolerated by them.
Finally one of the most efficient lighting
systems in the world is bioluminescence of firefly where chemical energy is
converted directly into light. Estimates are that its lighting efficiency is
around 85-90% compared to that of a light bulb, which is 7-10%. R&D should be done in trying to duplicate
this mechanism. Ultimate lighting system
can be thought of as a solar powered unit producing luciferase enzyme and
luciferin (the two chemicals used in bioluminescence of firefly) from a biomass
resource and then using them at night to produce light. It is an utopian dream but will be the
ultimate in a distributed light source.
Cooking
Energy Technologies
I feel the only way in which
a clean, safe and convenient cooking system can be provided to rural areas, is
by the use of liquid and gaseous fuels produced from locally available
sources. Production of suitable liquid
fuels has been described earlier. The
cooking stoves to run on 85% (v/v) and higher ethanol concentrations are
adequately developed. NARI has successfully modified existing kerosene
pressurized stove to run on 85% (v/v) ethanol. [3]. The flame burns with bluish white color and
the efficiency of this stove is 40-50%.
NARI's work has also shown that it is possible to run a stove with
45-50% (v/v) ethanol concentration. The
stove is open combustion flame type.
Such low percentage ethanol solution can easily be distilled in any
rural setting and is presently distilled as illicit liquor for drinking
purposes. Use of this ethanol for
cooking energy may also help rural women in two ways. Firstly, the illicit liquor distilled can be
taken away from the men and then used in cookstoves. Secondly, women will not have to travel long
distances and suffer hardships in collecting firewood.
The gaseous fuel can be
produced either as biogas or producer gas from the existing biomass
sources. Biogas has been used
extensively in rural areas of
These few R&D examples
can be multiplied in other areas like food processing, rainwater harvesting and
breeding programs of crops and animals.
I feel that rural development can take place at rapid pace when very
sophisticated R&D is brought to bear on it. This type of R&D will have
to be developed by us and cannot be imported.
We can however use technologies developed for other areas and modify
them for rural applications. Ultimately, I feel we will follow nature where all
the processes are carried out extremely efficiently with few materials, in
minimum number of steps and at room temperatures.
However no amount of R&D
will help the rural areas unless and until the technologies are readily
available at affordable prices. It is
therefore necessary that S&T NGOs, BARC and corporate sector should work
together to create a workable framework to spread these technologies.
Finally I would like to
suggest that we will be delighted to work with BARC on developing some of these
technologies. I would therefore like to
offer the services of my NGO to BARC so that we can take one or two R&D projects
and see how they grow and spread.
I would again like to thank
Dr. Chidambaram for inviting me and having the vision of using excellent
science and high technology for rural development.
Thank you.
REFERENCES
1.
Anil K. Rajvanshi, “R & D strategy for
lighting and cooking energy for rural households”, CURRENT SCIENCE,
Vol. 85, No. 4, 25 August 2003.
2.
Anil K. Rajvanshi and Sudhir Kumar, “Development of Improved Lanterns for Rural
Areas”, http ://nariphaltan.virtualave.net/lantern.htm.
3.
Anil K. Rajvanshi,
R. M. Jorapur and
4.
Anil K. Rajvanshi, " Talukas can provide
critical mass for India's sustainable development",
CURRENT SCIENCE, Vol. 82, No. 6, 25 march, 2002.