FACE OF ENERGY POVERTY

AND WHY WOMEN ENGINEERS ARE CRITICAL TO ERADICATING IT

Nirupama Prakash Kumar

Sr. Operations Engineer, WindLogics

Oct-24-2014

WHAT DOES DARKNESS FEEL LIKE?

http://vimeo.com/99902423

Great place for videos on Energy Poverty

http://en-act.org/

ENGINEERING (NOUN)

THE APPLICATION OF SCIENCE FOR THE OPTIMUM CONVERSION OF NATURAL

RESOURCES FOR THE BENEFIT OF HUMANITY

WHO HAS THE PEOPLE?

WHO HAS THE POWER

WORLD ELECTRIFICATION STATS

• 1.2 Billion people in the world today have no access to electricity

• 550 Million of sub-Saharan Africa, excluding South Africa,

households have no access to network electricity.

• 700 Million people of South Asia places like India, Pakistan and

Bangladesh, of the overall population and 90% of the rural

population are not on the grid.

• 1.4 Billion people will still lack access to electricity in 2030 -

International Energy Agency

GLOBAL CHALLENGES TO FIGHT

UN MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

ELECTRICITY/ENERGY HELPING FIGHT GLOBAL CHALLENGES

• Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty –

• World Bank study in Nepal found that the income in communities with micro-hydro

micro grids increased by 11% compared to communities without

• The same report found that users consume 54% less kerosene than non micro-

hydro consumers

• A UNDP study found that among 1503 households in 10 districts in Nepal that were

served using 20 microgrids, there was an increase in household income of 52%

from 1996 to 2005

• Achieve universal primary education –

• Children like to study at certain times of the day and mostly when it is cool or

when not distracted about playing outside

• Children are also safe when not next to fire hazards while studying

• Promote Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women –

• Women and child safety dramatically improves with lighting at night time

• Electricity can promote industries and jobs for women, and of course education

ELECTRICITY/ENERGY HELPING FIGHT GLOBAL CHALLENGES

• Reduce child mortality – • The UNDP study mentioned in the previous slide found significant reductions in the

mortality rate of children under five (from 9.4% to 5.3%) attributed to reduced indoor

smoke as a result of electricity displacing kerosene

• Improve maternity health – • The same UNDP study saw the decrease of maternal mortality rates from 5.3% to

4.3%

• Folks like Dr. Laura Stachel who realized how electricity would be essential to help

deliver babies safely

• Email sent from Swaziland by Paul Lintott

“A touching moment yesterday as I reviewed an installation. Quote and

translated from iSizulu  "I can now feed my baby at night without

paraffin smoke", that makes the development work worthwhile for me.”

ELECTRICITY/ENERGY HELPING FIGHT GLOBAL CHALLENGES

• Combat HIV / AIDS, malaria and other diseases –

• Ebola Medication needs to be kept cold to retain potency, electricity can be

tricky in several rural places in west Africa

• Many other medication and medical facilities needs electricity to operate well

• Ensure environmental sustainability –

• Better energy sources, better environmental sustainability

• Global Partnership for Development –

• UNSEA4ALL, E4C, IEEE CSI, other partnerships

COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS INITIATIVE (CSI)

• Is a signature program of the IEEE Foundation

• CSI is committed to the open-source design and

delivery of energy solutions

•  To the world’s poorest and most energy-deprived

populations

CSI Solutions - Community Entrepreneur Based Electricity Generation in Rural Haiti

WHY WOMEN ENGINEERS?

• We believe our professions must impact society

• We can easily empathize with the most vulnerable

populations in many societies – its women, children

and old

• We can to be the technical minds behind translating

the problems into solutions that address the right

problems for women and children

THANK YOU!

CONTACT : NIRUPAMA.PKUMAR@YAHOO.COM

HOW DO THESE CONNECT TO ENERGY POVERTY?

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/health/2013/02/28/cnnheroes-stachel.cnn.html

REFERENCES

Microgrids for Rural Electrification:

A critical review of best practices based on seven case studies

Authors:

Daniel Schnitzer, Deepa Shinde Lounsbury, Juan Pablo Carvallo, Ranjit Deshmukh, Jay Apt, and Daniel M. Kammen