sustainable energy for all

Carlo VezzoliPolitecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy

course System Design for Sustainability (SDS)

learning resource 5.1Sustainable energy for all

carlo vezzolipolitecnico di milano . DESIGN dept. . DIS . School of Design . ItalyLeNS - Learning Network on Sustainability

LeNSes - Learning Network on Sustainabile energy systems (EU edulink II)LeNSin - international Learning Network of networks on Sustainability (EU erasmus+)


. sustainable development is not possible without a sustainable energy for all

. Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE): key leverage for a sustainable development

. Sustainable Product-Service System (S.PSS): a promising model for Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE)

CONTENTS


SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IS NOT POSSIBLE WITHOUT SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FOR ALL


ENERGY IS AN ESSENTIAL INPUT TO ALMOST EVERY GOOD AND SERVICE

energy services have a profound effect on:. health. food and water security. education. communication services. productivity….

ENERGY IS THE WORLD’S LARGEST INDUSTRIAL SECTOR (~ 70% OF WORLD GDP)


WHAT ABOUT THE ACCESS TO ENERGY?


ENERGY ACCESS

1.2 billion people worldwide lack access to electricity

1 further billion do not have reliable access to electricity

who are those living without electricity?. more than 95% are in the sub-Saharan Africa and developing Asia countries. 80% of the world total are in rural areas(World Energy Outlook 2015, International Energy Agency)


source: http://www.un.org/en/events/sustainableenergyforall/index.shtml


ELECTRICITY ENABLES:. children to study after dark. water to be pumped for crops. foods and medicines to be refrigerated. modern fuels for cooking and heating. …

LACK OF ACCESS HAMPERS THE PROVISION OF BASIC SERVICES SUCH AS HEALTH CARE AND EDUCATION(World Energy Outlook 2015, International Energy Agency)


ACCESS TO MODERN FUELS/ENERGY FOR COOKING:

2.7 billion people access energy through traditional biomass

4.000 premature deaths everyday are due to biomass fumes (1,5 millions a year)(World Energy Outlook 2015, International Energy Agency)


ACCESS TO ENERGY STRONGLY CONTRIBUTE TO REDUCE INEQUALITY AND POVERTY

“SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IS NOT POSSIBLE WITHOUT SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FOR ALL”


THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY (resolution 65/151) …

… has designated “2012 INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FOR ALL”

… and unanimously declared"2014-2024 THE DECADE OF SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FOR ALL"


THREE INTER-LINKED OBJECTIVES:to be achieved by 2030 necessary for long-term sustainable development

. ENSURE universal ACCESS to modern energy services

. DOUBLE the rate of improvement in energy EFFICIENCY

. DOUBLE the share of RENEWABLE energy in the global energy mix

SUSTAINABILITY ENERGY FOR ALL: UN AGENDA


IS THE EXISTING ENERGY SYSTEM SUSTAINABLE?

IT IS DEFINITELY UNSUSTAINABLE!

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FOR ALL REQUIRE A PARADIGM SHIFT IN ENERGY SECTOR

WHAT ARE THE PROMISING ALTERNATIVE MODELS?


DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY: KEY LEVERAGE FOR A SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT


DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY (DRE)

A (THE) PROMISING MODEL AIMING AT SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FOR ALL

a paradigm shift alternative to traditional centralised and non-renewable (e.g. fossil fuels) system of energy generation and distribution


2 CHARACTERISING ELEMENTS

. SYSTEM STRUCTURE: from centralised to decentralised and distributed energy systems

. TYPE OF ENERGY SOURCES: from non-renewable (fossil fuel-based) to renewable energy sources

DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY


SYSTEM STRUCTURE: from centralised to decentralised and distributed energy systems

large power plant that deliver energy via great transmission and distribution networks

CENTRALISED ENERGY SYSTEM




small scale generation plants, that deliver energy to local consumer (eventually connected with others)

DECENTRALISED ENERGY SYSTEM




small scale generation plants at the point of use (eventually connected with others)

DISTRIBUTED ENERGY SYSTEM



SYSTEM STRUCTURE to decentralised and distributedfrom centralised




WAVE

TIDALTYPE OF ENERGY SOURCESDISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY

BIOMASSWIND

HYDRO

SOLAR

GEOTHERMAL


SYSTEM STRUCTURE from centralised to decentralised and distributed


RESOURCES from non-renewable to renewable

a paradigm shift alternative to traditional centralised and non-renewable (e.g. fossil fuels) system of energy generation and distribution


DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY: CHARACTERISTICS

. renewable resources: solar, wind, hydro, biomass,

geothermal energy

. small-scale generation plants

. generation at or near the point of use

. end-users are the producers: individuals, small businesses and/or communities

. can be connected with each other and/or to the main grid to share energy surplus


standalone(off-grid)

mini-grid grid of mini-grids

distributedmain-grid connected

distributed

decentralized

decentralized main-grid connected

DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY: CONFIGURATIONS


“A small-scale generation plant sourced by renewable energy resources (such as solar, wind, hydro, biomass and geothermal energy), at or near the point of use, where the user is the producer, whether an individual, a small business and/or a local community. Nearby generation plants can be connected with each others in local mini-grid to share the energy surplus; which may in turn be connected with nearby similar networks and/or to the main grid”.[LeNSes proposal, EU Edulink project, 2013-2016]

DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY: DEFINITION


WHY ARE DRE ENVIRONMENTALLY AND SOCIOETHICALLY SUSTAINABLE?

LET’S COMPARE DRE WITH NON-RENEWABLE CENTRALISED ENERGY SYSTEMS


NON-RENEWABLE + CENTRALISED RENEWABLE + DISTRIBUTED

• based on exhausting resources • high greenhouse gases emission

(global warming)• environmental impact of extraction and

refinement processes• (high energy transmission losses)

• based on non-exhaustable resources • low greenhouse gases emission • lower environmental impact for

extraction, transformation, distribution• (low energy transmission losses)

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY



SOCIO-ETHICAL AND ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY

big-scale generation plantscomplex to be realised and managed >require high economic investmentlow direct access to resources >low power to individual over their own destiny > widening rich AND poor gap

small generation scale plantseasy to be installed, maintain, managed >require low economic investmentallow individuals and local communities install/manage plants > democratisation of access to resources > enhance local employment and dissemination of competences


MORE FLEXIBLE AND RESILIENT


TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY


TOTAL SOLAR IRRADIATION OF THE SUN:50 MILLION GW 10.000 TIMES MORE THAN WHAT IS USED BY THE WORLD POPULATION

to satisfy the world energy needs would be enough a surface of 500.000 km2 of Photovoltaic panels


Carlo VezzoliPolitecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy 34

to meet the (country) Italian demand for energy, how wide a surface of photovoltaic plants should be?the Italian energy demand is about 340,000 GWh/year

to meet such a demand:

2.890 km2 is the surface required to install a PV plant (1% of the total Italian surface)

it would be enough to cover existing building of the Lombardy region



“the creation of a renewable energy regime, loaded by buildings, partially stored in the form of hydrogen, distributed via an energy internet—a smart intergrid—and connected to plug in zero emission transport, opens the door to a Third Industrial Revolution.”

[Rifkin, 2011]

THE THIRD INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION


1. shifting to renewable energy (solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, ocean waves and biomass)

2. buildings as power plants3. deploying hydrogen and other storage

technologies in every building and throughout the infrastructure to store intermittent energies

4. using internet technology to transform the power grid of every continent into an energy sharing intergrid that acts just like the internet

5. transitioning the transport fleet to electric, plug in and fuel cell vehicles that can buy and sell electricity on a smart continental interactive power grid

PILLARS OF THE THIRD INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

[Rifkin, 2011]


SUSTAINABLE PRODUCT-SERVICE SYSTEM (S.PSS): A PROMISING MODEL FOR DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY (DRE)


… a paradigm shift from traditional product sale offer model …

A WIN-WIN POTENTIAL an offer/business model capable of creating (new) value decoupling it from resources consumption and environmental impact increase, while being accessible even to low and middle-income people and increasing local employment and skills

SUSTAINABLE PRODUCT-SERVICE SYSTEM INNOVATION

Product-orientedResult-orientedUse-oriented


SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FOR LOW/MIDDLE INCOME CONTEXTS (ALL)

[LeNSes, 2016]

=

SELLING PRODUCT TO “UNIT OF SATISFACTION”

CUSTOM. VALUE INDIVIDUAL OWNERSHIP TO ACCESS

INNOVATION TECHNOLOGICAL TO STAKEHOLDER CONFIGURATION S.PSSProduct-orientedResult-orientedUse-oriented

S.PSS APPLIED TO DRE: SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FOR ALL

VTO DECENTRALISED AND DISTRIBUTED

TO RENEWABLE

STRUCTURE

RESOURCE

CENTRALISED

NON-RENEWABLE

DREOff-gridMini-girdGrid of mini-gridDRE main grid connected


S.PSS APPLIED TO DRE IN LOW-INCOME CONTEXTS: AN EXAMPLE


The M-POWER company offers to Tanzania rural people a Solar Home System (SHS) which includes: the hardware to generate solar energy (Solar panel + Storage + Wires) + Energy Using Products (EUP) (two lights + phone charger). Customers pays as a pay per period (daily fees). Off Grid Electric retains ownership of SHS and EUPs and trains a network of local dealers for installation and customer support.

OFF GRID ElectricM-POWER (provider) Tanzania

OFF GRID Electric is environmentally sustainable because it uses the solar energy + it is socio-ethically sustainable because give to poor people access to useful services + it is economically sustainable because is a business for the M-POWER company.


WHY S.PSS APPLIED TO DRE COULD OPEN NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR A SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (EVEN) IN LOW/MIDDLE-INCOME CONTEXTS?selling the access rather than DRE hardware ownership > reduces/avoids initial investment costs of DRE hardware (frequently too high a cost for low and middle-income people to afford) making them more easily accessibleselling the ‘unit of satisfaction’ including life cycle services costs rather than DRE hardware > reduces/avoids running cost for maintenance, repair, upgrade, etc. too high for low and middle-income people, leading to interruption of DRE useselling locally-based services more labour intensive, rather than DRE hardware> leads to involvement of local rather than global stakeholders, increasing local employment and skills, i.e. local empowerment


RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS: S.PSS APPLIED TO DRE IS PROMISING APPRACH TO DIFFUSE SUSTAINABLE ENERGY IN LOW/MIDDLE-INCOME CONTEXTS (FOR ALL)“A S.PSS applied to DRE is a promising approach to diffuse sustainable energy in low/middle-income contexts (for all), because it reduces/cuts both the initial (capital) cost of DRE hardware purchasing (that may be unaffordable) and the running cost for maintenance, repair, upgrade, etc. of such a DRE hardware (that may cause the interruption of use), while increasing local employment and related skills, resulting in a key leverage for a sustainable development process aiming at democratizing the access to resources, goods and services.”[LeNSes, 2016]


SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FOR LOW/MIDDLE INCOME (ALL) CONTEXTS

=

SELLING PRODUCT TO “UNIT OF SATISFACTION”

CUSTOM. VALUE INDIVIDUAL OWNERSHIP TO ACCESS

INNOVATION TECHNOLOGICAL TO STAKEHOLDER CONFIGURATION S.PSSProduct-orientedResult-orientedUse-oriented

RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS: S.PSS APPLIED TO DRE

V

as fare as itcut initial + running cost of DRE hardware (extending access to all)increase local employment and skills (empower local communities)

TO DECENTRALISED AND DISTRIBUTED

TO RENEWABLE

STRUCTURE

RESOURCE

CENTRALISED

NON-RENEWABLE

DREOff-gridMini-girdGrid of mini-gridDRE main grid connected

sustainable energy for all

Environment