Mobilization and Impacts of Bio-Gas Technologies

At present, energy and fertilizer requirements of many of the developing countries are largely met by locally available, non-commercial sources, such as firewood and farm wastes. Extensive use of firewood is one of the factors that can lead to deforestation. When organic farm wastes are burnt, soil nutrients, which should return to soil, are lost and this can severely affect agricultural production. The problem of efficient utilization of these locally available resources, therefore, needs to be studied in a systematic manner. As an option for efficient utilization of local resources, bio-gas plants are considered, taking India as a case study. In these plants, animal dung and agricultural byproducts are utilized to obtain both methane and fertilizer through anaerobic fermentation. This is an example of appropriate technology for rural environments, which requires low investment, which does not need highly skilled labor and which can be operated with local materials and self-help in the 576,000 villages of India. The economic benefits to a family using a bio-gas plant and the impact of its widespread acceptance on a national scale are evaluated. It is felt, however, that the scope of such individual family bio-gas plants is likely to be limited for a number of reasons. To realize the potential of bio-gas fully, village plants of about 200 cubic meter capacity for approximately 100 families are needed. (Reprint from Energy, Vol. 2, pp. 441-455. Pergamon Press 1977.

Simulation of Macroeconomic Scenarios to Assess the Energy Demand for India (SIMA)

The use of the SIMA model within the energy modeling effort at IIASA reflects the desire to treat the special considerations of developing regions with as much care as possible. In particular, the treatment of economic profile and prospects of one developing country with this econometric model can lead towards a greater understanding of energy requirements in the face of alternative economic scenarios. The alternative paths selected for use with the SIMA model include a greater intensification of agriculture, increasing aid, and stepped-up investments and exports (to generate high economic growth). The SIMA model focuses on the central issues of capital availability and sources of export earnings for building up the domestic energy sector. Also considered explicitly are the uses of noncommercial energy and the extent and pace of rural electrification characteristic of developing economies

Assessment of Solar Applications for Transfer of Technology. A Case of Solar Pump

For the large and increasing rural population in the developing countries, decentralized solar applications could be relevant. However, new solar technologies being developed in the laboratories presently have to ultimately be acceptable in the field conditions. The conditions which have to be satisfied before the solar applications cold be acceptable are discussed. The solar pump is examined in detail in particular due to the interest expressed by many developing countries in this specific application. A comparative techno-economic analysis is carried out for solar pumps and diesel pumps which considered escalation of the diesel price and factors related to climate, geography, locale, social, and institutional environment for two types of uses namely for drinking water and for irrigation. It seems unlikely that a solar pump could compete with the diesel engine before the costs are brought down by a factor of 20-50 for irrigation purposes. However, for obtaining the drinking water the cost reduction required is by a factor less than 10 than currently charged for the prototypes. Although specific example of India is taken the matters are relevant to most developing countries. The issues discussed for the case of a solar pump are also relevant to other solar applications used only for seasonal purposes since the capital costs are high and operating diesel pumps during the season would be cheaper for several decades

Energy Use in the Post-Harvest Food (PHF) System of Developing Countries

This article reports on the methodology and results of the study on estimation of energy consumption in post-harvest-food (PHF) system in developing countries. The components of the PHF system are: food processing, transportation, storage and cooking. The study has rather ambitious coverage for 70 processed commodities in 90 countries of Africa, Latin America, Far East and Near East. This was possible because of computer tapes available at FAO for a wide variety of data required for such an analysis. Of course, extensive checking was required for each country but much of the approximations remain, leading only to broad implications. Despite the difficulties with precise data, it seems reasonable to draw the following conclusions from the available information: The post-harvest-food system requires 2 to 4 times more energy than the energy on farms. Commercial energy is often used for food processing, such as milling, crushing, and food transport, and to some extent for cooking. The share of commercial energy in total energy used in the PHF system ranges between 22% in Africa to 80% in Near East. The levels of energy consumption in the PHF system depends on income levels and extent of urbanization and whether a country has locally available fossil fuels or forests. In addition, different components of the PHF system are sensitive to different parameters. For example, energy in food processing depends on cropping and dietary patterns, whether food is exported or imported, whereas food transport depends on the size of the countries and location of urban areas with respect to farms. These parameters are discussed here for the four world regions as well as for the 90 developing countries as a whole. Country-specific insights are given graphically due to lack of space to report all data individually

Capital Goods for Energy Development: Power Equipment for Developing Countries

Energy problems of the developing countries have three facets: large import bills for oil and oil products, scarcity of biomass for cooking and import bills and investment required for energy development. While the first two are discussed often in the literature, the third, although of great concern to the national governments and many aid agencies, needs to be analyzed in more detail

Energy: A Resource for Industrial Development in India

The paper indicates the potentials and problems underlying the process of industrial development in an industrializing country where labor is abundant, non-commercial energy is used in some industries; a part of the production technology base is obsolete, interruptions in production are many--leading to under utilizations of capacity--and often much improvements in quality of products and performance are desired. These problems imply that there would be structural changes in the industries sector--some of which are described in this paper along with certain policy implications for the industries sector

From Farm Gate to Food Plate

This paper estimates energy consumed in the post-harvest food systems of India, Pakistan, Burma and Sri Lanka. The components of the post-harvest food system are: food processing, food transport and cooking. It is shown that they represent a significant share of national energy consumption and that variations among countries depend on variables such as urbanization, income, cropping patterns and whether a country is a food importer or exporter. The policies to reduce energy consumption would involve measures for increased energy efficiences, reduced food losses and careful consideration of markets vs food production areas for perishable commodities

Modeling Approach to Long-Term Energy Demand and Energy Policy Implications for India

The energy sector claims nearly 27% of the public sector plan allocations in India. Other developing countries also spend similar proportions of their investments for the energy sector. Efficient management of the energy system and optimal planning for its development could result in substantial savings of plan resources. Therefore, the need for setting up a national energy modeling system was felt for quite some time within the Planning Commission of Government of India. The present study was initiated in the Planning Commission to fulfill the need for a national energy modeling system. The study was carried out during 1979 to 1980. Such a modeling system can permit a detailed look at various energy uses and options and help to identify policies for energy systems management. Considering the long gestation periods necessary for initiating and completing energy projects, a long-term perspective up to the year 2000 was considered necessary. However, while doing so, this work identifies a number of areas where certain policies decisions and action plans are required within the sixth plan period (1980-85) itself, if some of the long-term goals are to be reached by the year 2000. The overall concept of energy modeling system developed here derives much from the energy modeling system for different world regions proposed by IIASA energy program led by Prof. Wolf Haefele, report of which is recently published in two volumes titled "Energy in a Finite World" and with which the author was associated for two and a half years. However, individual models were developed specifically for India to address the questions that concern policies at national level - and in particular for India. These are -- SIMA model for generating macro-economic scenarios, -- ENDIM model for simulating sectoral energy demand corresponding to macro-economic scenario generated by the SIMA model and which considers alternative policies for demand management in industries, transport, household and agriculture sectors, -- INVEST model which identifies the conditions under which energy requirements for economic growth of India could be met. The projections given here are to be interpreted as 'if' and 'then' statements are by no means absolute numbers. Yet, the efforts put into making various assumptions internally consistent, analyzing data at considerable disaggregated levels, understanding relationships of energy system with socio-economic developments and constructing and analyzing a number of scenarios, make this exercise useful for understanding energy system and therefore, assessing implications of various energy policies. It is hoped that this work, with suitable modifications, also provides necessary framework for examining energy policies for other developing countries

Sustainable Development in Agriculture

Food problems -- the efficient production or procurement of food and its appropriate distribution among members of society -- are problems endemic to mankind. Yet the nature and dimensions of these problems have been changing over time. As economic systems have developed, specialization has increased; and this has led to increased interdependences of rural and urban areas, of agricultural and nonagricultural sectors, and of nations This book focuses on the interactions between resources, technologies, and environment in agricultural systems and on their consequences for long-run agricultural development. It presents development of some methodological approaches as weLL as case studies of differing regions using systems analysis. The case studies cover a wide variety of countries and economic systems, and provide examples of dealing with an extensive range of issues concerning sustainability of agriculture