Bridging the Great Divide!
Renewable Energy - Global Survival; Rural Livelihoods

Civilization was born from a spark of energy. All great changes in human history have been powered by energy, whether it’s atomic, electric, thermal, solar, or wind.

But overuse of non-renewable energy sources spells global doom. At the same time, in rural India, even after 6 decades of independence, many stretches are still in the dark, waiting for electricity. Supplying conventional sources of energy is not always feasible, due to high costs, technical bottlenecks, shortages, etc.

For both these very diverse yet interlinked impasses, there is one key.
A new kind of energy: the renewable kind.

Key Projects

The UNDP Project

Partner: United Nation Development Programme (UNDP); Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources (MNES); Confederation of Indian Industries (CII); KGVK
Operational area: 5 villages in KGVK’s cluster – Pradhandih, Tirildih, Chora, Upertola and Manjhtola.
Objective:
To bring positive changes in socio economic status of villagers through renewable energy, while conserving natural resources.

Strategy:

Sustainability is the key, which will be addressed through small scale decentralized renewable energy system, coupled with greater access to information, technical training, credit linkage and market support.

Interventions:

(a) Installation of energy sources

  • Biogas – To replace firewood as the main fuel for cooking. Biogas may also be used for direct lighting, where there is no electricity. This will help protect forests, offering a safe disposal system for organic waste, with by-products that can be further utilized to produce compost. A household-size biogas plant normally has the capacity to meet all cooking and lighting needs (for 2-4 hours) of a family. So far, 70 biogas plants have been constructed, after considering availability of cattle and other factors. Villagers have been adequately trained to run and maintain these plants.

  • Solar lights – To meet the demand of household lighting, Solar Home lights have been provided to 150 households. The system includes 2 CFLs of 11W capacity and 1 plug point (for TV, radio, etc). Three streetlights have also been provided in each village. Home lights can run for 4 hours continuously at one charge, while the streetlights stay on all night. For sustainability, selected villagers have been trained to maintain and repair the equipment, while user training is imparted to all villagers.

    Click here to know more.

  • Biomass Gasifier – This process involves controlled combustion of woody biomass for output of inflammable gas, used as fuel to generate electricity. So far, one 10KW Gasifier has been installed in all 5 villages, which can be used to run small industrial machinery for income generation. For sustainability, selected villagers are trained to operate and maintain the Gasifier.

(b) Income generation (IG) activities

  • Power-based activities –Supplying power to small industries, to run rice hullers, briquette machines, masala-making equipment and submersible irrigation pumps.

  • Non-power based IG activities – Identifying several livelihood activities, including goat rearing, pig breeding, poultry, mushroom cultivation, pisciculture, etc. Groups were identified and trained in these activities by experts. So far, 52 villagers from 5 groups have benefited from this initiative.



New Indians ..............................................................................................

Meet the New Indians…

  • He spread the flame

    Bikal Hansdah of Manjh Tola village knew that the women in his family hated cooking. Twice a day, sometimes more, the swirling smoke from mud ovens made their eyes water and lured diseases like TB and cancer with every breath.

    Bikal, a member of KGVK’s Marshal Self-help Group, decided to convince the women of his family to try out the biogas oven. They did, and their love for cooking improved miraculously. But more goodies were in store. Bikal used the slurry as a fertilizer in his field and also utilized biogas to light up a kitchen bulb!

    Bikal earned his rightful place in New India: he smote the smoke and spread the flame.