A Capabilities-Led Approach to Assessing Technological Solutions for a Rural Community

Abstract

To improve access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy in rural areas of the global south, off-grid systems using renewable generation and energy storage are often proposed. However, solution design is often technology-driven, with insufficient consideration of social and cultural contexts. This leads to a risk of unintended consequences and inappropriate systems that do not meet local needs. To address this problem, this paper describes the application of a capabilities-led approach to understanding a community’s multi-dimensional energy poverty and assessing their needs as they see them, in order to better design suitable technological interventions. Data were collected in Tlamacazapa, Mexico, through site visits and focus groups with men and women. These revealed the ways in which constrained energy services undermined essential capabilities, including relating to health, safety, relationships and earning a living, and highlighted the specific ways in which improved energy services, such as lighting, cooking and mechanical power could improve capabilities in the specific context of Tlamacazapa. Based on these findings, we propose some potential technological interventions to address these needs. The case study offers an illustration of an assessment method that could be deployed in a variety of contexts to inform the design of appropriate technological interventions.

A capability approach to analyse well-being impacts of wind energy infrastructure

“…In more applied work, the CA has been used to conceptualise and operationalise the relationship between well-being, technology, energy services and energy poverty, both in Southern and Northern contexts (Day et al 2016, Middlemiss et al 2019, Malakar and Day 2020, Wang et al 2021. A second stream focuses more specifically on the development impacts of electrification in different Southern countries (Fernández-Baldor et al 2014, Arnaiz et al 2018, Cole 2018, Malakar 2018.…”

Comprehensive energy solution planning (CESP) framework: an evidence-based approach for sustainable energy access projects in developing countries

“…the capabilities) to engage or not in a certain functioning: promoting capabilities instead of functionings enables an individual's freedom and self-determination. In the context of energy access, CA has been already adopted by various authors for different scopes [84][85][86][87] and to already underpin a new rationale for energy interventions, applied for on-field priority assessment by Wang et al [88].…”

Rural Cooling Needs Assessment towards Designing Community Cooling Hubs: Case Studies from Maharashtra, India

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