Appropriate Technology for Access to Universal Basic Services: A Case Study on Basic Electricity Service Provision to Remote Communities in the Napo River Basin
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Methodology
2.1. Initial Research Questions
- SR-RQ1: How to define ATs, and what aspects should this definition cover?
- SR-RQ2: Has the concept of ATs changed over time? If so, how?
- SR-RQ3: Can we identify gaps in the research on ATs?
2.2. Identification of Relevant Studies
2.3. Study Selection
2.4. Data Charting
2.5. Collation, Summary and Report of Results
3. Action Framework for Technology-Intensive Cooperation Projects
4. Case Study: The Luz en Casa Amazonía Project
4.1. Project Overview
4.2. Application of the Action Framework: Project Development
4.2.1. Initiation
- Lack of interest of energy/electricity distributors (public and private) due to low demand and high investment, operation and maintenance costs: the low energy demand of the communities in the area means that energy distribution companies have little interest in working in these areas because of the difficulty to recover the high investment required to provide access to energy to the population and cover the operation and maintenance costs.
- Uncertain sustainability of project execution: the Peruvian Amazon rainforest is a remote territory that can only be accessed by the river, with high ecological value and extremely hot and rainy weather; consequently, the logistics of energy distribution and management are very complex.
- Lack of energy-related and socioeconomic information about the population of isolated communities, which makes it difficult to make decisions for the implementation of programs that have an impact on them. Gathering information from isolated communities can reveal the reality of these areas, and thus allow the design of solutions adapted to each area and region within the framework of the universalization of access to energy.
4.2.2. Planification
4.2.3. Execution
4.2.4. Closure
5. Discussion
6. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
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Queries | Type | Categories | Web of Science |
---|---|---|---|
“Appropriate technologies” | Keyword | ECONOMICS, MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES, BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT, SOCIAL SCIENCES INTERDISCIPLINARY | 35 |
Appropriate technologies | Keyword | ECONOMICS, MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES, BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT, SOCIAL SCIENCES INTERDISCIPLINARY | 39 |
“Appropriate technologies” | Theme (Near defin *) | All | 21 |
Author(s) | T | Scope | Initiation | Planification | Execution | Closure | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | |||
Segal (1992) [27] | T | DEV | † | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | † | † | ||||||
AI–Ali (1995) [16] | T | TT | ✔ | |||||||||||||
Kaplinsky (2011) [28] | T | BoP | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||||
Guimón and Guimón (2012) [29] | T | TT | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
Verharen et al. (2013) [30] | T | CA | ✔ | ✔ | † | † | † | † | † | † | † | ✔ | † | |||
Park and Ohm (2015) [31] | T | SUST | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||||||
Tharakan (2015) [10] | T | SUST | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | † | † | † | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
Tharakan (2015) [32] | T | SUST | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | † | † | † | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
Sorensen and McBean (2015) [15] | E | SUST | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||||||||||
Pattnaik and Dhal (2015) [14] | E | SUST | ✔ | ✔ | † | † | † | † | ||||||||
Verharen et al. (2017) [13] | E | TT | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||||||||||
Botchie et al. (2018) [33] | E | TT | † | ✔ | ✔ | † | † | † | ✔ | |||||||
Wensing et al. (2018) [8] | E | CA | ✔ | ✔ | † | ✔ | ||||||||||
Bhattacharjya et al. (2019) [26] | E | TT | † | † | ✔ | † | † | † | † | † | ||||||
Shin et al. (2019) [7] | E | SUST | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | † | |||||||||
Lashitew et al. (2019) [34] | E | TT | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||||||||
Patnaik (2019) [12] | T | SUST | ✔ | † | † | † | † | † | ✔ | ✔ |
Term | Type | Phase | Definition |
---|---|---|---|
People-oriented | T | I | People are at the center of the development process to reduce their vulnerabilities and equip them with capabilities that will enable them to improve their quality of life [7,32] |
Aligned with local needs | T | I | The design of technological solutions is adapted to the context of the community, by first identifying the particularities of each area and then identifying which solution best fits the context [26,34]. |
Small scale | T | I | Technology that involves a limited number of beneficiary agents in order to test the viability of actions, redefine them on an ongoing basis and achieve real results in practice by adjusting to the needs and circumstances of specific communities [28,12]. |
Community developed | T | E | Community members are engaged in project development and implementation. The project empowers the community by enabling the population to manage the interventions [8,10]. |
Sustainable | T | C | Ability to meet the needs of the community without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs [8]. |
Community improvement | T | C | Positive impact on the quality of life of the community as a result of the intervention [7,30]. |
Maintainable | T | C | The technology can be repaired and controlled over time in a simple way without requiring a very high capacitation or intensive training [10]. |
Local resources | C | P | The resources involved in the project come from the community level [34]. |
Affordable | C | P | The population can access the solution without it representing a significant percentage of their income and, therefore, making it impossible for them to access other basic services in exchange [30,33] |
Simple | C | P | The demands for high skills are minimized, not only in the production process but also in the management, raw material supply, financing or marketing [28,29]. |
Adaptable and flexible | C | P | Able to change and made suitable for different conditions in an easy way [12,26]. |
Project Title | Luz en Casa Amazonía |
---|---|
Beneficiaries | Residents in the Peruvian Napo, Ucayali and Amazonas River basins |
Project Period | 2016–2021 |
Institutions | acciona.org |
Acciona Microenergía Perú (AMP) | |
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) | |
ICAI Engineers for Development Foundation (FICAID) | |
Comillas Pontifical University of Madrid’s Institute for Research in Technology (IIT) | |
Funding bodies | Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) |
Peru National Fund of Scientific and Technological Development and Technological Innovation (FONDECYT) |
People Oriented | Communities in the Napo, Ucayali and Amazonas River Basins |
---|---|
Aligned with local needs | Sustainable energy access that improves the quality of life of the inhabitants |
Small scale | Luz en Casa Napo Pilot 2016—61 households Luz en Casa Napo 2017—350 households Luz en Casa Napo 2018—1107 households |
Community developed | Multi-stakeholder approach (Committees, CLCs) |
Sustainable | Energy-as-a-service, maintained by the CLCs and financed by the FOSE |
Community improvement | 7365 beneficiaries of clean energy access 3,324,420 h/year of light 344,530 extra h/year of extra activities as schoolwork 216,133 soles/year (53,365 EUR/year) saved from energy cost |
Affordable | Fee-for-Service Model (FOSE) |
---|---|
Simple | Plug-and-play systems, easy to repair and use |
Adaptable and flexible | Portable systems |
Local resources | All members of the local community are involved in ensuring the sustainability of the project. However, no local devices are used in the project |
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Del-Río-Carazo, L.; Iglesias-Pradas, S.; Acquila-Natale, E.; Martín-Fernández, J.G. Appropriate Technology for Access to Universal Basic Services: A Case Study on Basic Electricity Service Provision to Remote Communities in the Napo River Basin. Sustainability 2022, 14, 132. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010132
Del-Río-Carazo L, Iglesias-Pradas S, Acquila-Natale E, Martín-Fernández JG. Appropriate Technology for Access to Universal Basic Services: A Case Study on Basic Electricity Service Provision to Remote Communities in the Napo River Basin. Sustainability. 2022; 14(1):132. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010132
Chicago/Turabian StyleDel-Río-Carazo, Laura, Santiago Iglesias-Pradas, Emiliano Acquila-Natale, and José Gabriel Martín-Fernández. 2022. "Appropriate Technology for Access to Universal Basic Services: A Case Study on Basic Electricity Service Provision to Remote Communities in the Napo River Basin" Sustainability 14, no. 1: 132. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010132
APA StyleDel-Río-Carazo, L., Iglesias-Pradas, S., Acquila-Natale, E., & Martín-Fernández, J. G. (2022). Appropriate Technology for Access to Universal Basic Services: A Case Study on Basic Electricity Service Provision to Remote Communities in the Napo River Basin. Sustainability, 14(1), 132. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010132