I have recently co-authored a paper on energy and ecological conservation and poverty in South India with Tim Severyn, Peter Hovmand, and Gautam Yadama entitled Modeling the Dynamics of the Energy, Environment, & Poverty Nexus: A Study of Biogas Unit Diffusion in Andhra Pradesh, India. The paper qualitatively evaluates the diffusion of an energy conservation technology, biogas stoves, by offering a system dynamics model as a conceptual framework for studying this issue. The paper was published in the proceedings of this year's International System Dynamics Conference where the paper was presented. I've put the abstract to the paper below, as well as a link to the whole paper.
Abstract:
In this paper, we use system dynamics modeling to examine the broad set of socio-economic and ecological factors which together play a role in determining a household’s decision to adopt a biogas unit. Informed by data we collected during the summer of 2008 with the Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) in Andhra Pradesh, India, and with corroboration from the relevant technology diffusion and energy transition literature, we model the process of biogas adoption and traditional technology replacement. We find that only by improving biogas interventions to address this complex interplay of energy, environment, and poverty-related factors, notably household usage of a multiple-stove strategy and the energy insecurity of the poorest households, can an intervention realize desired human and ecological outcomes. We conclude with a discussion of model applications for both FES and the broader rural development community.
The full paper can be downloaded here under Hovmand, Peter with John Peipert, Tim Severyn and Gautam Yadma Modeling the Dynamics of the Energy, Environment, & Poverty Nexus: A Study of Biogas Unit Diffusion in Andhra Pradesh, India
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