Commercialization of sustainable energy technologies

Commercialization efforts to diffuse sustainable energy technologies (SETs¹) have so far remained as the biggest challenge in the field of renewable energy and energy efficiency. Limited success of diffusion through government driven pathways urges the need for market based approaches. This paper reviews the existing state of commercialization of SETs in the backdrop of the basic theory of technology diffusion. The different SETs in India are positioned in the technology diffusion map to reflect their slow state of commercialization. The dynamics of SET market is analysed to identify the issues, barriers and stakeholders in the process of SET commercialization. By upgrading the ‘potential adopters’ to ‘techno-entrepreneurs’, the study presents the mechanisms for adopting a private sector driven ‘business model’ approach for successful diffusion of SETs. This is expected to integrate the processes of market transformation and entrepreneurship development with innovative regulatory, marketing, financing, incentive and delivery mechanisms leading to SET commercialization.     

Energy use in Indian household sector – An actor-oriented approach

Over the years, significant changes have taken place with regard to the type as well the quantity of energy used in Indian households. Many factors have contributed in bringing these changes. These include availability of energy, security of supplies, efficiency of use, cost of device, price of energy carriers, ease of use, and external factors like technological development, introduction of subsidies, and environmental considerations. The present paper presents the pattern of energy consumption in the household sector and analyses the causalities underlying the present usage patterns. It identifies specific (groups of) actors, study their specific situations, analyse the constraints and discusses opportunities for improvement. This can be referred to “actor-oriented” analysis in which we understand how various actors of the energy system are making the system work, and what incentives and constraints each of these actors is experiencing. It analyses actor linkages and their impact on the fuel choice mechanism. The study shows that the role of actors in household fuel choice is significant and depends on the level of factors – micro, meso and macro. It is recommended that the development interventions should include actor-oriented tools in energy planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The analysis is based on the data from the national sample survey (NSS), India. This approach provides a spatial viewpoint which permits a clear assessment of the energy carrier choice by the households and the influence of various actors. The scope of the paper is motivated and limited by suggesting and formulating a powerful analytical technique to analyse the problem involving the role of actors in the Indian household sector.     

Barriers to the adoption of efficient electricity technologies: a case study of India

This paper presents the results of the study on the barriers to the implementation of various electricity efficient technologies. To identify the barriers, field surveys were conducted in the residential, industrial and commercial sectors and professionals in India. The results indicate that lack of awareness, high initial cost, uncertainty of savings and non-availability were some of the major barriers. The barriers were then ranked according to their relative importance in the residential, industrial and commercial sectors. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Novel Thermoresponsive Biodegradable Nanocomposite Hydrogels for Dual Function in Biomedical Applications

Nanocomposite hydrogels were prepared through a blend solution of poly(lactic acid) and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-co-acrylamide via free radical polymerization. Plant extractions were used for the synthesis of Ag nanoparticles to study the antibacterial activity of the hydrogels. Similarly, 5-Fluorouracil drug was loaded through both in situ and ex situ methods to study thecontrolled release profiles. The nanocomposite hydrogels were characterized by ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Thermo gravimetric analysis - Differential scanning calorimetry (TGA-DSC), X-ray diffractometer, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscope. The dissolution and the agar diffusion test were performed to evaluate the drug release and antibacterial activity, respectively. The results suggested that the fabricated nanocomposite hydrogels can be used as a promising candidate for dual functions in biomedical applications.     

Limited Feedback Assisted Dynamic Decode-and-Forward Relaying for Multiple Access Relay Channel

Wireless Personal Communications - Feedback about the channel state information (CSI) enables the transmitter nodes to exploit channel conditions to yield large improvements in almost any...     

Universalization of access to modern energy services in Indian households—Economic and policy analysis

Provision of modern energy services for cooking (with gaseous fuels) and lighting (with electricity) is an essential component of any policy aiming to address health, education or welfare issues; yet it gets little attention from policy-makers. Secure, adequate, low-cost energy of quality and convenience is core to the delivery of these services. The present study analyses the energy consumption pattern of Indian domestic sector and examines the urban–rural divide and income energy linkage. A comprehensive analysis is done to estimate the cost for providing modern energy services to everyone by 2030. A public–private partnership-driven business model, with entrepreneurship at the core, is developed with institutional, financing and pricing mechanisms for diffusion of energy services. This approach, termed as EMPOWERS (entrepreneurship model for provision of wholesome energy-related basic services), if adopted, can facilitate large-scale dissemination of energy-efficient and renewable technologies like small-scale biogas/biofuel plants, and distributed power generation technologies to provide clean, safe, reliable and sustainable energy to rural households and urban poor. It is expected to integrate the processes of market transformation and entrepreneurship development involving government, NGOs, financial institutions and community groups as stakeholders.     

Reforming of vegetable oil for production of hydrogen: A thermodynamic analysis

The vegetable oils are one of the promising renewable feedstock for production of hydrogen suitable for application in hydrogen based fuel cells for electrical power generation. In the present work, a thermodynamic equilibrium analysis of steam reforming (SR) and autothermal steam reforming (ATSR) of vegetable oils to synthesis gas was investigated by Gibbs free energy minimization method. The thermodynamic equilibrium analysis was performed considering the vegetable oils as a mixture of triglycerides containing three same fatty acid groups in the structure. The property method used for equilibrium analysis was first regressed using available physical and chemical properties of the considered triglycerides. The regressed property method was then used to calculate the equilibrium products composition. The effects of various parameters of SR of vegetable oils, temperature and steam-to-carbon ratio (SCR), on hydrogen yield and selectivity of CO and methane was studied in a broad range of temperature (573-1273 K) and SCRs (1-6). The optimum conditions for SR of vegetable oils were then determined for maximum hydrogen yield with very low selectivity of methane. The thermodynamic equilibrium analysis of ATSR of vegetable oils was then performed at different oxygen-to-carbon ratios and thermoneutral conditions were then determined for various operating conditions.