IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Fall 2013 - 51

systems-domestic and community biogas, microhydro and solar
systems-have been identified
as the main alternative source of
energy for remote rural communities. The Alternative Energy
Promotion Centre, which is the
government agency responsible for
the promotion of renewable energy
in Nepal, has recently completed
a draft of a new renewable energy
subsidy policy. The effort is to provide a policy and regulatory framework to promote equitable access
to the country's renewable energy
program by the poor, women, and
marginalized communities (see
Fig. 1).
Bhutan
It can take up to three to four days
trekking to access remote villages
in Bhutan. Isolated rural communities in mountainous areas will be
electrified by off-grid renewable
energy systems, such as solar home
systems and small and microhydropower, to meet the government target of "electricity for all"
by 2013. The Bhutan Power Corporation (which is the main transmission, distribution, and electricity
utility in Bhutan), has extended its
mandate to include off-grid distribution in order to meet the government target [6].
Bangladesh
Around 30 000 solar home systems
are being sold each month in Bangladesh, electrifying hundreds of
thousands of rural households [7].
According to the Infrastructure
Development Company Limited
(established by the government of
Bangladesh as a non-bank financial
institution to support renewable
energy and infrastructure development) around 1 154 923 solar home
systems, with a total capacity of
60 MW, were been installed by
October 2011 under its solar program, and the target for 2014 is
2.5 million solar home systems [8].
Examples of these solar home systems can be seen in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2. The rural areas in Bangladesh are dotted with solar home systems on
rooftops of modest dwellings.

India
Under the Indian Ministry of New
and Renewable Energy's Remote
Village Electrification Program
approximately 12 400 villages and
hamlets have benefitted. As of
the end of 2011, the Ministry also
funded 671.5 MW capacity of offgrid renewable energy systems.
These include solar photovoltaic
systems, biomass gasifiers, water
mills, and micro-hydro systems [9].
Sri Lanka
The government implemented one
of the largest renewable energy
programs in the country with funding support from the World Bank
and Global Environment Facility. Under the program 8 000 kW
capacity of off-grid solar photovoltaic, biomass, and hydro projects
were installed. Around 120 000
households were electrified with
solar home systems [10].

Some Lessons from Africa
and Asia
Developing renewable energy as
a primary energy source has been
identified as fundamental to sustainable development. This has
heavily influenced and has become
an important focus in gender and

IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

FALL 2013

development studies. These studies, drawing extensively from the
experience of renewable energy
programs in Asia and Africa,
show that women need renewable
energy to:
a) Address the "biomass cooking
crisis," i.e., fuel scarcity and
women and children's health
and safety problems associated with the use of traditional
biomass for cooking energy.
b) Reduce women's socially
necessary but unpaid (and
therefore unrecognized and
undervalued) labor time associated with reproductive labor
in the home.
c) Give women more efficient
energy choices to aid their
work, especially in the context
of increasing urbanization and
its associated lifestyles.
d) Improve their livelihood opportunities and income by improving the productivity and
quality of women's microenterprises [11].

Women's "Traditional
Knowledge"
Studies also emphasize the importance of women's traditional
knowledge in natural resource
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