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Optimal mix of technologies in rural India: The cooking sector
Author(s) -
Sinha Chandra Shekhar,
Kandpal Tara Chandra
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
international journal of energy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.808
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1099-114X
pISSN - 0363-907X
DOI - 10.1002/er.4440150203
Subject(s) - context (archaeology) , rural area , thermal energy , micromodel , environmental economics , engineering , environmental science , natural resource economics , agricultural engineering , environmental engineering , economics , geography , medicine , physics , geotechnical engineering , archaeology , pathology , quantum mechanics , porous medium , porosity
In the paper, an attempt is made towards the development of a linear programming micromodel for determining an optimal mix of technologies for domestic cooking in the rural areas of India. A mathematical model involving common sources (including biomass, commercial and solar) and commercially available technologies is formulated along with the detailed technoeconomics of the different energy conversion routes. In order to make the developed model flexible, the cooking sector is divided into two subsectors, namely the low temperature thermal energy requirement and end uses requiring thermal energy at mediumhigh temperatures. The marginal costs of both, the different energy resources, and the possible energy conversion routes are discussed in the context of rural India. The paper forms a part of a larger exercise of formulating a micromodel for the design of a rural energy supply system involving the three major end uses of energy in rural areas of India, i.e. cooking, irrigation and lighting.