2. XX
The Solar Spine strives to make Chandigarh a national leader in sustainable development by addressing challenges of urban
sanitation, energy demand, resource scarcity, and gender equality. India, just like the rest of the world, is challenged by a
future promising extensive population growth, which requires we live in a more sustainable manner. Currently, energy sup-
ply in India frequently does not meet its demand. Thus it is imperative that India invests in alternative energy to reduce an
increasingly burdened energy supply system. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) designated Chandigarh
as one of sixty Solar Cities across India to be a model city for renewable energy in planning and development. We propose
a revitalized corridor along the northern edge of Chandigarh’s Capitol complex that will stand as a center for women’s em-
powerment, sustainable infrastructure, and renewable energy. Restoration will address sanitation, waste management, and
stormwater drainage concerns that plague this corridor. The Center, named Surya Deviya, will be women run and include a
restaurant that is entirely powered by renewable energies. A biogas facility will convert human excrement into cooking fuel
on site. Stormwater infrastructure in the trench will improve overall sanitation and provide water for the biogas facility. The
slurry (waste) from the biogas facility will be used as organic manure for green agriculture in the surrounding area. Solar
panels will provide shade and electricity to the restaurant and the accompanying classroom.This classroom will be used for
technical and occupational training in renewable energies, as well as for youth education. The Surya Deviya Center is just
one part of the greater whole – the entire solar-spine revitalizes the corridor into a backbone for future prosperity by linking
the existing land uses with sustainable infrastructure.With the present demands on energy supply and resource availability,
the Solar Spine and Surya Deviya Center position Chandigarh as a model city and offer hope for national and global action
towards a sustainable future.
3. XX
SOLAR SPINE
Reid Haefer // Kelly Hostetler // Dorris Hwang
“Energy is central to sustainable development and poverty reduction efforts. It affects all as-
pects of development -- social, economic, and environmental -- including livelihoods, access
to water, agricultural productivity, health, population levels, education, and gender-related is-
sues. None of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) can be met without major improve-
ment in the quality and quantity of energy services in developing countries.”
– United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 2013
INTRODUCTION // SITE CONTEXT
The focus of this section is a central corridor in the northern periphery that runs from east
to west, with the Capitol Complex immediately to the south and the village of Kansal to the
north (Images below). This corridor serves as a main east-west transportation route and is pre-
dominantly used by the citizens of Kansal for leisure and recreational activities. Adjacent to
the road on the Capitol Complex, Le Corbusier designed a trench to avoid confusion, which
was intended to separate the village land from the Capitol Complex, while preserving an end-
less sightline from the urban to the rural. Currently, it contains a combination of stormwater,
sewage, and garbage. The banks of the trench are also used by local residents for drying cow
pies, which they burn for energy. Just south of the corridor, there is a large piece of land on the
Capitol Complex that currently exists as a large collection of trash and recycling. Wasteland or
not, it still serves as a recreational area for the youth that reside in adjacent communities. The
corridor edge shared with Kansal maintains a variety of mixed-use commercial buildings and
is generally an active pedestrian environment. Just south of this corridor lies the Capitol Com-
plex, which is minimally used by the general public due in part to high security and location.
The Capitol Complex is a large, historically pertinent public site and should be enjoyed by the
people of Chandigarh.
More specifically, the northern periphery faces numerous challenges as a result of growing
population and energy demand, indicating the need to pursue more sustainable strategies.
The population of the three primary villages and towns in the northern periphery is over thir-
teen thousand and is expected to grow to beyond seventeen thousand by 2031.1
Meanwhile,
electricity consumption in Chandigarh as a whole has been increasing by 52 MU every year,
yet the city has no generating facilities of its own and therefore relies upon sources in adjacent
// Images of Chandigarh’s northern
periphery. All photos taken by con-
tributors of this book.
4. XX
states.2
This increase in population and energy demand adds stress on an already burdened en-
ergy supply system. Frequent energy shortages in India inhibit quality of life due to an inability
of energy supply to meet burgeoning demand. In July 2012, two energy blackouts affected a
large swath of northern India, including Chandigarh, leaving close to a billion people without
power – the largest such occurrence in human history.3
At the same time, inadequate local electricity infrastructure is hazardous to local residents in
the northern periphery. Makeshift electricity connections create dangers to the citizens due to
increased chances of fire and electrocution. Numerous households in the periphery still rely
on traditional fuels for cooking, which have negative health impacts from the black smoke
emitted during indoor cooking. More generally, air quality in Chandigarh has been deterio-
rating, primarily due to an increase of vehicles on the road. In recent years, levels of Respira-
ble Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM) were found to exceed permissible amounts. In 1967
there were only 940 cars in the city and in 2012 there were 843,228.4
There is an average of two
vehicles per household and Chandigarh has the most cars per capita out of any city in India.
The result is increasingly poor air quality throughout the city, including the northern periphery,
which inhibits public health and threatens flora and fauna. As Chandigarh continues to grow,
there is recognition that these trends are not sustainable.
The term ‘spine’ has been employed to emphasize the significance of this corridor as an edge
between the two prominent entities of the northern periphery- the villages and the Capitol
Complex. Both rely on the corridor for various purposes and both will play an integral role in
dictating the future conditions of this corridor. As of recent, both the villages and the Capitol
Complex appear to be moving towards uncertain and potentially undesirable future scenarios
(see scenarios diagram). The latter has been experiencing profound developmental pressures,
while the former has neglected to embrace the general public in the face of heightened securi-
ty policies.The result is a growing tension that must inevitably be reconciled.Wedged between
these two contentious zones is the corridor; a dubious stretch of land that serves both the
Capitol and the villages in disparate ways. In the face of urgent concerns within both the Cap-
itol and the villages, it is paramount that the corridor be transformed into a spine that doesn’t
just connect the two entities, but serves as a robust backbone for future prosperity. To the
villages, the spine should provide an inspiration for a renewed environmental consciousness
in response to pressures to develop agricultural and ecologically sensitive land. To the Capitol,
the spine should create additional pressure to activate the complex and open it up for the
public to enjoy.
1// Chandigarh Administration, Draft
Chandigarh Master Plan-2031, An-
nexure 1, Villages, p 102, UT Chandi-
garh, 2013, accessed February 2014
2// Chandigarh Administration, De-
partment of Environment, ENVIS Cen-
tre, State of the Environment 2012
3// Energy Studies Institute, ESI Bul-
letin on Energy Trends and Devel-
opment (Volume 5 / Issue 4 • March
2013), National University of Singa-
pore, India’s Blackouts of July 2012:
What Happened and Why?, Anubhav
Ratha, Masters Student, ETH Zurich,
Switzerland
4 // Ibid. 2
// The Solar Spine site area in relation
to Chandigarh’s Northern Periphery.
5. XX
Scenarios Diagram // Four potential
scenarios for the norther periphery
under varying degrees of environ-
mental stewardship (horizontal axis)
and deruralization (vertical axis).
6. XX
SOLAR CITY DESIGNATION // A RENEWABLE FUTURE
In 2008, the national Ministry of New and Renewable Energy’s (MNRE) Solar Cities Programme
identified Chandigarh as one of 60 cities across India to be developed as a model city for re-
newable energy planning and development.5
In response, Chandigarh developed a solar city
master plan that recommends an“integrated urban planning approach, which simultaneously
involves reducing reliance on fossil fuels by the application of energy conservation and effi-
ciency measures and by replacing/complementing the conventional energy generation with
the renewable energy.” Our proposal for the northern periphery embraces the Solar City Pro-
gramme and integrates its integrated urban planning philosophy into the plans and designs.
Chandigarh has established a goal to install rooftop solar photovoltaics at a capacity of 2.5 MW
within 3 years and 10 MW within 10 years. Chandigarh is located in a climatic zone that recieves
ample solar radiation and is thus suitable for photovoltaic applications (see below). In fact, the
city has already begun its transition to becoming a solar city. The administration has begun
installing over 2 MW of power on government land and buildings across the city, as well as
investing in energy efficient building retrofits.6
Our proposal for the northern periphery seeks
to enhance this solar city vision for Chandigarh and the surrounding region.
5//TERI, Master plan to make Chandi-
garh a Solar City, prepared for Chan-
digarh Renewable Energy Science
and Technology Promotion (CREST),
Project Report No. 2008RT03, Fina
Report 2009
6// Ibid. 2
// Solar Resources in India. Adapted
from National Renewable Energy Lab
(NREL). http://www.nrel.gov/interna-
tional/ra_india.html
7. XX
KINETIC CORRIDOR// ECOLOGY ENERGY EDUCATION
In order to develop the northern periphery sustainably, we propose an ecologically sensitive
corridor that connects the different land uses along the city’s edge and educates people
in renewable energy and green infrastructure. Extending from the Sukhna ecological re-
serve trail to Rajendra Park and Naoyagon, this promenade merges the logic of the Capitol
Complex with the capricious nature of village sprawl. The corridor hosts a number of activ-
ities under and above ground, invigorating the main east west connection of the northern
periphery while maintaining a comfortable human scale that enhances the environment. The
entire stretch can be roughly divided into three parts: 1) a mediation between the ecological
reserve and farmhouses, 2) the Capitol complex and Kansal Village, and 3) Rajendra Park and
the agricultural land. The existing road becomes a kinetic corridor that showcases renewable
energy demonstration nodes, such as a green agricultural and renewable energy plots next
to the currently unproductive fields, a renewable energy demonstration center on the landfill,
and numerous electric rickshaw charging stations. The new transportation infrastructure
along the corridor is designed to engender the use of non-emission mobility, such as battery
powered rickshaws, bicycles, and pedestrians.
The trench of trash becomes an integral element of the corridor, acting as a guiding ele-
ment for the pedestrian movement walkway. The waterway facilitates pedestrian movement
through the northern periphery, including the forest reserve, and buffers the agricultural
land, manages stormwater, improves the standing water areas of the forest, and adds to the
lake water. Water is filtered in different ways across the three zones, with storm water kept
mostly separate from wastewater. The trench to prevent confusion transforms into a canal
demonstrating proper storm and wastewater treatment, along which people can walk or
gather in leisure. Drainage pipes from Kansal Village discharge storm and waste water into
the trench, and flow east into an underground pipe. Individual filtration systems for each ma-
jor pipe in the trench will remove contaminants from the water through gravitational means.
//Study of the trench leads to investigation of context. This expands the area of intrest to the entire roadway and to existing bodies of water, the result of which which can be organized
into three zones that correspond to the source of water and the surrounding programmatic elements.
8. XX
To channel inner spontaneity, we randomly drop pieces of paper along a linear path to inspire a form of
spatial organization.
Connecting the implied spaces results in a conceptual plan. Mirroring the programmatic plan in a
longitudinal section offers variation in the user’s relationship to the ground plane.
Extracting the in-between space of adjacent master plans.
9. XX
Suraj Deviyan Center:
Renewable energy facility emphasizing women empowerment and vocational
training, built by locals with mostly on-site materials. Marked by an elongated
solar shading structure made of bamboo.
PROPSOED PLACES OF INTEREST
Forest Trail:
Starts on the forest boardwalk segment ofthe corridor. Offers sightings of forest
wildlife and future nature-related local art installations. Connects to existing forest
Community Gardens:
Per the Kansal Village master plan, these p-patches along the road provide space
for gathering and community relaxation.
Solar Sharing Demonstration Site:
Combines special manufactured PV panels with specific crops to gain maximum
benefits of the solar energy. An experiemental project of the Suraj Deviyan Center.
Corridor site plan, showing surrounding trees in color and the proposed site area in brown.
Edible Landscape:
Invites users to interact with their surrounding landscape on a smaller scale, medi-
ating between the large scale agricultural fields and Rajendra park.
10. XX
PROPOSED CORRIDOR AMENITIES:
Metro Stop:
Proposed bus stop(s) in the Capitol Complex master plan. Aims to provide easier
access to public transportation for the growing village populations.
Rest Area:
Ranges from outdoor Capitol-inspired street furniture and shaded spots to an
underground bar and cafe.
Art Installation:
Features works of interactive art and installations that relate to the forces of
nature, ecology, or renewable energy, submitted by local artists.
Pedestrian Pathway:
Covering ~5 km from the Solar Sharing Demonstration Site to Sukhna Lake, con-
necting to the existing forest trail. Paving and colors highlight pedestrian right of
way. Transitions between zones are marked by varying heights of vegetation and
the pedestrian position relative to the ground plane.
Water Flow Path:
Stormwater and sewage are treated through open air ponds, visible sub surface
planting areas, and underground tanks. Follows the gradual contours, emptying
out into the lake.
11. XX
7//“Decentralized Wastewater Treat-
ment :: BORDA Network.”Decentral-
ized Wastewater Treatment :: BORDA
Network. Bremen Overseas Research
and Development Services, n.d. Web.
13 Mar. 2014.
The agricultural zone deals with storm water from the road and potential agricultural runoff
from fields. Runoff from the road will be treated with plant beds on either side of the path,
and returned to the groundwater table. The demonstration site is bounded by a gravel irri-
gation canal that serves as a landscaping element and helps manage potential runoff. The
current underground pipe will be exposed to the air, and pass through filtration beds. Since
the source of water is unknown, the water will pass through the wastewater treatment, sup-
plementing the wastewater from households in Kansal Village because the system requires
a constant flow of water to filter.
Beginning in the energy zone, the corridor design employs Decentralized Wastewater Treat-
ment Systems (DEWATS), which manage the site waste at an affordable cost, with low main-
tenance and limited available space.7
Using DEWATS in conjunction with a biogas system
(one of our proposed renewable energy sources), the ditch becomes a wastewater cleaning
system instead of an unpleasant waste receptacle. This system treats the water in four main
processes: primary treatment in which easily settled solids are settled or used in a biogas
digester, secondary treatment in anaerobic baffled reactors and anaerobic filters; secondary
aerobic treatment in horizontal gravel filters, and post-treatment in aerobic polishing ponds.
The system combines a centralized treatment system where all the waste is treated in one
facility with onsite treatment, resulting in an essentially decentralized system. It is beneficial
in that it requires lower maintenance, is simple to construct, and therefore can use local
builders and materials.
Average Household Uses of
Water across 7 Indian Cities:
20% toilet flushing
28% bathing
19% washing clothes
23% cleaning house
10% other and drinking
----------
20% black water
70% greywater
10% consumed or
evaporated
//Shaban A., Sharma R.N. 2007.
Water Consumption Patterns in Do-
mestic Households in Major Cities.
Economic and Political Weekly.
Agricultural zone.
Energy zone.
Forest zone.
Trench photos.
Axon showing different zones and
their major chracteristics.
14. XX
Cutting four transverse sections through the corridor demonstrates an exploration of the user
experience informed by the water way, as well as the path of the water below ground. Section
A passes through the agricultural zone, where the main pedestrian path is slightly raised to
allow for views over the agricultural landscape. Hardier plants buffer the horizontal planting
filter while edible fruits on low hanging bushes and branches line the walkway, encourag-
ing interaction of the user and their environment as well as offering shade. The stormwater
bioswales, which contain certain plants and planting medium to slowly filter water, along
with the pond connecting to Rajendra Park will allow for return of rain to the groundwater
table.
Section B illustrates a solar shading device that advocates the program of the Suraj Deviyan
Center. The tensile structure is made of bamboo and is optimized for the angles of winter and
summer sun, and covers the main pedestrian walkway. Water gathered from the earlier hori-
zontal planting filters and sewage from Kansal Village are treated in the anaerobic tank. Lo
Sections on the left page correspond with their axonometrics,
showing level changes in relation to the waterway.
Translating the Assembly section into street furniture.
Transforming the Secretariat module into a trash can.Demonstrating the visibility of trash cans.
16. XX
Section C reveals the a carved out space that results from facilitating access to the under-
ground portions of the wastewater treatment. The available underground space is open to
interpretation, acting as a bar, cafe, or small movie theatre for the residents of Kansal. Its
surrounding landscape supports taller vegetation in contrast to the previous section,
Section D encompasses the forest zone , where the walkway and landscaped earth mounds
are elevated while the ground is slightly steeper, sloping south. There are less biological
interventions, allowing the forest to retain its characteristics. The pedestrian and bicycle-only
boardwalk wind through the forest, supplemented with smaller splinter trails that encourage
immersion within the ecological realm as people pass through.
Transforming the High Court section into a bus stop
shelter.
Variation of scaling down, using the Secretariat plan
as another bus stop shelter. The brise soleil and the
ramp hold the roof up and contain bus pamphlets.
Vegetation situated near steep level changes and edges to
slow movement.
Solar powered lamp posts provide an immediate sense of charac-
ter.
Iteration of Le Corbusier’s modular-inspired lamp posts.
17. XX
SURYA DEVIYA CENTER // RENEWABLE ENERGY HUB
Aspreviouslymentioned,ChandigarhhasbeendesignatedasasolarcitybythenationalGovern-
mentofIndia(GOI).Becomingasolarcityisanambitiousgoalanddemandsimmenseeffortbythe
publicandprivatesectors.AlthoughtheChandigarhAdministrationcandevelopacertainamount
of renewable energy infrastructure, the solar city goal requires buy-in from private citizens
who own the majority of land within Chandigarh. One of the first and most important steps
in this process is raising public awareness of this program.
Therefore, in order to create awareness, we propose creating a renewable energy education
center along the kinetic corridor. Titled the Surya Deviya Center, which roughly translates to
Women of the Sun Center, the center consists of an educational facility, a restaurant, renew-
able energy demonstration projects, and public space. The educational facility will contain
a classroom for youth education programs on sustainable technologies, as well as hands on
workshop space where citizens of Chandigarh will be trained in clean energy technologies. A
restaurant will serve as both a tourist attraction and demonstration project by using biogas
from restroom facilities to provide fuel for cooking. Additionally, the entire center will be a
demonstration project in itself, as it will be powered by solar energy and maintain energy effi-
cient building design. Considering that current site serves as a makeshift recreational field, we
plan to maintain those uses by providing a public space for athletics, recreation, and leisure.
The Surya Deviya Center will include an electric vehicle (EV) shuttle service that will operate
from the on site parking lot and transport visitors from the center to various eco-tourism sites
in the northern periphery. One such site will be the eco-hub and interpretive center proposed
near Kaimbwala.. This EV shuttle service will have charging stations in the Surya Deviya Cen-
ter parking lot and will serve as a renewable energy demonstration site and traffic mitigation
measure. Charging stalls will fuel the rickshaws and promote sustainable tourism throughout
the periphery. Visitors can also park their personal vehicles in the Center’s parking lot and then
hop on the shuttle. We envision the EV shuttle as an additional demonstration project that
will inspire widespread adoption of EV vehicles throughout Chandigarh. The Chandigarh gov-
ernment is currently providing subsidies to battery-operated vehicles and this demonstration
project will help contribute to this citywide effort to encourage more sustainable transporta-
tion options.// (Below) The existing land use at the
proposed location for the Surya Devi-
ya Center.
18. XX
While it is paramount that the northern periphery and the city of Chandigarh move forward
with renewable energy development, technologies such as solar power require significant
land allocation and thus conflict with the existing agricultural land use in this area. Although
renewable energy development should be pursued, existing farmland should not be aban-
doned. At the same time, the financial plight of small farmers in India continues to worsen
and there is a need for creative strategies that create economic value.8
Therefore, it is neces-
sary to explore opportunities that allow both renewable energy development and agricul-
tural production on the same land. Just north of the corridor, in the proposed food security
zone, we suggest a demonstration site that exhibits emerging technological strategies for
integrating agriculture and renewable energy on a single piece of land. For instance, solar
sharing is a recent design strategy, in which solar panels are mounted off the ground above
growing crops, like an arbor, and are oriented in a way to allow just enough light for crops to
undergo photosynthesis and grow.9
Under this system, small farms would receive a financial
boost by reducing their total energy costs or by selling surplus electricity back to the grid, all
while contributing to a new vision of the northern periphery as a hub for innovative self-suf-
ficiency.
9 // Movellan, Junko,“Japan
Next-Generation Farmers Cul-
tivate Crops and Solar Energy”,
RenewableEnergyWorld.com, 10
October 2013, <http://www.renew-
ablee nergyworld.com/rea/news/
article/2013/10/japan-next-gen-
eration-farmers-cultivate-agricul-
ture-and-solar-energy>
8 // Barry, Ellen,“After Farmers Com-
mit Suicide, Debts Fall on Families
in India”, New York Times, 22 Feb-
ruary 2013, <http://www.nytimes.
com/2014/02/23/world/asia/after-
farmers-commit-suicide-debts-fall-
on-families-in-india.html>
// Under a solar sharing design
scheme, a typical 100 watt PV panel
will occupy approximately 2-3 square
meters of space, in order to allow
sufficient light to enable productive
agriculture. The northern periphery
currently maintains approximately
2.5 km2 of agricultural land that may
be used for solar sharing. This area of
land could yield approximately 1,000
solar panels, producing a maximum
876, 000 kWh of electricity per year.
// Future site programming for the
Surya Deviya Center.
19. XX
// Exploring the concept of a ‘Solar
Module,’ a breakdown of different
solar power strategies used by the
center that can be taken seperately
and integrated into existing systems.
// Examples of renewable energy
demonstrations possible at the Surya
Deviya Center clockwise starting
with the upper left image: solar rice
cooker, solar panel construction for
battery charging, solar lighting, solar
ovens for cooking, a bicycle powered
blender, and solar panels on agricul-
tural land. Photos are of the Mujeres
Solares Center in Nicaragua.
21. XX
POWERFUL POOP // HARNESSING AGRICULTURAL, HUMAN, AND ANIMAL WASTE
Beauty and opportunity abound in Chandigarh’s northern periphery along the Capitol Com-
plex’s northern edge, but it is obscured and often forgotten amidst the sanitation problems
that contaminate the landscape. Immense potential exists amongst mounds of trash and piles
of human and animal excretion. In the state of Punjab, rural households get roughly 60% of
their energy from cow dung cakes.10
The rest comes from wood and agricultural residue. Due
to this abundance of biomass in India, research and implementation of biogas plants has
been going on since the 1980s. When operated correctly, these plants offer safe, clean, and
cost-effective renewable energy solutions. In 2010, an evaluation of the National Project for
Biogas Development (NPBD), initiated in 1981-82 by the Indian Planning Commission, found
that community biogas plants were more successful than household biogas plants.11
There is
clearly great potential for biogas energy in India. By understanding the benefits, successes,
and challenges of existing biogas plants, we can realize this potential in Chandigarh through a
demonstration facility at the Surya Deviya Center.
We have chosen a biogas demonstration facility as part of our Surya Deviya Center because of
the abundance of biomass, the broader environmental upgradation, and the resulting individ-
ual benefits to the citizens of the northern periphery. Large-scale environmental benefits of a
biogas plant include mitigation of deforestation and negative climate change impacts, while
individual benefits include improved health and sanitation, as well as economic savings. This
means cost saving for cooking fuels (simply put, less poop equals more energy using a biogas
plant), and through savings on chemical fertilizers by using the plant’s slurry manure on agri-
cultural fields.12
It is our vision that the biogas facility at the Surya Deviya Center will provide
the energy needed for cooking at an on-site restaurant, which will attract people to the Center.
Additionally, the slurry created from the demonstration biogas plant will be sold to the agri-
cultural fields in the northern periphery to replace the use of chemical fertilizers and promote
green agriculture.
The educational impact of the Surya Deviya Center’s biogas demonstration project will spur
the community to invest in this form of renewable energy. Yet it is important to note that the
primary impediments to successful biogas plants often pertain to breakdowns in the manage-
ment and operation of the facility.13
These challenges can be addressed head on at the Surya
Deviya Center with strategic partnerships that ensure funding, maintenance, and operation by
government, agencies, private investors, or non-profit organizations (NGOs). The Center will
serve as an example for Chandigarh as a whole of a future that demands renewable energy
infrastructure.
“The pall of smoke spewed by the
incomplete combustion of bio-mass
fuels-crop residues, wood and cow
dung-is a fixture in most households
in rural India. As many as 1.5 million
people in India alone die each year
from the effects of this unhealthy
indoor air. And once it becomes out-
door air, black carbon forms a blanket
that traps heat that would normally
escape into the atmosphere…”
- Dr. V. Ramanathan, University of Cal-
ifornia, San Diego, USA
// (Top) Animal husbandry is prom-
inent in Chandigarh’s northern pe-
riphery. A biogas facility can create
powerful poop by converting waste
into renewable energy. Photo Credit:
Lynn Fredenburg
// (Above) The energy from the Suraj
Deviyan Center’s biogas facility will
be used for cooking fuel in its restau-
rant.
10 // Singh N., Gupta R.K. (1990).
Community biogas plants in India.
Biological Wastes. 32: 149-153.
11 // Programme Evaluation Organ-
isation, Planning Commission, Gov-
ernment of India. 2002. Evaluation
study on National Project on Biogas
Development.
12 // Programme Evaluation Organ-
isation, Planning Commission, Gov-
ernment of India. 2002. Evaluation
study on National Project on Biogas
Development.
13 // Ibid.
14 // Zafar, Salman. 2013. A glance at
biomass resrouces. BioEnergy Con-
sult: Powering Clean Energy Future.
Web. Accessed 17 January 2014.
The energy in biomass originally
comes from the sun. Through pho-
tosynthesis, CO2 in the air is con-
verted into other carbon containing
molecules in plants.14
The waste that
comes from these plants or from
animals that eat these plants con-
tains carbon, which can be extracted
through a process called anaerobic
digestion. Essentially, this process
turns waste into an energy resource.
Chandigarh’s northern periphery has
an abundance of agricultural and an-
imal waste that can be used as feed-
stock in an anaerobic digester.
22. XX
WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT // FEMALE FUTURES
Empowerment comes when one feels in control of his or her own situation15
and is therefore
able to “gain influence over events and outcomes of importance to an individual, group, or
community.”16
Women’s rights in India are a reason for concern both locally and globally. Lucky
for us, empowerment and development often go hand in hand, and the Surya Deviya Center
will capitalize on this. Empowerment is gained through opportunities that create a valued ef-
fect, though it can sometimes be hard to launch empowerment programs due to funding and
support. For this reason, Surya Deviya will be framed as a source of renewable energy, eco-
nomic development, and as a source of women’s empowerment. The Surya Deviya Center will
improve both women’s status and respect in the northern periphery and in the city as a whole.
Social restrictions on women often limit self-confidence and create employment barriers. Not
only will the center mitigate these barriers, but it will also utilize women’s existing knowledge
of natural resource management. A study done by Upadhyay (2005), revealed that rural wom-
en in India and Nepal are more involved than men in the use and management of natural
resources such as organic farming, livestock, water, irrigation, forestry, and fisheries. While the
northern periphery is not necessarily rural, it would be safe to assume that a sizeable number
of women have ample knowledge and immense potential for further education.
The Surya Deviya Center will introduce a new level of education for women in the northern
periphery. These women will be trained in renewable energy systems design, maintenance,
operation, and construction.Thus, local women will help operate the Center and communicate
this knowledge to visitors. Improving women’s education is important because education level
is a predictor of four dimensions of women’s empowerment: household autonomy, freedom
to move outside their home, gender preference attitude, and the ability to defy domestic vio-
lence. Surya Deviya Center will empower women through education of a desired form of eco-
nomic development and sustainability: renewable energy.
Women have much to offer Surya Deviya Center in knowledge, time, and dedication, and the
Center will give back to them equally in empowerment, opportunity, and equality. The Center
is modeled upon a credit trading system where women can volunteer there time to mean-
ingful work and in return receive credits that can be used to purchase sustainable products
and technologies for use within their home or community. For example, a woman may vol-
unteer her effort assisting with educational programs at the center and subsequently be able
to purchase a solar cooker for her home, thus reducing the amount of time spent cooking in
unhealthy indoor spaces. In sum, this system boosts quality of life in the villages by promoting
renewable energy education and awareness at the Surya Deviya Center.
15 // Shefner-Rogers C.L., Rao N.,
Rogers E.M., Wayangankar A. 1998.
The Empowerment of Women Dairy
Farmers in India. Journal of Applied
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// Women participating in their local
economies throughout India.
// Photo credit the Hunnarshala
Foundation.
AGRICULTURAL FARMERS
Local agricultural farmers may be called upon
to provide biomass from their crops to feed the
biogas facility at Surya Deviya. These farmers will
be compensated for their feedstock and this will
improve local pollution and air quality by avoiding
fires to burn crop residue.
CATTLE OWNERS
Nearby cattle owners may be called upon to provide
biomass from their cattle to feed the biogas facility
at the Surya Deviya Center. These cattle owners
would be compensated for their contribution.
WOMEN
Local women will be trained to manage the
Surya Deviya Center. These women will be
given responsibility for day-to-day operations
of the Center, for renewable energy training and
education, and for management of the solar
kitchen.
PRIVATE INVESTORS
Private investors from the region could fulfill the
portion of funding necessary for Surya Deviya that
is not provided by the local or national government.
Their contributions would be recognized within
the community and throughout the country.
IREP
Chandigarh Administration’s Integrated Rural En-
ergy Programme (IREP) should be involved in the
creation of Surya Deviya to facilitate renewable en-
ergy connection and distribution within the north-
ern periphery. IREP assistance will be vital for the
future expansion of the solar-spine.
MNRE
India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
(MNRE) has recognized Chandigarh as a Solar
City to incorporate renewable energy into plan-
ning and development. The MNRE will provide
funding and training for the Surya Deviya Center,
as well as tax breaks and subsidies.
CREST
The Chandigarh Renewable Energy, Science, &
Technology (CREST) Promotion Center is vital
for the Center’s funding and communication
strategies. A partnership with CREST would
benefit both parties since their sustainable
development and renewable energy goals align.
NGOs
Local or regional non-profit organizations could
aid in the training and funding of the Suraya
Deviya Center. NGOs with experience mobilizing
community organizations and empowering
women would offer irreplaceable expertise and
experience.
BIOMASSPEOPLEGOVERNMENTPARTNERSHIP
// Possible stakeholders in the im-
plementation of the Surya Devi-
ya Center and Chandigarh’s Solar
Spine. Some images credit the Hun-
narshala Foundation.
23. XX
// Future phasing and development
of renewable energy infrastructure
in Chandigarh’s Northern Periphery.
FUTURE EXPANSION // A GREEN SNOWBALL
As a demonstration project, this site is designed to serve as a platform in which other renew-
able energy projects will be launched in the adjacent northern periphery and Chandigarh as
a whole (see phasing below). Within 20 years we imagine renewable energy projects expand-
ing into the northern periphery to serve growing energy demand in the villages of Khuda Ali
Sher, Kansal, and Kaimbwala. The aggregate 2031 population of this area may range from ap-
proximately twenty thousand- projected by the Chandigarh Administration- to the roughly
one-hundred thousand that has been estimated and designed in the CUL 2014 project (see
Kansal Development Strategy). Given the high land values and development pressures in the
northern villages, population growth in this area will likely proliferate, requiring significant in-
creases in energy supply. Renewable energy can help fulfill this future demand. Initially, the
Surya Deviya Center will exist as the primary project in the northern periphery. Through in-
creased promotion regarding the viability and necessity of renewable energy adoption, a few
pilot projects in the villages will eventually emerge, as citizens become aware of the financial
and environmental advantages of these technologies. For instance, each village may eventu-
ally be served by 1-3 biogas facilities, small-scale photovoltaics (PV) on individual households,
and 2-3 larger scale solar plants integrated amongst adjacent agricultural fields. The ultimate
goal is an energy self-sufficient northern periphery that relies minimally upon the unreliable
Indian grid and utilizes local energy and ingenuity to boost quality of life within growing and
evolving communities.
24. XX
The northern periphery is an ideal location to become a renewable energy focal point within
Chandigarh because it is still underdeveloped compared to the rest of the city, yet it is expect-
ed to grow significantly in the coming years. Much of the northern periphery is comprised of
farmland and low to mid density development, but each village is facing development pres-
sures. For instance, the Tata development and the overflowing boundaries of Khuda Ali Sher
are just two harbingers of imminent development trends. Such development is inherently ac-
companied with additional infrastructure, which is costly, permanent, and has varying spatial
requirements (see graph below). Therefore it is imperative that clean energy infrastructure be
established before and in conjunction with impending development, rather than after the fact,
when costs are much higher and public desire for change always poses challenges. The most
cost effective and environmentally friendly means to proactively address future deruralization
in the northern periphery is through the implementation of renewable energy infrastructure.
With a focus on public awareness and education, these sustainable technologies are sure to
proliferate throughout the northern periphery and beyond.
Now is the time for Chandigarh to invest in clean
energy infrastructure and the northern periphery is
the ideal location for this strategy to begin. Current-
ly, the trench to avoid confusion divides the Capitol
Complex and the villages to the north. Our Solar
Spine proposal will transform this trench into a ki-
netic corridor that not only connects Chandigarh to
its periphery, but also serves as a robust backbone
for future prosperity. At the heart of this ecologically
sensitive and energy efficient Solar Spine is the Surya
Deviya Center, which serves as a beacon of light for
a sustainable future in Chandigarh. As the northern
periphery edges closer towards an uncertain and
potentially undesirable future, the Solar Spine will
provide the necessary support to boost quality of
life, while increasing public awareness of the need to
transition to more sustainable lifestyles.
// Infrastructure costs and space nec-
essary for site programming
// Diagram of the movement of ener-
gy and resources along the proposed
Solar Spine.
