Presented by: Nirupama Prakash Kumar

1. FACE OF ENERGY
POVERTY
AND WHY WOMEN ENGINEERS ARE CRITICAL
TO ERADICATING IT
Nirupama Prakash Kumar
Sr. Operations Engineer, WindLogics
Oct-24-2014

2. WHAT DOES DARKNESS FEEL
LIKE?
http://vimeo.com/99902423
Great place for videos on Energy
Poverty
http://en-act.org/

3. ENGINEERING (NOUN)
THE APPLICATION OF SCIENCE FOR THE
OPTIMUM CONVERSION OF NATURAL
RESOURCES FOR THE BENEFIT OF HUMANITY

4. WHO HAS THE PEOPLE?

5. WHO HAS THE POWER

6. WORLD ELECTRIFICATION STATS
• 1.2 Billion people in the world today have no access to electricity
• 550 Million of sub-Saharan Africa, excluding South Africa,
households have no access to network electricity.
• 700 Million people of South Asia places like India, Pakistan and
Bangladesh, of the overall population and 90% of the rural
population are not on the grid.
• 1.4 Billion people will still lack access to electricity in 2030 -
International Energy Agency

7. GLOBAL CHALLENGES TO FIGHT
UN MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

8. ELECTRICITY/ENERGY HELPING
FIGHT GLOBAL CHALLENGES
• Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty –
• World Bank study in Nepal found that the income in communities with micro-hydro micro
grids increased by 11% compared to communities without
• The same report found that users consume 54% less kerosene than non micro-hydro
consumers
• A UNDP study found that among 1503 households in 10 districts in Nepal that were served
using 20 microgrids, there was an increase in household income of 52% from 1996 to
2005
• Achieve universal primary education –
• Children like to study at certain times of the day and mostly when it is cool or when not
distracted about playing outside
• Children are also safe when not next to fire hazards while studying
• Promote Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women –
• Women and child safety dramatically improves with lighting at night time
• Electricity can promote industries and jobs for women, and of course education

9. ELECTRICITY/ENERGY HELPING
FIGHT GLOBAL CHALLENGES
• Reduce child mortality –
• The UNDP study mentioned in the previous slide found significant reductions in
the mortality rate of children under five (from 9.4% to 5.3%) attributed to
reduced indoor smoke as a result of electricity displacing kerosene
• Improve maternity health –
• The same UNDP study saw the decrease of maternal mortality rates from 5.3%
to 4.3%
• Folks like Dr. Laura Stachel who realized how electricity would be essential to
help deliver babies safely
• Email sent from Swaziland by Paul Lintott
“A touching moment yesterday as I reviewed an installation. Quote
and translated from iSizulu "I can now feed my baby at night
without paraffin smoke", that makes the development work
worthwhile for me.”

10. ELECTRICITY/ENERGY HELPING
FIGHT GLOBAL CHALLENGES
• Combat HIV / AIDS, malaria and other diseases –
• Ebola Medication needs to be kept cold to retain potency, electricity can be
tricky in several rural places in west Africa
• Many other medication and medical facilities needs electricity to operate well
• Ensure environmental sustainability –
• Better energy sources, better environmental sustainability
• Global Partnership for Development –
• UNSEA4ALL, E4C, IEEE CSI, other partnerships

11. COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS INITIATIVE
(CSI)
• Is a signature program of the IEEE Foundation
• CSI is committed to the open-source design and
delivery of energy solutions
• To the world’s poorest and most energy-deprived
populations

12. CSI Solutions - Community Entrepreneur Based
Electricity Generation in Rural Haiti

13. WHY WOMEN ENGINEERS?
• We believe our professions must impact society
• We can easily empathize with the most vulnerable
populations in many societies – its women, children
and old
• We can to be the technical minds behind translating
the problems into solutions that address the right
problems for women and children

14. THANK YOU!
CONTACT :
NIRUPAMA.PKUMAR@YAHOO.COM

15. HOW DO THESE CONNECT TO
ENERGY POVERTY?
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/health/2013/02/28/cnnh
eroes-stachel.cnn.html

16. REFERENCES
Microgrids for Rural Electrification:
A critical review of best practices based on seven case studies
Authors:
Daniel Schnitzer, Deepa Shinde Lounsbury, Juan Pablo
Carvallo, Ranjit Deshmukh, Jay Apt, and Daniel M. Kammen