AUSTRALIA–INDONESIA JOINT SYMPOSIUM IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Jakarta, 13-17 September 2006
The role of renewable energy in rural development
Professor Hugh Outhred, Joint Director (Engineering) and Presiding Director, Centre for Energy and Environmental Markets and Head, Energy Systems Research Group, University of New South Wales
Ms Maria Retnanestri, PhD Research Student, Energy Systems Research Group, School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications (EE&T), University of New South Wales
Energy plays a facilitating role in most aspects of human life. This has been largely taken for granted in western societies due to the progress that has been made since the industrial revolution. However, growing concerns about climate change impacts and energy security (eg, flow constraints for oil and natural gas) mean that it is more important than ever to develop energy service options in the context of long term sustainability, considering its economic, environmental, social and technical dimensions. Moreover, even the basic issue of access to affordable and reliable energy services remains a major problem of concern in developing countries, particularly in rural areas.
Nearly 50 per cent of the Indonesian population do not have access to the electricity grid and the indicators for Indonesia show a strong correlation between access to electricity and both the development index and (inversely) the poverty index1 . The indicators suggest that education, access to communication, health, clean water and other socio-economic related issues need to be at the forefront of rural and national development planning in Indonesia for the people to achieve progress.
Renewable energy resources and efficient and appropriate energy use offer promise in this context. However, they have yet to meet that promise in practice. For example in Indonesia, despite the large number of off-grid Photovoltaic Energy Service (PVES) installations to date and the considerable support provided by the government and donors, PVES has yet to prove its sustainability and remains inaccessible to most remote Indonesian communities.
This presentation will discuss the I3A (Implementation, Accessibility, Availability and Acceptability) Sustainable PVES Delivery framework that Maria Retnanestri has developed to investigate and promote the overall sustainability of PVES, as part of her PhD program at the University of New South Wales. Her research suggests that, to be sustainable, it is necessary that PVES projects are implemented in a framework that addresses PVES accessibility, availability and acceptability.
1 In reference to the Human Development Index (HDI) and Human Poverty Index (HPI). HDI is a measure of life expectancy, educational attainment and standard of living while HPI is a measure of poor health, illiteracy, access to clean water and earning below a dollar a day.
Hugh Outhred is Joint Director (Engineering) and Presiding Director of the Centre for Energy and Environmental Markets at the University of New South Wales. He holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Sydney. His 30-year career includes research on power system analysis, electricity industry restructuring, energy and sustainability policy, and renewable energy technology and its interaction with power systems. He is a presently a member of the CSIRO Energy Flagship advisory committee.
Maria Retnanestri is a PhD Research Student, Energy Systems Research Group, School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications (EE&T), UNSW. She is currently on leave from the Electrical Engineering Department, STTNAS College, Indonesia.
