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Designing Sustainable Energy For All Sustainable Product Service System Design Applied To Distributed Renewable Energy Carlo Vezzoli
Designing Sustainable Energy For All Sustainable Product Service System Design Applied To Distributed Renewable Energy Carlo Vezzoli
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Green Energy and Technology
Carlo Vezzoli
Fabrizio Ceschin
Lilac Osanjo
Mugendi K. M’Rithaa
Richie Moalosi
Venny Nakazibwe
Jan Carel Diehl
Designing
Sustainable
Energy for All
Sustainable Product-Service System
Design Applied to Distributed
Renewable Energy
Green Energy and Technology
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/8059
Carlo Vezzoli Fabrizio Ceschin
•
Designing Sustainable
Energy for All
Sustainable Product-Service System Design
Applied to Distributed Renewable Energy
With Mary Suzan Abbo, Elisa Bacchetti, Emanuela
Delfino, Silvia Emili, Paulson Lethsolo, Mackay Okure,
Yaone Rapitsenyane, Ephias Ruhode, James Wafula,
Edurne Battista, Andrea Broom, Fiammetta Costa
123
Carlo Vezzoli Richie Moalosi
Design Department University of Botswana
Politecnico di Milano Gaborone
Milan Botswana
Italy
Venny Nakazibwe
Fabrizio Ceschin The College of Engineering,
College of Engineering, Design and Physical Design, Art and Technology
Sciences—Department of Design Makerere University
Brunel University London Kampala
Uxbridge Uganda
UK
Jan Carel Diehl
Lilac Osanjo Delft University of Technology
University of Nairobi Delft
Nairobi The Netherlands
Kenya
Mugendi K. M’Rithaa
Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Cape Town
South Africa
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018. This book is an open access publication.
Open Access This book is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
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Foreword I
It gives me great honour and privilege to contribute with the foreword for this book,
as a collaboration between Africa and Europe towards sustainable energy for All.
The book is a transdisciplinary text with the latest knowledge-base, know-how and
experiences in sustainable energy for All system development and design. Indeed, it
presents the key role of design in providing sustainable energy solutions to human
society in its quest for continuous improvement and socioeconomic development.
Africa is blessed with a variety of sustainable energy resources, including solar,
hydropower, wind, mini/micro hydro and geothermal resources. However, lack of
access to adequate and sustainable energy services remains one of the major con-
straints to economic development on the continent. We, therefore, urgently need to
encourage and incentivize our scientists, researchers and research institutions, busi-
nesses and industries, supported by development partners and governments, to invest
more in research, education, curricula development and designing feasible and
bankable renewable energy projects, that will enable Africa to exploit and utilise the
continent’s vast energy resources for social economic development. From the LeNSes
project and from this book, a proposal was developed in this direction. Indeed, the
Sustainable Product-Service System (S.PSS) model applied to the Distributed
Renewable Energy (DRE) one, a promising win-win combined model towards sus-
tainable energy for All, in fact, promoting the leapfrog from individual ownership of
energy systems to collective access to sustainable energy. To design and implement
such new models, the book presents the knowledge-base, the design approach, the
design process and related tools developed and tested during the LeNSes project.
It is my opinion that this book can effectively contribute to promote a win-win
approach towards sustainable energy solutions, which has been developed in the
African continent, and can be replicated elsewhere for the universal attainment of
sustainable energy for All.
v
Foreword II
During the last few decades, the history of design culture and practice, when
dealing with the issue of sustainability, has moved from individual products to
systems of consumption and production, and from strictly environmental problems
to the complex blend of socioethical, environmental and economic issues. Even
more recently a new challenge becomes very clear: Sustainable Energy for All
(accessible even to low- and middle-income people) is a key leverage for sus-
tainable development, with both environmental and socioethical benefits.
Within this framework, it is key important that design can take a proactive role
and become an agent to extend the access to sustainability energy. It can do so
because within its genetic code there is the idea that its role is to improve the quality
of the world: an ethical–cultural component that, though not generally apparent, can
be found in a deeper examination of the majority of designers’ motivations.
Finally, it is far obvious that a key role has to be played by the Higher Education
Institutions, both in researching and defining the new roles the designers may play,
as well as in the curricular proposal where a new generation of design should grow.
A challenging journey is ahead of us. And from this perspective we believe this
book will contribute to a larger change in the design community requested to meet
this challenge.
vii
Foreword III
The sustainability framework has brought the use of renewable technologies to the
fore. The publication of this book is another milestone in contributing towards the
sustainability agenda. The book will serve as an interdisciplinary platform for
sharing the latest knowledge and experiences in sustainable energy for practitioners,
designers and researchers alike. It gives me a deep sense of gratitude that the
University of Botswana through the Department of Industrial Design and
Technology is contributing chapters, with state-of-the-art knowledge on the fron-
tiers of system design for sustainable energy for all. The book has developed new
methods of analysis and provides new solutions to keep up with the ever-changing
frontiers of sustainable energy. I think that the authors can be confident that there
will be many grateful readers who will gain a broader perspective of the disciplines
of Design of Sustainable Product-Service System applied to Distributed Renewable
Energies as a result of their efforts.
ix
Foreword IV
Access to renewable energy plays a crucial role in social and economic develop-
ment, particularly in low- and middle-economy contexts. Technology is important
but alone it is not the solution. The concept of Product-Service Systems (PSS) is a
very promising approach to enable (renewable) energy technologies to contribute to
a more sustainable society: PSS are able to integrate them within services and
business models as well as to match renewable technologies with the needs and
wishes of end users and other stakeholders. We as PSS developers and appliers are
very pleased with the design-oriented and practical approach of this book, based on
the rich experiences of all partners involved in the LeNSes project. We are con-
vinced of and looking forward to the positive impact it will make, stimulating
creative pathways to a more Sustainable Future.
xi
Foreword V
Ensuring energy access is one of the most important global challenges that we need
to address. Currently, 1.2 million people lack access to electricity, with the majority
of these living in rural areas in low- and middle-income countries. The impact of
this energy poverty can be measured in acute respiratory illness caused by indoor
pollution due to the use of kerosene and biomass (including dung) for lighting,
heating and cooking. In addition, infant mortality is high due to the lack of
refrigeration for vaccine and medicine storage and the inability to power incubators,
and education is severely impacted.
The adoption of distributed renewable energy systems represents a promising
strategy to tackle the problem. However, the challenge cannot be addressed by only
considering the technological aspects. Innovative energy services and business
models, and appropriate stakeholder value chains need also to be considered and
coupled with appropriate technologies for energy generation, storage and
transmission.
In this context, design, with its human-centred approach and technical compe-
tence, is well placed to play an important role as the technical and socio-cultural
agent of change. This book explores how strategic design can provide a solution to
the problem of universal energy access. It does so by proposing an innovative
approach that focuses on the design of Product-Service Systems to deliver dis-
tributed renewable energy solutions that are economically viable and environ-
mentally and socio-ethically sustainable. This book provides the theoretical
foundations of this design approach, as well as an articulated set of methods and
tools that can be used by practitioners and businesses.
This book is part of an overall effort that Brunel Design is undertaking to place
research on global challenges at the core of the agenda. It also represents an
excellent example of how research can quickly be translated into innovative design
xiii
xiv Foreword V
The book is one of the outcomes of LeNSes, the Learning Network on Sustainable
energy system, a project funded by the ACP-EU Co-operation Programme in
Higher Education (EDULINK II), for curricula development and teaching diffusion
in worldwide design higher education institutions, on design for sustainability
focused on Sustainable Product-Service System (S.PSS) applied to Distributed
Renewable Energies (DRE).
xv
Preface II
xvii
xviii Preface II
1
Politecnico di Milano, Design Department, School of Design, Italy.
2
Centre for Research in Energy and Energy Conservation (CREEC), College of Engineering,
Design, Art and Technology (CEDAT) Makerere University, Uganda.
3
Politecnico di Milano, Design Department, School of Design, Italy.
4
Instituto de Investigación y Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Agricultura Familiar INTA-IPAF.
Buenos Aires, Argentina.
5
Brunel University London, College of Engineering, Design and Physical Sciences, Department of
Design, Human Centred Design Institute, UK.
6
Politecnico di Milano, Design Department, School of Design, Italy.
7
Politecnico di Milano, Design Department, School of Design, Italy.
xix
xx Acknowledgements
8
Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, The Netherlands.
9
Brunel University London, College of Engineering, Design and Physical Sciences, Department of
Design, UK.
10
Department of Industrial and Technology, University of Botswana, Botswana.
11
Department of Industrial and Technology, University of Botswana, Botswana.
12
Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Industrial Design Department, South Africa.
13
College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology (CEDAT) Makerere University, Uganda.
14
College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology (CEDAT) Makerere University, Uganda.
15
School of the Arts and Design (StAD), University of Nairobi, Kenya.
16
Department of Industrial and Technology, University of Botswana, Botswana.
17
Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Research, Innovation and Partnerships, Faculty of
Informatics and Design, South Africa.
18
Institute of Nuclear Science & Technology (INST), University of Nairobi, Kenya.
Notes from the book
This book reflects the main outcomes of the LeNSes (EduLink II programme,
2013–16 www.lenses.polimi.it) aimed to promote Design for Sustainability
focused on sustainable energy access to all, as a crucial issue towards a sustainable
society.
This book has beneficiated more widely from the contribution of several aca-
demics, researchers and designers from the LeNS worldwide network, which today
includes more than hundred universities in five continents (www.lens-international.
org). In particular from the LeNS Africa network (lensafrica.org.za), which cur-
rently involves 15 universities from the whole African continent, aiming to diffuse
to designers, academics, professionals and students, the developed knowledge base
and know-how on Design for Sustainability.
This book aims to share its contents with everyone who is interested to
know more about designing Sustainable Product-Service System (S.PSS) applied
to Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE), towards sustainable energy access for All.
Main contributions came from African and European partners of the LeNSes
project, and particularly from Carlo Vezzoli (project coordinator), Fabrizio Ceschin,
Lilac Osanjo, Mugendi K. M’Rithaa, Richie Moalosi, Venny Nakazibwe and Jan
Carel Diehl, Elisa Bacchetti, Emanuela Delfino, Silvia Emili, Edurne Battista,
Mackay Okure, Mary Suzan Abbo, Ephias Ruhode, Andrea Broom, James Wafula,
Paulson Lethsolo and Yaone Rapitsenyane.
The book is organised to provide an overview of the topic and as well to support
the design in practice. For this reason, the book includes strategies and guidelines,
as well as a collection of case studies of Sustainable Product-Service System
(S.PSS) applied to Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) solutions. Additionally,
are presented the method and support tools for designers.
The reading of this book can be supplemented by the videos and the slides of the
lectures carried out during a set of pilot courses in the various LeNSes African
xxi
xxii Notes from the book
xxiii
xxiv Contents
xxvii
xxviii List of Figures
xxxiii
Part I
Sustainable Energy for All
Chapter 1
Energy and Sustainable Development
The world is facing a strong evolution due to the advancement of information and
communication technologies that set the knowledge technologies at the base of
productivity, competition and power. The world is more and more interconnected
than ever before, i.e. people, ideas, images, goods and money are being distributed
more frequent and faster than ever before. We live in a network society, which is
not divided into independent and isolated nations or communities, and at the same
time enterprises are organised in network, i.e. there has been an increase of
teamwork, networking, outsourcing, subcontracting and delocalisation. All these
features may represent the advancement of our civilization, but at what price are we
paying for the environmental and socioethical impacts?
Historically, we have discovered that the production and consumption system
did not only produce advantages, but also disadvantages. This happened in the
economic boom of the 1960s when industrialised countries faced a strong accel-
eration of consumption and production system development.
Since that moment, we became aware that human activities may determine
harmful and irreversible environmental impacts, and it carries the notion of envi-
ronmental limits.
It was in 1972 when the book Limits to Growth [12] was published based on a
first computerised simulation of the effects on the nature of the ongoing system of
production and consumption. It was the first scientific forecast of a possible global
eco-system collapse. Fifteen years later, in 1987, the United Nations World
Commission for Environment and Development (WCED) provided the first defi-
nition of Sustainable Development:
A social and productive development that takes place within the limits set by the “nature”
and meets the needs of the present without compromising those of the future generation
within a worldwide equitable redistribution of resources.
In fact, this incorporates even the fundamental challenge of social equity and
cohesion (i.e. the socioethical dimension of sustainability).
Agassiz, L., 91
Allen, Grant, 142
Aristotle, 6, 14, 51
Avebury, Lord, 131, 141
Fechner, G. T., 85
Flower, W., 93 sq.
Fontenelle, B. le B. de, 138
Fouillée, A., 85
Foy, W., 142
Frazer, J. G., 136, 142
Frere, J., 113
Frobenius, L., 142
Fuhlrott, C., 71, 123
Kames, Lord, 53
Keane, A. H., 91, 95, 108
Keller, F., 119 sq.
Kölliker, 92
Kollmann, J., 19
Knox, R., 53, 107
Lamarck, J. B. A., 57
Lang, A., 137, 139, 141 sq.
Lartet, E., 122
Latham, R. G., 107, 147
Lawrence, Sir W., 16, 55 sq.
Le Play, 152
Letourneau, C., 134
Lindenschmidt, L., 123
Linnæus, K., 20 sqq., 54, 89 sq., 95
Lissauer, A., 123
Locke, J., 110
Lubbock, J. See Avebury
Lucretius, 101 sq.
Lyell, C., 117, 121 sqq.
Saint-Hilaire, E. G., 59
Saint-Hilaire, I. G., 92
Schmerling, Dr., 117