Demand for Local Renewable Energy Systems: Evidence from North and Middle Andamans

Abstract

Energy has an innate anthropogenic (human) dimension. Human beings are central to the theme of energy generation and its final consumption. Energy generation and its distribution as a resource governs every aspect of human life on a daily basis. This element necessitates critical understanding of demand aggregation and profiling across socio-cultural systems. The requirement of energy in terms of quantity and quality is emphatically embedded in the socio-cultural ethos of an end-user, the socio-cultural setting of which one is a part. Understanding this aspect is critical for scheduling the supply of energy. Policy issues related to demand side management arise from lack of understanding of behavioural issues of consumers. It stems from community alienation, in planning for generation, transmission and distribution of power. Any techno-economic mega system for power generation is embedded in local socio-cultural systems that comprise all beneficiaries, close or remote. The rural energy landscape needs to be located in different geo-climatic zones and physiographic (physical attributes of landforms such as plateaus, plains, hills, valleys, deserts, islands, etc.) divisions. The study provides an empirical approach for rural energy demand aggregation, drawn from specific socio-cultural system in India.