Environmentally-appropriate technology under lack of resources and knowledge: Solar-powered cocoa dryer in rural Nias, Indonesia

Abstract

Climate change has substantially affected rural areas, considering their lack of resources and knowledge. In general, new technologies claim to produce fewer environmental impacts to adapt to climatic changes. Still, they typically emerge at the expense of higher investments and the technical knowledge required. However, the economic and knowledge constraints of rural areas make it challenging to employ expensive and sophisticated environment-friendly technologies. This study aims to propose the concept of environmentally-appropriate technology for the rural context lacking economic resources and knowledge. Taking the case of a solar-powered cocoa dryer in Nias, Indonesia, this research employs a generic VDI 2222 engineering design and physiological modeling in conjunction with the conceptual understanding of environmental design and Design for the Environment (DfE) to demonstrate the proposed concept. The design considers locally available environment-friendly energy, materials, and signals to produce a well-functioning and affordable technology. Furthermore, this study involves field trials considering applicable cocoa quality standards in Indonesia (SNI 2323:2008) and market needs. The results show that the technology can include more than 95% of local materials and construction processes while using solar as a renewable energy source to generate the heat required by the cocoa drying process. More than 60% of the parts are degradable, while the rest are reusable. The technology also performs well technically, reaching the desired moisture content of the dried cocoa beans to meet market needs. These results demonstrate the possibility of an environmentally-appropriate technology, which is affordable, technically functioning, and environment-friendly for less resourceful regions such as rural areas. Future studies can use the approach to provide various technologies with similar techno-economic and environmental characteristics for different contexts lacking resources and knowledge.