Himalayan countries urged to own their green tech boom

Renewable energy could help boost economies in the Himalayan region

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[KATHMANDU] Himalayan countries should support and invest in green technologies if such initiatives are to succeed and bring benefits to the economy in the long term, a meeting has heard.

Eight countries in the Hindu-Kush Himalayan region are making progress in development and uptake of renewable energy technologies, which can maintain sustainable economic growth for mountain communities, a workshop in Kathmandu heard earlier this month (2–4 November).

Further investments could provide environmental, social and economic benefits to mountain communities, experts told the meeting, which was organised by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).

But it is uncertain whether poorer countries could sustain investment in green technology development without external support and this dependency on donor funding could hamper the progress made so far, experts warned.

Suresh Kumar Dhungel, senior scientist at Nepal National Academy of Science and Technology, told SciDev.Net: "The sad part is that Nepal's efforts are not solely ours, it is all guided by funds from international donor agencies. Policymakers need to realise the importance of a green society."

Golam Rasul, head of ICIMOD's economic analysis division said: "The initial cost of renewable energy is high compared with fossil fuel based energy. The technology we are using now is not very cost-effective. Technologically advanced countries should support research in this field."

Rasul said regional cooperation and transboundary energy trade could offer a way out.

"Bhutan and Nepal have huge hydropower potential but lack technical capacity and large markets, whereas India and Bangladesh are power hungry," Rasul said.

Ghulam Mohammad Malikyar, deputy director-general of the National Environmental Protection Agency, of the Afghanistan, told SciDev.Net climatic environments may need different green technologies, appropriate for local circumstances.

Prem Pokhrel, climate and energy programme officer at the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre, Nepal, said that almost a million households in Nepal are benefiting from micro-hydro power plants, improved cooking stoves, domestic biogas plants, and solar home systems. This saves an estimated 12 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year.

Pokhrel described an 'energy ladder' of rising income, where households transition from wood and animal-based fuels to electricity and other clean energy, as they get richer. This also translated into better health for women and children, said Pokhrel. He added that uptake of clean energy can also help generate better income.

ICIMOD organised a conference on Green Economy and Sustainable Mountain Development: Opportunities and Challenges in View of Rio+20 in September, which produced a concept paper 'Green Economy for Sustainable Mountain Development'.

One of the key recommendations to the national governments from the concept paper was to "adopt alternative forms of energy such as hydropower, wind power, biogas, and solar energy to reduce negative impacts from the use of fossil fuels and fuel wood".

Link to 'Green Economy for Sustainable Mountain Development: a concept paper for Rio+20 and beyond'

Solar Arrays Powering Data Centers

When people think of green living, chances are, computer data centers aren’t the first thing that comes to mind. But IBM (NYSE:IBM) is changing all that with the installation of a 6,000 sq foot array of solar panels, located in Bangalore, India, that can deliver as much as 575 volts to run a server. The new solar powered system can run the India based company’s, 50 kilowatts of computer equipment for approximately 330 days out of the year for about 5 hours a day.

This bodes well as an alternative power source when Bangalore has difficulty getting power to all of their customers. In addition, it looks like IBM could possibly install batteries to store the juice coming in and with a larger array and plenty of roof capacity, could run the data center 24/7.

The implications of this are huge in terms of how remote parts of the world could now be connected to the rest of the world using this solar supplied system. Clients in underdeveloped countries are paying attention and IBM’s creation has their interest.

IBM plans on packaging what the techs have created and selling it to these clients sometime next year. In addition to reducing carbon emissions and the amount of diesel fuel these systems normally take, it will also take the strain and demand off of the already overworked grids and give them an alternative source of power for their computer data centers.

In places where the grid can’t be relied upon exclusively, a backup diesel-powered generator will still be needed. The biggest impact is expected to be on countries that, before now, have had no chance of being connected with the rest of the world due to lack of electrical supplies. This system is going to change all that.Image via CrunchBase

Using IBM’s solution to a lack of electrical supplies, a telecommunications company, or even a bank could set up a data center in a remote place and have what amounts to their own DC mini grid within the data center. It really opens up options that just weren’t there before.

Solar powered technology has been around for many years, but no one had ever engineered it for computer use…before now. IBM has taken the bull by the horns and discovered a way to solve a problem that has kept many countries out of the mainstream of the computer world for decades.

No one has ever attempted to package solar power, power conditioning and water cooling into an all-in-one system that can run huge configurations of electronic equipment, and that is exactly what IBM has done, and done successfully.

In addition to that gigantic leap forward for those countries that had no chance of joining the computer era, the system it has created gives a source of reliable, efficient, clean power to industrial-scale electronics that are high energy intensive. It is never too late to discover ways to reduce the world’s fuel consumption and carbon emissions. This is just the beginning of what could be an enormous global change in how countries are able to run their computer data centers and where those data centers can be located.

Source: http://z6mag.com/business/ibm-green-tech-initiative-lauches-solar-arrays-powering-data-centers-163187.html

Indian waste workers fear loss of income from trash-to-electricity projects

In New Delhi — For five hours every day, Ranjit Kumar and his 10-year-old son rummage through a giant pile of rotting trash with their bare hands, filling bags with ­pieces of metal, plastic and glass to take by cart to the recyclers market nearby.
But an incinerator under construction not far away may mean that he and other waste workers will lose access to the trash, he said, which fetches his family a little more than $5 a day.

The incinerator is one of two projects in New Delhi aimed at turning the city’s trash into electricity and earning carbon credits under the Kyoto Protocol, the global climate pact designed to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. Local politicians have hailed the projects for addressing the city’s chronic problems of excess untreated waste and a shortage of electric power.
But for almost 300,000 workers in the city engaged in waste collection, sorting and recycling, the plants mean the loss of their livelihood.
“If all the trash goes to the plants to be processed, how do we feed our stomachs?” Kumar said as foul-smelling fumes rose from the trash and dark-brown water trickled past him. “My work may look dirty, but it keeps my family alive.”
A worldwide campaign
Waste-worker communities have mobilized in Brazil, Colombia, South Africa and India to campaign on behalf of trash dumps and the livelihoods they provide, and against the idea of burning waste. The United Nations, however, has been encouraging incinerator projects that burn waste — rotting trash produces the potent greenhouse gas methane — to produce energy.
Under the Kyoto Protocol, nations can earn carbon credits for such projects; the credits can be used to offset the emissions of coal-fired power plants elsewhere.
This month, hundreds of waste workers gathered outside the U.N. office in New Delhi to protest 21 municipal waste projects for which India has applied for carbon credit. The projects, not all completed, use biodegradable, combustible and inert waste. They include trash-to-compost, incinerators and refuse-derived fuel.
Waste-worker groups appealed to climate negotiators when they met in Mexico, Germany and China in the past year, and they are preparing to protest at the climate meeting in Durban, South Africa, set to begin next week.
Waste workers want access to the United Nations’ $30 billion Green Climate Fund — the effort by developed countries to help the developing world prepare for climate change — for their role in mitigating climate change by recovering recyclable materials from waste.
But advocates of the trash-
to-energy projects say that India’s growing population, changing consumption patterns and urban boom have created a waste problem that must be addressed in a scientific manner.
“It is not an us-versus-them situation. We must frame the debate differently. Do we want the ragpickers to continue working in inhuman, hell-on-Earth, unhygienic conditions at these untreated dump sites? Should their sons and daughters do the same, too?” asked Mahesh Babu, chief executive of IL&FS Ecosmart, which heads several trash-to-energy projects across India, including the incinerator near Kumar’s neighborhood. “The solution lies in integrating some of the waste-workers into the processing activities of the plants.”

But India has a staggering 1.7 million waste workers, and any effort to mainstream them is often just a drop. Babu’s project in the central city of Nagpur has given jobs to 70 people to collect trash, out of a total of 1,700 waste workers in the city.
“The waste pickers are at the lowest rung of the occupational ladder and often the most marginalized, hence they do not have alternative livelihood options to which they can move,” Prema Gera, assistant country director of the U.N. Development Program, said in an e-mail, referring to a study.
Bhojahari Paramni, 41, has worked with waste for 25 years. He removes dirt and twigs from balls of human hair in his home in a large slum of waste workers.
“You cannot take away my job and expect me to become a successful electrician, plumber or mason overnight,” he said. There is no regulatory protection for waste workers in India.
Waste workers say that 80 percent of Indian trash is wet, organic waste and that 30 percent contains recyclable material.
“To run an incinerator, they will burn everything, including the recyclables like plastics. Is that good for the environment?” asked Shashi Bhushan Pandit, secretary of the All India Waste Workers Union. This year, New Delhi residents protested another new incinerator because they feared emissions of dioxin and other toxic gases.
Two Indian waste workers will represent their country at next week’s protest in Durban, which will demand that poor people be factored in climate policies.
Carbon trading’s future
Although the Kyoto Protocol, which the United States has not signed, is facing an uncertain future when it comes up for renewal in 2012, analysts say that its key component, carbon trading for emissions reductions, may survive in some form.
Countries such as China, Japan and New Zealand are developing carbon markets. California recently announced the nation’s first state-run cap-and-trade program. This year, India launched an exchange program for renewable-energy certificates.
“We are hoping that the carbon-trading market will continue in some [form] — both within India and bilaterally with other countries, even if the multilateral arrangements under the Kyoto Protocol are not renewed,” Babu said.
He said carbon credit prices have fallen more than 50 percent in the past year because of the euro-zone economic crisis.

ప్లాస్టిక్ వ్యర్ధాలతో అనర్ధం

Source: andhrabhoomi

November 21st, 2011

ప్రజలు నిత్య జీవితంలో ప్లాస్టిక్ సంచులు, వస్తువులు వాడకంపై ఎక్కువగా మక్కువ చూపిస్తున్నారు. ప్లాస్టిక్ సంచులు, వస్తువులు మట్టిలో కలవాలంటే లక్ష సంవత్సరాలు పడుతుంది. పాల ప్యాకెట్ల నుండి కూరగాయల కోసం, భోజనం పార్సిళ్లకోసం, వేడి సాంబారు, పెరుగు, ఐస్‌క్రీం కప్పులు, ప్లాస్టిక్ ఇస్తల్రు, వాటర్ బాటిల్స్ మరియు ఇళ్లలో వాడుకొనే ప్లాస్టిక్ వస్తువులు వాడటంవల్ల పిల్లల ఎదుగుదల, జ్ఞాపకశక్తి తగ్గిపోవడమేకాక స్లోపాయిజన్‌గా మారి క్యాన్సర్, కిడ్నీ, కాలేయం వ్యాధులుసోకి మనిషి బలహీనపడిపోతాడు. వీటిని ఒక చోట చెత్తగా చేర్చి కాల్చడంవల్ల ఆ పొగ ద్వారా విషవాయువు ఏర్పడి మన శరీరంలోకి ప్రవేశించి, అనేక రోగాలకు దారితీస్తుంది. ప్లాస్టిక్ క్యారీ బ్యాగులు తిని నోరు లేని జీవులు మృత్యువాత పడుతున్నాయి. ప్లాస్టిక్ సంచులు భూమిలో పొరలు పొరలుగా పేరుకుపోయి భూగర్భ జలాలకు ఆటంకం ఏర్పడుతుంది. వర్షపు నీరు సముద్రంలో కలిసిపోతుంది. ప్లాస్టిక్ సంచులు, వస్తువులు నిరంతరం వాడుతుంటే రాబోయే కాలంలో ప్రకృతి ప్రసాదించిన ప్రాణాధారమైన మంచినీరు కనుమరుగైపోతుంది.
మురుగు కాల్వలలో ప్లాస్టిక్ వ్యర్థాలు నిల్వ ఉండటంవల్ల దోమలు నివాసాలు ఏర్పరచుకొని అనేక రోగాలు వ్యాపిస్తాయ. 20 మైక్రాన్ల కంటె తక్కువ మందం ఉండే క్యారీ బ్యాగుల తయారీ వాడకం గతంలో ఉన్నత న్యాయస్థానం నిషేధించింది. 20/30 మీటర్ల సైజులో 50 సంచులు కలిపి 105 గ్రాముల బరువు మాత్రమే ఉండాలి. ఇవి తెలుపు, సాధారణ రంగుల్లోనే ఉండాలి. 20 మైక్రాన్ల కంటె తక్కువ మందంగల క్యారీ బ్యాగులు ఎక్కువ సంఖ్యలో తయారుచేస్తున్నారు. అవి అన్ని పట్టణాలలో, పల్లెటూర్లలో, చిల్లర దుకాణాలు, ఫ్యాన్సీ దుకాణాలలో ఎక్కువగా అమ్మకాలు చేస్తున్నారు. వీటి గురించి ప్రభుత్వం గాని, ప్రభుత్వ పురపాలక సంఘ అధికారులు, ప్రజారోగ్యశాఖ వారు గాని అసలు పట్టించుకోవడం లేదు. ఫలితంగా ఒక్కొక్క పట్టణంలో 807 టన్నుల చెత్త తయారవుతున్నది. ఇందులో 70 శాతం పైగా ప్లాస్టిక్ వ్యర్థాలే ఉంటున్నాయి. రాష్ట్రం మొత్తం మీద 640కి పైగా ప్లాస్టిక్ తయారీ పరిశ్రమలు ఉన్నాయి. ఒక్కొక్క జిల్లాకు 42 చొప్పున పెద్ద, చిన్న పరిశ్రమలు ఉన్నాయి. శస్త్ర వైద్య సంబంధమైన వ్యర్థాలు, శరీర భాగాలు, శానిటరీ ప్యాడ్స్, విసర్జిత వ్యర్థాలు, శాప్స్, డ్రస్సింగ్ మ్యాట్, బ్యాండేజీలు, కలుషితపు రక్తంతో కలిసిన రోగ కారణమైన వస్తువులు, పాథలాజికల్, సర్జికల్ వ్యర్థ పదార్థాలు, మైక్రో బయాలజి, బయో టెక్నాలజీ వ్యర్థాలు, ప్లాస్టిక్ ట్యూబులు, సిరంజిలు, ఇతర ప్లాస్టిక్ వస్తువులు ప్రమాదకరంగా మారుతున్నాయి. వ్యాపారస్థులు వ్యాపారం దెబ్బతింటుందని పరిశ్రమల యజమానులకు నష్టాలు వస్తాయని ఈ ప్లాస్టిక్ వ్యర్థాల నిషేధానికి ప్రజాప్రతినిధులు అడ్డుకుంటున్నారు.
ఇదిలావుండగా అడవులు, పర్యావరణ మంత్రిత్వశాఖ, కేంద్ర ప్రభుత్వం వారు ప్లాస్టిక్ తయారీ అమ్మకం, మరియు వాడకం నిబంధనలు 1999లో విడుదల చేశారు. దానికి అనుగుణంగా ప్లాస్టిక్ తయారీ వాడకం గురించి కొన్ని పరిమితులు, విధానాలు విధించారు. భారత ప్రభుత్వం రీసైక్లింగ్ చేయబడిన ప్లాస్టిక్ సంచులు మరియు డబ్బాల తయారీ, వాడకాన్ని నియంత్రించడం కోసం రీసైక్లిడ్ ప్లాస్టిక్ నిబంధనలు 1999ని పర్యావరణ పరిరక్షణ చట్టం కింద ప్రకటించింది. ఈ నిబంధనలు 2.9.1999 నుండి అమలులోకి వచ్చాయ. ఇవి 2003 సంవత్సరంలో సవరించబడి ప్లాస్టిక్ అమ్మకాలు, తయారీ మరియు వాడుకగా పేర్కొనబడినది. ఆంధ్రప్రదేశ్ ప్రభుత్వం ప్లాస్టిక్ సంచులు మరియు రీసెక్లిడ్డ్ ప్లాస్టిక్స్ గురించి అడవులు, పర్యావరణ శాస్త్ర మరియు సాంకేతిక శాఖవారు ప్రభుత్వం ఉత్తర్వుల సంఖ్య ది.30.3.2001న ఉత్తర్వులు జారీచేసినా నేటికి అమలుకాలేదు. 20 మైక్రాన్ల కంటే తక్కువ మందం కల్గిన ప్లాస్టిక్ సంచులు తయారీ, రీసైక్లింగ్ ప్లాస్టిక్ వాడకాన్ని తగ్గించడానికి లేదా నిలిపివేయడానికి ఎటువంటి చర్యలు తీసుకోలేదు. భవిష్యత్తు ప్రమాదాలను దృష్టిలో వుంచుకొని ఉన్నత న్యాయస్థానం ఆదేశాల మేరకు ప్లాస్టిక్ సంచుల తయారీ పరిశ్రమలను నియంత్రించడానికి ప్రభుత్వం పూనుకోవాలి.

Earth Day: Give Earth a Hand

WHY NON VEGETARIAN FOOD IS NOT GOOD FOR ENVIRONMENT

source : useecofriendlyproducts
Wasted Resources :

1. LAND :Vast tracts of land are needed to grow crops to feed the billions of animals we raise for food each year. According to scientists at the Smithsonian Institute, the equivalent of seven football fields of land is bulldozed every minute, much of it to create more room for farmed animals. Of all the agricultural land in the U.S., nearly 80 percent is used in some way to raise animals—that's roughly half of the total land mass of the U.S. More than 260 million acres of U.S. forest have been cleared to create cropland to grow grain to feed farmed animals.

2. FOOD : It takes up to 16 pounds of grain to produce just one pound of meat, and even fish on fish farms must be fed 5 pounds of wild-caught fish to produce one pound of farmed fish flesh.All animals require many times more calories, in the form of grain, soybeans, oats, and corn, than they can possibly return in the form of animal flesh for meat-eaters to consume.The world's cattle alone consume a quantity of food equal to the caloric needs of 8.7 billion people—more than the entire human population on Earth. About 20 percent of the world's population, or 1.4 billion people, could be fed with the grain and soybeans fed to U.S. cattle alone.

3.ENERGY: Respected environmental magazine, noted in 2002 that more than one-third of all fossil fuels produced in the United States are used to raise animals for food.
Simply add up the energy-intensive stages: (1) grow massive amounts of corn, grain, and soybeans (with all the required tilling, irrigation, crop dusters, and so on); (2) transport the grain and soybeans to manufacturers of feed on gas-guzzling, pollution-spewing 18-wheelers; (3) operate the feed mills (requiring massive energy expenditures); (4) transport the feed to the factory farms (again, in inefficient vehicles); (5) operate the factory farms; (6) truck the animals many miles to slaughter; (7) operate the slaughterhouse; (8) transport the meat to processing plants; (9) operate the meat-processing plants; (10) transport the meat to grocery stores; (11) keep the meat refrigerated or frozen in the stores, until it's sold. Every single stage involves heavy pollution, massive amounts of greenhouse gases, and massive amounts of energy.

4. WATER : It takes 5,000 gallons (18,900 Litres)of water to produce 1 pound of meat, while growing 1 pound of wheat only requires 25 gallons (94.5 Litres).A totally vegetarian diet requires only 300 gallons (1134 Litres) of water per day, while a meat-eating diet requires more than 4,000 gallons(15,120 Litres) of water per day. You save more water by not eating a pound of beef than you do by not showering for an entire year.

ANIMAL SUFFERING : Caring for the environment means protecting all of our planet's inhabitants. Animals on modern factory farms are deprived of everything that is natural to them, and they are treated in ways that would warrant felony cruelty-to-animals charges if the victims were dogs or cats. Chickens' beaks are sliced off with a hot blade, pigs' tails are chopped off and their teeth clipped with pliers, and male cows and pigs are castrated, all without any pain relief. The animals are confined to crowded, filthy warehouses and dosed with powerful drugs to make them grow so quickly that their hearts and limbs often cannot keep up—they frequently become crippled or suffer from heart attacks when they're only a few weeks old. Finally, at the slaughterhouse, they are hung upside-down and their throats are slit, often while they are still conscious. What kind of environmentalist can support any of that?

Avoid Plastic Bags and Save Mother Earth

Keep IT Green

ECO-Products International fair in New Delhi, India to Promote Green Consumerism and ECO-Culture Across Nations

Source: washington bangla radio

By Sameer  Pushp

New Delhi, India, Feb 9, 2011 (Washington Bangla Radio / PIB-India) Growing population resource imbalances and looming threat of global warming demands rising concerns for sustainable living, the choice is to go for eco-powered technologies, eco-products and clean eco-energy.  The need of the hour is to adopt an eco-powered life style and provide clean eco-energy with zero co-generated pollution. Clean energyenergy efficiency products and exchange the newer, cleaner and greener technology with the rest of the world. generation products wean you off the polluting or wasteful forms of energy and ensure our eco footprint enough to stomp out global warming.  As India graduates into a pulsating and growing economy, we are mindful of the pressing need to go for clean and green products. We also realize that the traditional methods and principles may become increasingly ineffective, therefore, need is to augment eco-productivity both at micro as well as macro level to realize our global competitive edge. Hence, India is organizing The 7th Eco-Products International Fair (EPIF-2011) to showcase its eco and

EPIF-2011 – to be inaugurated by Shri Anand Sharma, Minister for Commerce and Industry – from 10th to 12th February, 2011 in New Delhi at India Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO). This fair is being jointly organized by Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Asian Productivity Organization (APO) –Tokyo, National Productivity Council (NPC), and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). This edition of EPIF would spin around the theme – “Green Productivity for Sustainable Energy and Environment”- with a parallel International Conference on the theme.

At the core, EPIF-2011 will revolve around eco-efficiency considerations and energy efficiency perspectives, which will be supported  by  principles  of  ecological  economics  and impinged by equations  of eco-financing and  investments  and returns  cycles. Strategic action by firms and stakeholders including consumers is increasingly focused on eco-design initiatives including product improvement, product– redesign, functional innovation and system innovation, etc. With a growing pull arising from accent on green procurement by firms and public sector entities. The future-scopes are green consumerism and green growth dynamics and emergence of eco-cities and eco-industrial parks that would foster an eco-culture across boundaries within one earth.

Eco-products are  defined  as  “products  and services  that   comply  with environmental regulations or are environment-friendly, reflecting manufacturers’  voluntary  efforts to  care  for  the environment.”  If we take a glance at the budget of India, at present, the contribution of renewable energy to the total energy production is under 4 percent.  The share of renewable energy in India’s energy output can increase to 10 per cent by 2015 and 15 per cent by 2020. As our conventional  energy  resources  are  getting  scarce, renewable  energy  sources  have  assumed  greater importance. So we need to change fast to balance our growing energy need and sustainable life.

EPIF-2011 is one of the largest international environment exhibitions in Asia and it will be showcasing the most advanced environment friendly technologies, products and services that enhance sustainable productivity and competitiveness. This Fair would provide opportunities to explore business collaborations and promote awareness of environment friendly products and services. This Fair will establish Green Purchasing Network and the launching of Eco-labelling schemes. A significant development would be to promote eco-materials, eco- components and eco-products; in this process, India will not only be helping environment but also be gaining a green corporate image in the market

The broad range of expected benefits that may arise from EPIF-2011 are:
·    Enhanced  scope  for  networking,  marketing  and  sales opportunities  with  global  Eco-product  producers  and information & media coverage to the products/services of the exhibitors  and  potential  ideas  for  innovative  green entrepreneurs.
·    Obtaining greater awareness and knowledge for identifying and using eco - products/services in day to day life for citizens and society at large.
·    Stimulating  industry,  governments  and  public  agencies  in devising/formulating schemes and policies to promote green procurement  mechanism  and  use  of  clean  and  green technologies.
·    Bring in focus on carbon and water - foot print actions for sustainable energy and environmental considerations.
·    Would lead to the release of  products produced by Asian Productivity Organization, Tokyo.

The lifeblood of EPIF-2011 is the concepts of sustainable development and sustainable living. Benefits of these energy efficient technologies and products ranges from: reduced production and operating costs to reduced environmental impacts. EPIF -2011 seeks to achieve not only ecological but sustainable harmony between growth and development. Our globally shared concern is we live qualitatively and each one uses his/her own share endowed by nature.  India by hosting EPIF-2011 is taking a strong step in this direction. More and more these kinds of events will promote a mass culture of sustainability which is without doubt a prudent investment for the future generations.

- PIB Features

Disclaimer:  The writer is a freelance journalist and the views expressed by the author in this feature are entirely his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of PIB or WBRi.

Maha to set up Agro Economic Zones on lines of SEZs: Minister

Source: one india
Nanded, Feb 11 (PTI) Maharashtra is planning to set upAgro Economic Zones in the state on the lines of SEZs to boostagro processing industry in districts where agriculture andfarming form the backbone of the economy, Agriculture MinisterRadhakrishna Vikhe-Patil said today.

Buzz up!
Speaking at "Nanded Ahead", an investors meet organisedby the government, Nanded Chambers of Commerce and Industryhere, the minister said the agro processing policy would beannounced soon.


"The agro economic zones would be set up in districtsdepending on the kind of agriculture produce grown," he said.

Vikhe Patil said the Marketing ministry has already setup Terminal and Electronic markets to boost agro processing.

"The agro processing zones will be on the lines of SEZsand Nanded is a good alternative. Development is notrestricted to any particular region. Local entrepreneurs playa every important role in growth of the region and the needof the hour is to expand the MIDCs to accommodate more andmore local industries," he added.

Vikhe Patil called for the need to remove the mentalblock of being backward.

"What is important is that we need to look forwardtowards the road ahead," Vikhe-Patil, a close aide of formerChief Minister Ashok Chavan said.

Chavan is the chief patron of the two day ''Nanded Ahead''convention.

Vikhe-Patil attributed the development of Nanded toChavan and described him as a visionary leader.

The meeting assumes significance as it is being held inthe backdrop of the CBI naming Chavan as one of the accused inthe Adarsh housing scam and the former Chief Ministerattending a meeting of legislators, supporting him in anapparent show of strength. .

Contradictions of ‘development’ in contemporary India

Swapna Banerjee-Guha, 7 February 2011

Is India moving on a path towards segregating society, enclaving economic space in a way that essentially excludes the majority from the development orbit?

About the author

Swapna Banerjee-Guha is Professor of Development Studies in the School of Social Sciences, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Most recently she published Accumulation by Dispossession: Transformative Cities in the New Global Order (Sage Publications, 2010).

Is India moving on a path towards segregating society, enclaving economic space in a way that essentially excludes the majority from the development orbit? A large number of Indians from various cross-sections are currently enraged about this crucial question. While official outlets make frantic efforts to project this tendency as a contradiction between modernity and backwardness and label anyone questioning the validity of the above development model as ‘anti-development’ or ‘unlawful’, innumerable lived experiences go on reflecting heightening inequalities and the increasing expendability of the poor.
Take the case of the resource-rich tribal heartland of Jharkhand, Orissa, Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh located in central and eastern India. Mining areas in these states are enthusiastically being leased out to global corporations leaving the poor tribal community homeless; common lands and waste lands in several states that have been traditionally providing livelihood and survival means to the poor are being taken over to make Special Economic Zones; rich coastal areas with enormous bio-diversity are being handed over to corporations like Dow Chemicals for making chemical hubs; natural resources like rivers are being privatised for industrial and commercial purposes, like the Sheonath river in Chattisgarh.  Examples abound. This ‘development’ process that rests heavily on displacement, dispossession and destruction of the environment is creating an irreversible production structure in favour of the rich that is actively supported by all major international financial institutions like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank and the like and facilitated by the neoliberal Indian state.

Jharia coalfield in Jharkhand. Demotix / Poul Madsen. All rights reserved.
Specific areas in India – large and small, rural and urban - are being identified as global economic regions to carry out modern hi-tech corporatised activities. Essentially global, these new economic spaces (location choices are made by investing corporations) are carved out from existing agricultural areas, forest lands, mining areas, fishing zones, peripheries of metropolitan regions, villages, even slums and dilapidated areas inside cities. In the process of converting these spaces into newer ones, large numbers of farmers, agricultural labourers, fishermen, in short a huge section of economically active but poor people are being displaced and dispossessed leading to fierce resistance struggles, inviting in response, state atrocities and violence.
The phenomenon has become pan-Indian: whether in Raigad in Maharashtra, Singur and Nandigram in West Bengal, in Jagatsinghapur-Kalinganagar in Orissa or Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, the patterns are comparable. The official argument says that as the State is not financially capable of providing ‘world class infrastructure’ in a short time, it is necessary to invite private capital to provide it initially in chosen pockets that will boost economic growth in the surrounding regions. While private capital undertakes this task, it becomes obligatory on the part of the State to offer them concessions and subsidies, in exchange. Land acquisition for such global spaces is undertaken by invoking a Colonial Act of 1894 that says that the State is the ultimate owner of land and can take over any tract for ‘public purposes’ by paying reasonable (sic) compensation. Enclave development, once a mainstay of the colonial state, has made a glorious come back in contemporary Indian economic policy.

The vociferous state 

This newer form of capitalist development depends on global finance and technology and a supportive neoliberal hegemonic discourse. It goes beyond the previous practice of disaggregation and production relocation in areas with lower social reproduction costs to an altogether newer design of total appropriation of space for a novel exploitation process. Set to mutate all existing social relations, it further modifies the non-Fordist labour process, transforms relations between the dominant and the dominated and alienates space-economies from their respective social realities to construct an economic system conforming to its description in pure theory. The common collective interest and the public good start getting negotiated away by ideological, political and economic power-plays that privilege individual accumulation, subordinating the common people and their rights in a way that is even used to underpin justifications for state violence.

Jharia coalfield in Jharkhand. Demotix / Poul Madsen. All rights reserved.
Resting on a contradictory framework of inclusion (of the few) and exclusion (of the many) it materialises a multiscalar, uneven development involving integration of selective regions and sections of societies in a globalised market framework. A destructive ensemble of obsoletism and reconstruction diffuses across the old spaces, displacing the existing use values and altering the discursive as well as the material geography of such spaces, creating a solid, material background for intense conflicts. A typical neoliberal construction of space, place and scale is taking place in India that is reconstructing a new geography of centrality and marginality, making the issues of production and capitalisation of space extremely crucial. The resultant landscapes of conflict invite resistance and contestation from below by those whose livelihoods get jeopardised and who are systematically marginalised by the state apparatus in diverse ways that expose their vulnerability in the current order.
To identify the causal factors, one needs to look at the direction of India’s current economic momentum. There has been a far-reaching shift in her economic policy, facilitating ingress of global capital in all economic sectors, downsizing labour, outsourcing economic activities, and promoting an aggressive urbanism based on gentrification and privatisation. Based on exploitation of the product of labour, pillage of nature and expropriation of social property, such policies have a close connection with international financial institutions, the global corporate sector, and quite significantly, the major capitalist countries. The State, backtracking from its previous role of a provider takes a neoliberal stance, becoming a vociferous facilitator of private capital pitching heavily on a ‘politically neutral’ practice of developmental governmentality. While the country’s growth roars ahead at an annual 8 per cent, growth in regular employment in recent years is found to have exceeded not even 1 per cent. Quite logically India accounts for the largest number of homeless, illiterate and ill-fed people in the world.

Jharia coalfield in Jharkhand. Demotix / Poul Madsen. All rights reserved.
Amidst the euphoria of creating a free market, in practice the contemporary policies are resulting in a dramatic intensification of a coercive disciplinary form of state intervention to impose a market rule that subjugates the majority and protects the ‘strong’.  This is taking place on an aggressively contested institutional landscape  in which newly emerging ‘economic spaces’ stand in conflict with inherited regulatory arrangements, providing a political arena through which subsequent struggles over accumulation by dispossession and its associated contradictions are getting articulated and fought out at various scales questioning the prevailing development path of the country, assuming a national character, often supported by pan-Indian coalitions of regional resistance groups, broadly/basically left oriented but not belonging to mainstream left parties. The resultant negotiating strategy of the neoliberal state creating multi-level contradictory spaces of conciliation, coercion and atrocity is significant in exposing the porosity of the state apparatus.
One needs to emphasise that the contextual embeddedness of the current exclusionist economic policy in India, produced at national, regional and local scales, are not only getting defined by the nexus of policy regimes, disciplinary political authorities and their regulatory practices, but also by resistance struggles, consolidated grassroots movements and mobilisation of progressive forces that are challenging the state sponsored corporatised development paradigm. Peripatetic global capital in collision with state power may exhibit its authority in controlling spaces and territories for some time, but the ongoing struggles clearly point at an emerging discourse in search of an alternate paradigm, based on a democratically oriented sustainable development practice.

For references and full development of issues see:
Banerjee-Guha, Swapna (1997). Spatial Dynamics of International Capital, Orient Longman, Hyderabad.
Banerjee-Guha, Swapna (2002). 'Critical Geographical Praxis: Globalisation and Socio-Spatial Disorder', Economic and Political Weekly, Vol.37 (44 & 45), pp. 4503-09, Mumbai.
Banerjee-Guha, Swapna (2008): ‘Space Relations of Capital and Significance of New Economic Enclaves: SEZs in India’, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 43(47), pp. 51-60, Mumbai
Banerjee-Guha, Swapna (2009): ‘Contradictions of Enclave Development in Contemporary Times: Special Economic Zones in India’ Human Geography, Vol. 2(1), pp 1-12, Massachusetts
Bhaduri, A (2008): 'Predatory Growth', Economic and Political Weekly,  Vol.43(16), pp.10-13, Mumbai.
Bourdieu, P (1998): 'The Essence of Neoliberalism', Le Monde Diplomatique, December 1998.
Brenner, N and N. Theodore (2002): ’Cities and Geographies of ‘Actually Existing Neoliberalism’, Antipode, Vol. 34, pp 349-379
Conway, D and N Heynen (2006): 'The Ascendancy of Neoliberalism and Emergence of Contemporary Globalisation' in Denis Conway and Nik Heynen, (eds.)., Globalisation's Contradictions, Routledge, U.K.
Cox, H (1999): 'The Market as God: Living in the New Dispensation',Atlantic Monthly, March, pp.18-23.
Gill, S (1995): ‘Globalisation, Market Civilisation and Disciplinary Neoliberalism’, Millennium, Vol. 24, pp 399-423.
Harvey, D (2005): A Brief History of Neoliberalism, Oxford University Press, New York
Sanyal, Kalyan (2007): Rethinking Capitalist Development: Primitive Accumulation, Governmentality and Post-Colonial Capitalism, Routledge, New Delhi.
 

Save the earth Judiciou use of Plastics

hey welcome back

Its been a long time and am Back...

Alternative Energy Sources
To understand how alternative energy use can help preserve the delicate ecological balance of the planet, and help us conserve the non-renewable energy sources like fossil fuels, it is important to know what types of alternative energy is out there.

Wind Power
Wind energy harnesses the power of the wind to propel the blades of wind turbines. The rotation of turbine blades is converted into electrical current by means of an electrical generator. In the older windmills, wind energy was used to turn mechanical machinery to do physical work, like crushing grain or pumping water.Wind towers are usually built together on wind farms. Now, electrical currents are harnessed by large scale wind farms that are used by national electrical grids as well as small individual turbines used for providing electricity to isolated locations or individual homes. In 2005, worldwide capacity of wind-powered generators was 58,982 megawatts, their production making up less than 1 of world-wide electricity use.

Pros


* Wind power produces no pollution that can contaminate the environment, Since no chemical processes take place, like in the burning of fossil fuels, in wind power generation, there are no harmful by-products left over.
* Since wind generation is a renewable source of energy, we will never run out of it.
* Farming and grazing can still take place on land occupied by wind turbines which can help in the production of biofuels.
* Wind farms can be built off-shore.



Cons

* Wind power is intermittent. Consistent wind is needed for continuous power generation. If wind speed decreases, the turbine lingers and less electricity is generated.
* Large wind farms can have a negative effect on the scenery.



Solar Power
Solar energy is used commonly for heating, cooking, the production of electricity, and even in the desalination of seawater. solar power works by trapping the sun's rays into solar cells where this sunlight is then converted into electricity. Additionally, solar power uses sunlight that hits solar thermal panels to convert sunlight to heat water or air. Other methods include using sunlight that hits parabolic mirrors to heat water (producing steam), or simply opening a rooms blinds or window shades to allow entering sunlight to passively heat a room.

Pros

* Solar power is a renewable resource. As long as the Sun exists, its energy will reach Earth.
* Solar power generation releases no water or air pollution, because there is no chemical reaction from the combustion of fuels.
* Solar energy can be used very efficiently for practical uses such as heating and lighting.
* The benefits of solar power are seen frequently to heat pools, spas, and water tanks all over.



Cons

* Solar power does not produce energy if the sun is not shining. Nighttime and cloudy days seriously limit the amount of energy produced.
* Solar power stations can be very expensive to build.



Geothermal Energy
Literally, geothermal means, "earth heat." Geothermal energy harnesses the heat energy present underneath the Earth. Hot rocks under the ground heat water to produce steam. When holes are drilled in the region, the steam that shoots up is purified and is used to drive turbines, which power electric generators.

Pros

* If done correctly, geothermal energy produces no harmful by-products.
* Once a geothermal plant is build, it is generally self-sufficient energy wise.
* Geothermal power plants are generally small and have little effect on the natural landscape.



Cons

* If done incorrectly, geothermal energy can produce pollutants.
* Improper drilling into the earth can release hazardous minerals and gases.
* Geothermal sites are prone to running out of steam.

Say goodbye to kerosene lamps, here's Kiran!

 Source: Rediff
 December 23, 2009 18:39 IST

 Image: Sam Goldman (left), with co-founder Ned Tozun.
Photographs: Robin Chilton/D.light Design.

Manu A B in Mumbai

Their mission is to bring light to millions of households that do not have access to electricity. Betting big on solar lighting products, Sam Goldman and his team have embarked on an enduring journey to remove darkness from the remotest corners of the world.

Sam was moved by an unfortunate incident, while working as a US Peace Corps volunteer in the West African nation of Benin between 2001 and 2005, which led him to focus on this segment.

"My neighbour's son in Benin was badly burned by a kerosene lamp. It was disturbing to see that when we made so much progress in terms of technology, we still did not have a solution to this grave problem. So I had made up my mind to provide a source of light that is safe and cheap."

He then joined Stanford University to pursue an MBA in social entrepreneurship. The idea got a fillip at the 'Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability' class at the Stanford University's Hasso Plattner Institute of Design.

Sam Goldman then joined hands with classmate Ned Tozun to start D.Light Design, a company that makes affordable solar lighting solutions to serve the bottom-of-the-pyramid households in India and other markets across the globe. The initial research and early prototyping of what became D.light products, began in 2006.

The company was officially founded in mid-2007 with the ambitious mission to reach out to about 1.6 billion people in the world without electricity, and another billion or more who have unreliable electricity.

The company's latest product, Kiran (which means a ray of light), is a low-cost solar lighting solution, designed especially for households without access to electricity. Dubbed the 'kerosene killer', Kiran is priced at Rs 499 ($10) making it the most affordable, quality solar lantern in the world.

The company's mission is to replace every kerosene lantern with clean, safe and bright light. "The Indian market is complex, competitive and difficult to tap. By 2010, we plans to serve 10 million people across the world," says Sam Goldman.

A Silicon Valley venture, the company has received a funding of $6 million from both US and Indian investors, including Mahindra & Mahindra, Nexus India Capital, Acumen Fund, Garage Technology Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Gray Matters Capital.

For Sam, India is an exciting place to be in, a land of infinite opportunities. No other country is as diverse, complex and as interesting as India, he says. There are fantastic ideas among start-ups in India and in the social entrepreneurship sector as well, he adds.

Sam Goldman, CEO and co-founder, D.Light, and Dorcas Cheng-Tozun, director (communications), share their views on how the company plans to transform the lives of people with simple and cheaper solar-powered gadgets.

     Next

Manu A B in Mumbai

Their mission is to bring light to millions of households that do not have access to electricity. Betting big on solar lighting products, Sam Goldman and his team have embarked on an enduring journey to remove darkness from the remotest corners of the world.
Sam was moved by an unfortunate incident, while working as a US Peace Corps volunteer in the West African nation of Benin between 2001 and 2005, which led him to focus on this segment.
"My neighbour's son in Benin was badly burned by a kerosene lamp. It was disturbing to see that when we made so much progress in terms of technology, we still did not have a solution to this grave problem. So I had made up my mind to provide a source of light that is safe and cheap."
He then joined Stanford University to pursue an MBA in social entrepreneurship. The idea got a fillip at the 'Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability' class at the Stanford University's Hasso Plattner Institute of Design.
Sam Goldman then joined hands with classmate Ned Tozun to start D.Light Design, a company that makes affordable solar lighting solutions to serve the bottom-of-the-pyramid households in India and other markets across the globe. The initial research and early prototyping of what became D.light products, began in 2006.
The company was officially founded in mid-2007 with the ambitious mission to reach out to about 1.6 billion people in the world without electricity, and another billion or more who have unreliable electricity.
The company's latest product, Kiran (which means a ray of light), is a low-cost solar lighting solution, designed especially for households without access to electricity. Dubbed the 'kerosene killer', Kiran is priced at Rs 499 ($10) making it the most affordable, quality solar lantern in the world.
The company's mission is to replace every kerosene lantern with clean, safe and bright light. "The Indian market is complex, competitive and difficult to tap. By 2010, we plans to serve 10 million people across the world," says Sam Goldman.
A Silicon Valley venture, the company has received a funding of $6 million from both US and Indian investors, including Mahindra & Mahindra, Nexus India Capital, Acumen Fund, Garage Technology Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Gray Matters Capital.
For Sam, India is an exciting place to be in, a land of infinite opportunities. No other country is as diverse, complex and as interesting as India, he says. There are fantastic ideas among start-ups in India and in the social entrepreneurship sector as well, he adds.
Sam Goldman, CEO and co-founder, D.Light, and Dorcas Cheng-Tozun, director (communications), share their views on how the company plans to transform the lives of people with simple and cheaper solar-powered gadgets.
Click NEXT to read further...

Image: Sam Goldman (left), with co-founder Ned Tozun.
Photographs: Robin Chilton/D.light Design.

     Next

 

Image: Nova S200 (also known as Nova Mobile), with mobile phone charging feature.

How is the experience of being a social entrepreneur?

I was really lucky to find like-minded people to help me in this venture. Everyday we deal with brand new ideas and I learn new things. It is satisfying to hear that many people in the rural areas have hugely benefited by our products.
Most people find finance a major constraint to start a venture. How was it for you?
We were fortunate as we sought funding prior to the current economic crisis.  At that time, we found a significant number of venture capitalists who were very interested in investing in social enterprises. 
Investors were also attracted to the phenomenal social returns on such an investment, given that fairly straightforward solar lighting solutions can benefit families by increasing household income, reducing expenditures on kerosene, and improving education and health outcomes. 
In addition, the market potential is huge.  Kerosene is currently a $38-billion-a-year industry.  So investors clearly saw the great potential of D.light and were actually very enthusiastic about investing. I, along with Ned Tozun, participated in several business plan competitions and won $275,000 in prize money, which helped kick-start our funding.

     Next

Manu A B in Mumbai

Their mission is to bring light to millions of households that do not have access to electricity. Betting big on solar lighting products, Sam Goldman and his team have embarked on an enduring journey to remove darkness from the remotest corners of the world.
Sam was moved by an unfortunate incident, while working as a US Peace Corps volunteer in the West African nation of Benin between 2001 and 2005, which led him to focus on this segment.
"My neighbour's son in Benin was badly burned by a kerosene lamp. It was disturbing to see that when we made so much progress in terms of technology, we still did not have a solution to this grave problem. So I had made up my mind to provide a source of light that is safe and cheap."
He then joined Stanford University to pursue an MBA in social entrepreneurship. The idea got a fillip at the 'Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability' class at the Stanford University's Hasso Plattner Institute of Design.
Sam Goldman then joined hands with classmate Ned Tozun to start D.Light Design, a company that makes affordable solar lighting solutions to serve the bottom-of-the-pyramid households in India and other markets across the globe. The initial research and early prototyping of what became D.light products, began in 2006.
The company was officially founded in mid-2007 with the ambitious mission to reach out to about 1.6 billion people in the world without electricity, and another billion or more who have unreliable electricity.
The company's latest product, Kiran (which means a ray of light), is a low-cost solar lighting solution, designed especially for households without access to electricity. Dubbed the 'kerosene killer', Kiran is priced at Rs 499 ($10) making it the most affordable, quality solar lantern in the world.
The company's mission is to replace every kerosene lantern with clean, safe and bright light. "The Indian market is complex, competitive and difficult to tap. By 2010, we plans to serve 10 million people across the world," says Sam Goldman.
A Silicon Valley venture, the company has received a funding of $6 million from both US and Indian investors, including Mahindra & Mahindra, Nexus India Capital, Acumen Fund, Garage Technology Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Gray Matters Capital.
For Sam, India is an exciting place to be in, a land of infinite opportunities. No other country is as diverse, complex and as interesting as India, he says. There are fantastic ideas among start-ups in India and in the social entrepreneurship sector as well, he adds.
Sam Goldman, CEO and co-founder, D.Light, and Dorcas Cheng-Tozun, director (communications), share their views on how the company plans to transform the lives of people with simple and cheaper solar-powered gadgets.
Click NEXT to read further...

Image: Sam Goldman (left), with co-founder Ned Tozun.
Photographs: Robin Chilton/D.light Design.

     Next

Prev     Next

How is the experience of being a social entrepreneur?

I was really lucky to find like-minded people to help me in this venture. Everyday we deal with brand new ideas and I learn new things. It is satisfying to hear that many people in the rural areas have hugely benefited by our products.
Most people find finance a major constraint to start a venture. How was it for you?
We were fortunate as we sought funding prior to the current economic crisis.  At that time, we found a significant number of venture capitalists who were very interested in investing in social enterprises. 
Investors were also attracted to the phenomenal social returns on such an investment, given that fairly straightforward solar lighting solutions can benefit families by increasing household income, reducing expenditures on kerosene, and improving education and health outcomes. 
In addition, the market potential is huge.  Kerosene is currently a $38-billion-a-year industry.  So investors clearly saw the great potential of D.light and were actually very enthusiastic about investing. I, along with Ned Tozun, participated in several business plan competitions and won $275,000 in prize money, which helped kick-start our funding.

Image: Nova S200 (also known as Nova Mobile), with mobile phone charging feature.
Photographs: D.light Design

Prev     Next

 

 Image: Product Design staff in the field in India, talking to potential customers

What are the challenges that you face?
D.light is trying to do what no one has done before: to build a global consumer products company that is focussed exclusively on serving bottom-of-the-pyramid households.
One of the most significant challenges for D.light is distribution.  Our customers are naturally in some of the remotest areas of the world, many of which have never even seen electricity, let alone solar-powered products. Therefore, we need to be especially innovative in our marketing and distribution strategies in all our markets.
We have rural marketing campaigns in, both, India and East Africa. We have also developed a thriving and fast-growing rural entrepreneurship programme in India, whereby individual people sell our products to their family, friends, and neighbours on a commission.
This significantly increases our reach into the most rural areas and provides the important supplementary income for rural households.
Are you looking at making products cheaper?
The challenge is always to keep the price as low as possible to tap a large market. We continue to look at ways to make our products more affordable and accessible. We have done several pilot projects with microfinance institutions and have found this to be an extremely effective strategy to make our products more affordable. We haven't yet been able to do financing on a large scale, though, and we still want to develop products that are even more affordable.

 

Image: Kiran: The cheapest solar lamp at Rs 499.

What was the reason for developing a product like Kiran?
D.light has strategically chosen to first focus on solar lighting because we have found that bright, modern lighting has huge benefits.  We have invested our resources in building out an entire product line of solar lanterns, offering products with different features and at different prices. The Kiran is our most affordable product yet, and was based on hundreds of hours of field research. We wanted to develop a low-cost product that still had the features that our customers most desired.
Each feature of the Kiran -- its two light settings, the brightness, the colour, the shape, the handle -- were deliberate decisions based on customer feedback.  Our desire in developing the Kiran was to make a 'kerosene killer', an affordable and high-quality replacement for kerosene lanterns.
Could you tell us more about the making of Kiran? How many people were involved? How long did it take to develop it?
It took several months for Kiran to move from concept to completion.  Both our product design team (based in India at the time -- they have since moved to Hong Kong) and our product engineering team (based in China) were closely involved in the process to ensure that the product was well-designed, functional, and affordable.
There were also scores of potential customers involved in providing feedback to us in every step of the product development process.

     Next

Manu A B in Mumbai

Their mission is to bring light to millions of households that do not have access to electricity. Betting big on solar lighting products, Sam Goldman and his team have embarked on an enduring journey to remove darkness from the remotest corners of the world.
Sam was moved by an unfortunate incident, while working as a US Peace Corps volunteer in the West African nation of Benin between 2001 and 2005, which led him to focus on this segment.
"My neighbour's son in Benin was badly burned by a kerosene lamp. It was disturbing to see that when we made so much progress in terms of technology, we still did not have a solution to this grave problem. So I had made up my mind to provide a source of light that is safe and cheap."
He then joined Stanford University to pursue an MBA in social entrepreneurship. The idea got a fillip at the 'Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability' class at the Stanford University's Hasso Plattner Institute of Design.
Sam Goldman then joined hands with classmate Ned Tozun to start D.Light Design, a company that makes affordable solar lighting solutions to serve the bottom-of-the-pyramid households in India and other markets across the globe. The initial research and early prototyping of what became D.light products, began in 2006.
The company was officially founded in mid-2007 with the ambitious mission to reach out to about 1.6 billion people in the world without electricity, and another billion or more who have unreliable electricity.
The company's latest product, Kiran (which means a ray of light), is a low-cost solar lighting solution, designed especially for households without access to electricity. Dubbed the 'kerosene killer', Kiran is priced at Rs 499 ($10) making it the most affordable, quality solar lantern in the world.
The company's mission is to replace every kerosene lantern with clean, safe and bright light. "The Indian market is complex, competitive and difficult to tap. By 2010, we plans to serve 10 million people across the world," says Sam Goldman.
A Silicon Valley venture, the company has received a funding of $6 million from both US and Indian investors, including Mahindra & Mahindra, Nexus India Capital, Acumen Fund, Garage Technology Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Gray Matters Capital.
For Sam, India is an exciting place to be in, a land of infinite opportunities. No other country is as diverse, complex and as interesting as India, he says. There are fantastic ideas among start-ups in India and in the social entrepreneurship sector as well, he adds.
Sam Goldman, CEO and co-founder, D.Light, and Dorcas Cheng-Tozun, director (communications), share their views on how the company plans to transform the lives of people with simple and cheaper solar-powered gadgets.
Click NEXT to read further...

Image: Sam Goldman (left), with co-founder Ned Tozun.
Photographs: Robin Chilton/D.light Design.

     Next

Prev     Next

How is the experience of being a social entrepreneur?

I was really lucky to find like-minded people to help me in this venture. Everyday we deal with brand new ideas and I learn new things. It is satisfying to hear that many people in the rural areas have hugely benefited by our products.
Most people find finance a major constraint to start a venture. How was it for you?
We were fortunate as we sought funding prior to the current economic crisis.  At that time, we found a significant number of venture capitalists who were very interested in investing in social enterprises. 
Investors were also attracted to the phenomenal social returns on such an investment, given that fairly straightforward solar lighting solutions can benefit families by increasing household income, reducing expenditures on kerosene, and improving education and health outcomes. 
In addition, the market potential is huge.  Kerosene is currently a $38-billion-a-year industry.  So investors clearly saw the great potential of D.light and were actually very enthusiastic about investing. I, along with Ned Tozun, participated in several business plan competitions and won $275,000 in prize money, which helped kick-start our funding.

Image: Nova S200 (also known as Nova Mobile), with mobile phone charging feature.
Photographs: D.light Design

Prev     Next

Prev     Next

What are the challenges that you face?
D.light is trying to do what no one has done before: to build a global consumer products company that is focussed exclusively on serving bottom-of-the-pyramid households.
One of the most significant challenges for D.light is distribution.  Our customers are naturally in some of the remotest areas of the world, many of which have never even seen electricity, let alone solar-powered products. Therefore, we need to be especially innovative in our marketing and distribution strategies in all our markets.
We have rural marketing campaigns in, both, India and East Africa. We have also developed a thriving and fast-growing rural entrepreneurship programme in India, whereby individual people sell our products to their family, friends, and neighbours on a commission.
This significantly increases our reach into the most rural areas and provides the important supplementary income for rural households.
Are you looking at making products cheaper?
The challenge is always to keep the price as low as possible to tap a large market. We continue to look at ways to make our products more affordable and accessible. We have done several pilot projects with microfinance institutions and have found this to be an extremely effective strategy to make our products more affordable. We haven't yet been able to do financing on a large scale, though, and we still want to develop products that are even more affordable.

Image: Product Design staff in the field in India, talking to potential customers
Photographs: D.light Design

Prev     Next

Prev     Next

What was the reason for developing a product like Kiran?
D.light has strategically chosen to first focus on solar lighting because we have found that bright, modern lighting has huge benefits.  We have invested our resources in building out an entire product line of solar lanterns, offering products with different features and at different prices. The Kiran is our most affordable product yet, and was based on hundreds of hours of field research. We wanted to develop a low-cost product that still had the features that our customers most desired.
Each feature of the Kiran -- its two light settings, the brightness, the colour, the shape, the handle -- were deliberate decisions based on customer feedback.  Our desire in developing the Kiran was to make a 'kerosene killer', an affordable and high-quality replacement for kerosene lanterns.
Could you tell us more about the making of Kiran? How many people were involved? How long did it take to develop it?
It took several months for Kiran to move from concept to completion.  Both our product design team (based in India at the time -- they have since moved to Hong Kong) and our product engineering team (based in China) were closely involved in the process to ensure that the product was well-designed, functional, and affordable.
There were also scores of potential customers involved in providing feedback to us in every step of the product development process.

Image: Kiran: The cheapest solar lamp at Rs 499.
Photographs: Robin Chilton/D.light Design.

Prev     Next

 

 

Image: Children holding the Kiran lamp in India.

 

How has the response to Kiran been?
The response to Kiran has been incredibly strong in India and elsewhere.  We find that customers really like the look of the product and are more willing to adopt this new product because of the lower price point. What kind of impact has Kiran created in countries like India? How has Kiran changed the lives of villagers in India?
Like all of our products, the Kiran has had significant impact for our customers.  We are focussing on Western and Northern India. We have found that children are now able to study more effectively and for longer hours.
They are able to increase their income through the extended workday. They are saving money because they no longer need to buy kerosene as Kiran is a bright, clean alternative to polluting kerosene lanterns. 
Our customers appreciate the light and portable Kiran which can be easily used in the field, at home, or while travelling. Besides helping the needy, it is very satisfying to see that people who are selling the products have been able to lead a better life. . . They tell me that this is a great product and it has helped them change their lives, helped them get a good income, helped them send their children to better schools.

     Next

Manu A B in Mumbai

Their mission is to bring light to millions of households that do not have access to electricity. Betting big on solar lighting products, Sam Goldman and his team have embarked on an enduring journey to remove darkness from the remotest corners of the world.
Sam was moved by an unfortunate incident, while working as a US Peace Corps volunteer in the West African nation of Benin between 2001 and 2005, which led him to focus on this segment.
"My neighbour's son in Benin was badly burned by a kerosene lamp. It was disturbing to see that when we made so much progress in terms of technology, we still did not have a solution to this grave problem. So I had made up my mind to provide a source of light that is safe and cheap."
He then joined Stanford University to pursue an MBA in social entrepreneurship. The idea got a fillip at the 'Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability' class at the Stanford University's Hasso Plattner Institute of Design.
Sam Goldman then joined hands with classmate Ned Tozun to start D.Light Design, a company that makes affordable solar lighting solutions to serve the bottom-of-the-pyramid households in India and other markets across the globe. The initial research and early prototyping of what became D.light products, began in 2006.
The company was officially founded in mid-2007 with the ambitious mission to reach out to about 1.6 billion people in the world without electricity, and another billion or more who have unreliable electricity.
The company's latest product, Kiran (which means a ray of light), is a low-cost solar lighting solution, designed especially for households without access to electricity. Dubbed the 'kerosene killer', Kiran is priced at Rs 499 ($10) making it the most affordable, quality solar lantern in the world.
The company's mission is to replace every kerosene lantern with clean, safe and bright light. "The Indian market is complex, competitive and difficult to tap. By 2010, we plans to serve 10 million people across the world," says Sam Goldman.
A Silicon Valley venture, the company has received a funding of $6 million from both US and Indian investors, including Mahindra & Mahindra, Nexus India Capital, Acumen Fund, Garage Technology Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Gray Matters Capital.
For Sam, India is an exciting place to be in, a land of infinite opportunities. No other country is as diverse, complex and as interesting as India, he says. There are fantastic ideas among start-ups in India and in the social entrepreneurship sector as well, he adds.
Sam Goldman, CEO and co-founder, D.Light, and Dorcas Cheng-Tozun, director (communications), share their views on how the company plans to transform the lives of people with simple and cheaper solar-powered gadgets.
Click NEXT to read further...

Image: Sam Goldman (left), with co-founder Ned Tozun.
Photographs: Robin Chilton/D.light Design.

     Next

Prev     Next

How is the experience of being a social entrepreneur?

I was really lucky to find like-minded people to help me in this venture. Everyday we deal with brand new ideas and I learn new things. It is satisfying to hear that many people in the rural areas have hugely benefited by our products.
Most people find finance a major constraint to start a venture. How was it for you?
We were fortunate as we sought funding prior to the current economic crisis.  At that time, we found a significant number of venture capitalists who were very interested in investing in social enterprises. 
Investors were also attracted to the phenomenal social returns on such an investment, given that fairly straightforward solar lighting solutions can benefit families by increasing household income, reducing expenditures on kerosene, and improving education and health outcomes. 
In addition, the market potential is huge.  Kerosene is currently a $38-billion-a-year industry.  So investors clearly saw the great potential of D.light and were actually very enthusiastic about investing. I, along with Ned Tozun, participated in several business plan competitions and won $275,000 in prize money, which helped kick-start our funding.

Image: Nova S200 (also known as Nova Mobile), with mobile phone charging feature.
Photographs: D.light Design

Prev     Next

Prev     Next

What are the challenges that you face?
D.light is trying to do what no one has done before: to build a global consumer products company that is focussed exclusively on serving bottom-of-the-pyramid households.
One of the most significant challenges for D.light is distribution.  Our customers are naturally in some of the remotest areas of the world, many of which have never even seen electricity, let alone solar-powered products. Therefore, we need to be especially innovative in our marketing and distribution strategies in all our markets.
We have rural marketing campaigns in, both, India and East Africa. We have also developed a thriving and fast-growing rural entrepreneurship programme in India, whereby individual people sell our products to their family, friends, and neighbours on a commission.
This significantly increases our reach into the most rural areas and provides the important supplementary income for rural households.
Are you looking at making products cheaper?
The challenge is always to keep the price as low as possible to tap a large market. We continue to look at ways to make our products more affordable and accessible. We have done several pilot projects with microfinance institutions and have found this to be an extremely effective strategy to make our products more affordable. We haven't yet been able to do financing on a large scale, though, and we still want to develop products that are even more affordable.

Image: Product Design staff in the field in India, talking to potential customers
Photographs: D.light Design

Prev     Next

     Next

Manu A B in Mumbai

Their mission is to bring light to millions of households that do not have access to electricity. Betting big on solar lighting products, Sam Goldman and his team have embarked on an enduring journey to remove darkness from the remotest corners of the world.
Sam was moved by an unfortunate incident, while working as a US Peace Corps volunteer in the West African nation of Benin between 2001 and 2005, which led him to focus on this segment.
"My neighbour's son in Benin was badly burned by a kerosene lamp. It was disturbing to see that when we made so much progress in terms of technology, we still did not have a solution to this grave problem. So I had made up my mind to provide a source of light that is safe and cheap."
He then joined Stanford University to pursue an MBA in social entrepreneurship. The idea got a fillip at the 'Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability' class at the Stanford University's Hasso Plattner Institute of Design.
Sam Goldman then joined hands with classmate Ned Tozun to start D.Light Design, a company that makes affordable solar lighting solutions to serve the bottom-of-the-pyramid households in India and other markets across the globe. The initial research and early prototyping of what became D.light products, began in 2006.
The company was officially founded in mid-2007 with the ambitious mission to reach out to about 1.6 billion people in the world without electricity, and another billion or more who have unreliable electricity.
The company's latest product, Kiran (which means a ray of light), is a low-cost solar lighting solution, designed especially for households without access to electricity. Dubbed the 'kerosene killer', Kiran is priced at Rs 499 ($10) making it the most affordable, quality solar lantern in the world.
The company's mission is to replace every kerosene lantern with clean, safe and bright light. "The Indian market is complex, competitive and difficult to tap. By 2010, we plans to serve 10 million people across the world," says Sam Goldman.
A Silicon Valley venture, the company has received a funding of $6 million from both US and Indian investors, including Mahindra & Mahindra, Nexus India Capital, Acumen Fund, Garage Technology Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Gray Matters Capital.
For Sam, India is an exciting place to be in, a land of infinite opportunities. No other country is as diverse, complex and as interesting as India, he says. There are fantastic ideas among start-ups in India and in the social entrepreneurship sector as well, he adds.
Sam Goldman, CEO and co-founder, D.Light, and Dorcas Cheng-Tozun, director (communications), share their views on how the company plans to transform the lives of people with simple and cheaper solar-powered gadgets.
Click NEXT to read further...

Image: Sam Goldman (left), with co-founder Ned Tozun.
Photographs: Robin Chilton/D.light Design.

     Next

Prev     Next

How is the experience of being a social entrepreneur?

I was really lucky to find like-minded people to help me in this venture. Everyday we deal with brand new ideas and I learn new things. It is satisfying to hear that many people in the rural areas have hugely benefited by our products.
Most people find finance a major constraint to start a venture. How was it for you?
We were fortunate as we sought funding prior to the current economic crisis.  At that time, we found a significant number of venture capitalists who were very interested in investing in social enterprises. 
Investors were also attracted to the phenomenal social returns on such an investment, given that fairly straightforward solar lighting solutions can benefit families by increasing household income, reducing expenditures on kerosene, and improving education and health outcomes. 
In addition, the market potential is huge.  Kerosene is currently a $38-billion-a-year industry.  So investors clearly saw the great potential of D.light and were actually very enthusiastic about investing. I, along with Ned Tozun, participated in several business plan competitions and won $275,000 in prize money, which helped kick-start our funding.

Image: Nova S200 (also known as Nova Mobile), with mobile phone charging feature.
Photographs: D.light Design

Prev     Next

Prev     Next

What are the challenges that you face?
D.light is trying to do what no one has done before: to build a global consumer products company that is focussed exclusively on serving bottom-of-the-pyramid households.
One of the most significant challenges for D.light is distribution.  Our customers are naturally in some of the remotest areas of the world, many of which have never even seen electricity, let alone solar-powered products. Therefore, we need to be especially innovative in our marketing and distribution strategies in all our markets.
We have rural marketing campaigns in, both, India and East Africa. We have also developed a thriving and fast-growing rural entrepreneurship programme in India, whereby individual people sell our products to their family, friends, and neighbours on a commission.
This significantly increases our reach into the most rural areas and provides the important supplementary income for rural households.
Are you looking at making products cheaper?
The challenge is always to keep the price as low as possible to tap a large market. We continue to look at ways to make our products more affordable and accessible. We have done several pilot projects with microfinance institutions and have found this to be an extremely effective strategy to make our products more affordable. We haven't yet been able to do financing on a large scale, though, and we still want to develop products that are even more affordable.

Image: Product Design staff in the field in India, talking to potential customers
Photographs: D.light Design

Prev     Next

Prev     Next

What was the reason for developing a product like Kiran?
D.light has strategically chosen to first focus on solar lighting because we have found that bright, modern lighting has huge benefits.  We have invested our resources in building out an entire product line of solar lanterns, offering products with different features and at different prices. The Kiran is our most affordable product yet, and was based on hundreds of hours of field research. We wanted to develop a low-cost product that still had the features that our customers most desired.
Each feature of the Kiran -- its two light settings, the brightness, the colour, the shape, the handle -- were deliberate decisions based on customer feedback.  Our desire in developing the Kiran was to make a 'kerosene killer', an affordable and high-quality replacement for kerosene lanterns.
Could you tell us more about the making of Kiran? How many people were involved? How long did it take to develop it?
It took several months for Kiran to move from concept to completion.  Both our product design team (based in India at the time -- they have since moved to Hong Kong) and our product engineering team (based in China) were closely involved in the process to ensure that the product was well-designed, functional, and affordable.
There were also scores of potential customers involved in providing feedback to us in every step of the product development process.

Image: Kiran: The cheapest solar lamp at Rs 499.
Photographs: Robin Chilton/D.light Design.

Prev     Next

Prev     Next

How has the response to Kiran been?
The response to Kiran has been incredibly strong in India and elsewhere.  We find that customers really like the look of the product and are more willing to adopt this new product because of the lower price point. What kind of impact has Kiran created in countries like India? How has Kiran changed the lives of villagers in India?
Like all of our products, the Kiran has had significant impact for our customers.  We are focussing on Western and Northern India. We have found that children are now able to study more effectively and for longer hours.
They are able to increase their income through the extended workday. They are saving money because they no longer need to buy kerosene as Kiran is a bright, clean alternative to polluting kerosene lanterns. 
Our customers appreciate the light and portable Kiran which can be easily used in the field, at home, or while travelling. Besides helping the needy, it is very satisfying to see that people who are selling the products have been able to lead a better life. . . They tell me that this is a great product and it has helped them change their lives, helped them get a good income, helped them send their children to better schools.

Image: Children holding the Kiran lamp in India.
Photographs: Robin Chilton/D.light Design.

Prev     Next

 

Image: Solatas being used in a school in Tanzania

How is the market for low-cost solar lighting solutions? How is the market in India? There is incredibly high demand for low-cost solar lighting solutions throughout the developing world. Most of our customers have not previously been exposed to high-quality lighting products, and so they are very receptive to our products.
The greater challenge is ensuring that our products can reach these customers regardless of where they live. The market in India is also very promising, though it does tend to be more competitive than our markets in East Africa and elsewhere.
There are already quite a few solar lighting products on the market in India, but we believe that our products offer the best value for the prices that our customers pay.
Which are the other products on offer?
The Nova Mobile provides high-quality light while doubling as a mobile phone charger. The Solata provides up to 15 hours of light on a full charge and uses highly efficient LEDs. It is 5 to 6 times brighter than a kerosene lantern, and performs exceptionally well for tasks where light is required from specific angles.

t

 

Image: Distribution in rural China.

How do you make these solutions cost-effective? How durable and user-friendly is this product? We know our customers very well, so we are able to design extremely useful, quality products without over designing. We understand what features are important to our customers.
We work closely with our contract manufacturers and suppliers to ensure that we are getting the best prices possible for our components and manufacturing. Our operations in China ensure that we will be able to make our products at high volumes and low cost without compromising quality.
All of our products are designed to be extremely durable.  We understand that our customers live in rugged environments, in which there may be severe weather conditions (heat, typhoons, etc.) and dust.  Our products are designed to last at least 1-5 years (depending on the product and the level of usage).
We believe that all of our products are extremely easy and safe to operate (we find that children are some of the biggest users of the products), and that the little touches we've added, such as ergonomic, multiple-setting handles, make them highly functional for our customers.

     Next

Manu A B in Mumbai

Their mission is to bring light to millions of households that do not have access to electricity. Betting big on solar lighting products, Sam Goldman and his team have embarked on an enduring journey to remove darkness from the remotest corners of the world.
Sam was moved by an unfortunate incident, while working as a US Peace Corps volunteer in the West African nation of Benin between 2001 and 2005, which led him to focus on this segment.
"My neighbour's son in Benin was badly burned by a kerosene lamp. It was disturbing to see that when we made so much progress in terms of technology, we still did not have a solution to this grave problem. So I had made up my mind to provide a source of light that is safe and cheap."
He then joined Stanford University to pursue an MBA in social entrepreneurship. The idea got a fillip at the 'Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability' class at the Stanford University's Hasso Plattner Institute of Design.
Sam Goldman then joined hands with classmate Ned Tozun to start D.Light Design, a company that makes affordable solar lighting solutions to serve the bottom-of-the-pyramid households in India and other markets across the globe. The initial research and early prototyping of what became D.light products, began in 2006.
The company was officially founded in mid-2007 with the ambitious mission to reach out to about 1.6 billion people in the world without electricity, and another billion or more who have unreliable electricity.
The company's latest product, Kiran (which means a ray of light), is a low-cost solar lighting solution, designed especially for households without access to electricity. Dubbed the 'kerosene killer', Kiran is priced at Rs 499 ($10) making it the most affordable, quality solar lantern in the world.
The company's mission is to replace every kerosene lantern with clean, safe and bright light. "The Indian market is complex, competitive and difficult to tap. By 2010, we plans to serve 10 million people across the world," says Sam Goldman.
A Silicon Valley venture, the company has received a funding of $6 million from both US and Indian investors, including Mahindra & Mahindra, Nexus India Capital, Acumen Fund, Garage Technology Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Gray Matters Capital.
For Sam, India is an exciting place to be in, a land of infinite opportunities. No other country is as diverse, complex and as interesting as India, he says. There are fantastic ideas among start-ups in India and in the social entrepreneurship sector as well, he adds.
Sam Goldman, CEO and co-founder, D.Light, and Dorcas Cheng-Tozun, director (communications), share their views on how the company plans to transform the lives of people with simple and cheaper solar-powered gadgets.
Click NEXT to read further...

Image: Sam Goldman (left), with co-founder Ned Tozun.
Photographs: Robin Chilton/D.light Design.

     Next

Prev     Next

How is the experience of being a social entrepreneur?

I was really lucky to find like-minded people to help me in this venture. Everyday we deal with brand new ideas and I learn new things. It is satisfying to hear that many people in the rural areas have hugely benefited by our products.
Most people find finance a major constraint to start a venture. How was it for you?
We were fortunate as we sought funding prior to the current economic crisis.  At that time, we found a significant number of venture capitalists who were very interested in investing in social enterprises. 
Investors were also attracted to the phenomenal social returns on such an investment, given that fairly straightforward solar lighting solutions can benefit families by increasing household income, reducing expenditures on kerosene, and improving education and health outcomes. 
In addition, the market potential is huge.  Kerosene is currently a $38-billion-a-year industry.  So investors clearly saw the great potential of D.light and were actually very enthusiastic about investing. I, along with Ned Tozun, participated in several business plan competitions and won $275,000 in prize money, which helped kick-start our funding.

Image: Nova S200 (also known as Nova Mobile), with mobile phone charging feature.
Photographs: D.light Design

Prev     Next

Prev     Next

What are the challenges that you face?
D.light is trying to do what no one has done before: to build a global consumer products company that is focussed exclusively on serving bottom-of-the-pyramid households.
One of the most significant challenges for D.light is distribution.  Our customers are naturally in some of the remotest areas of the world, many of which have never even seen electricity, let alone solar-powered products. Therefore, we need to be especially innovative in our marketing and distribution strategies in all our markets.
We have rural marketing campaigns in, both, India and East Africa. We have also developed a thriving and fast-growing rural entrepreneurship programme in India, whereby individual people sell our products to their family, friends, and neighbours on a commission.
This significantly increases our reach into the most rural areas and provides the important supplementary income for rural households.
Are you looking at making products cheaper?
The challenge is always to keep the price as low as possible to tap a large market. We continue to look at ways to make our products more affordable and accessible. We have done several pilot projects with microfinance institutions and have found this to be an extremely effective strategy to make our products more affordable. We haven't yet been able to do financing on a large scale, though, and we still want to develop products that are even more affordable.

Image: Product Design staff in the field in India, talking to potential customers
Photographs: D.light Design

Prev     Next

Prev     Next

What was the reason for developing a product like Kiran?
D.light has strategically chosen to first focus on solar lighting because we have found that bright, modern lighting has huge benefits.  We have invested our resources in building out an entire product line of solar lanterns, offering products with different features and at different prices. The Kiran is our most affordable product yet, and was based on hundreds of hours of field research. We wanted to develop a low-cost product that still had the features that our customers most desired.
Each feature of the Kiran -- its two light settings, the brightness, the colour, the shape, the handle -- were deliberate decisions based on customer feedback.  Our desire in developing the Kiran was to make a 'kerosene killer', an affordable and high-quality replacement for kerosene lanterns.
Could you tell us more about the making of Kiran? How many people were involved? How long did it take to develop it?
It took several months for Kiran to move from concept to completion.  Both our product design team (based in India at the time -- they have since moved to Hong Kong) and our product engineering team (based in China) were closely involved in the process to ensure that the product was well-designed, functional, and affordable.
There were also scores of potential customers involved in providing feedback to us in every step of the product development process.

Image: Kiran: The cheapest solar lamp at Rs 499.
Photographs: Robin Chilton/D.light Design.

Prev     Next

Prev     Next

How has the response to Kiran been?
The response to Kiran has been incredibly strong in India and elsewhere.  We find that customers really like the look of the product and are more willing to adopt this new product because of the lower price point. What kind of impact has Kiran created in countries like India? How has Kiran changed the lives of villagers in India?
Like all of our products, the Kiran has had significant impact for our customers.  We are focussing on Western and Northern India. We have found that children are now able to study more effectively and for longer hours.
They are able to increase their income through the extended workday. They are saving money because they no longer need to buy kerosene as Kiran is a bright, clean alternative to polluting kerosene lanterns. 
Our customers appreciate the light and portable Kiran which can be easily used in the field, at home, or while travelling. Besides helping the needy, it is very satisfying to see that people who are selling the products have been able to lead a better life. . . They tell me that this is a great product and it has helped them change their lives, helped them get a good income, helped them send their children to better schools.

Image: Children holding the Kiran lamp in India.
Photographs: Robin Chilton/D.light Design.

Prev     Next

Prev     Next

How is the market for low-cost solar lighting solutions? How is the market in India? There is incredibly high demand for low-cost solar lighting solutions throughout the developing world. Most of our customers have not previously been exposed to high-quality lighting products, and so they are very receptive to our products.
The greater challenge is ensuring that our products can reach these customers regardless of where they live. The market in India is also very promising, though it does tend to be more competitive than our markets in East Africa and elsewhere.
There are already quite a few solar lighting products on the market in India, but we believe that our products offer the best value for the prices that our customers pay.
Which are the other products on offer?
The Nova Mobile provides high-quality light while doubling as a mobile phone charger. The Solata provides up to 15 hours of light on a full charge and uses highly efficient LEDs. It is 5 to 6 times brighter than a kerosene lantern, and performs exceptionally well for tasks where light is required from specific angles.

Image: Solatas being used in a school in Tanzania
Photographs: Theo Steemers/D.light Design.

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Image: Nova lights up a shop in Tanzania.

     Next

Manu A B in Mumbai

Their mission is to bring light to millions of households that do not have access to electricity. Betting big on solar lighting products, Sam Goldman and his team have embarked on an enduring journey to remove darkness from the remotest corners of the world.
Sam was moved by an unfortunate incident, while working as a US Peace Corps volunteer in the West African nation of Benin between 2001 and 2005, which led him to focus on this segment.
"My neighbour's son in Benin was badly burned by a kerosene lamp. It was disturbing to see that when we made so much progress in terms of technology, we still did not have a solution to this grave problem. So I had made up my mind to provide a source of light that is safe and cheap."
He then joined Stanford University to pursue an MBA in social entrepreneurship. The idea got a fillip at the 'Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability' class at the Stanford University's Hasso Plattner Institute of Design.
Sam Goldman then joined hands with classmate Ned Tozun to start D.Light Design, a company that makes affordable solar lighting solutions to serve the bottom-of-the-pyramid households in India and other markets across the globe. The initial research and early prototyping of what became D.light products, began in 2006.
The company was officially founded in mid-2007 with the ambitious mission to reach out to about 1.6 billion people in the world without electricity, and another billion or more who have unreliable electricity.
The company's latest product, Kiran (which means a ray of light), is a low-cost solar lighting solution, designed especially for households without access to electricity. Dubbed the 'kerosene killer', Kiran is priced at Rs 499 ($10) making it the most affordable, quality solar lantern in the world.
The company's mission is to replace every kerosene lantern with clean, safe and bright light. "The Indian market is complex, competitive and difficult to tap. By 2010, we plans to serve 10 million people across the world," says Sam Goldman.
A Silicon Valley venture, the company has received a funding of $6 million from both US and Indian investors, including Mahindra & Mahindra, Nexus India Capital, Acumen Fund, Garage Technology Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Gray Matters Capital.
For Sam, India is an exciting place to be in, a land of infinite opportunities. No other country is as diverse, complex and as interesting as India, he says. There are fantastic ideas among start-ups in India and in the social entrepreneurship sector as well, he adds.
Sam Goldman, CEO and co-founder, D.Light, and Dorcas Cheng-Tozun, director (communications), share their views on how the company plans to transform the lives of people with simple and cheaper solar-powered gadgets.
Click NEXT to read further...

Image: Sam Goldman (left), with co-founder Ned Tozun.
Photographs: Robin Chilton/D.light Design.

     Next

Prev     Next

How is the experience of being a social entrepreneur?

I was really lucky to find like-minded people to help me in this venture. Everyday we deal with brand new ideas and I learn new things. It is satisfying to hear that many people in the rural areas have hugely benefited by our products.
Most people find finance a major constraint to start a venture. How was it for you?
We were fortunate as we sought funding prior to the current economic crisis.  At that time, we found a significant number of venture capitalists who were very interested in investing in social enterprises. 
Investors were also attracted to the phenomenal social returns on such an investment, given that fairly straightforward solar lighting solutions can benefit families by increasing household income, reducing expenditures on kerosene, and improving education and health outcomes. 
In addition, the market potential is huge.  Kerosene is currently a $38-billion-a-year industry.  So investors clearly saw the great potential of D.light and were actually very enthusiastic about investing. I, along with Ned Tozun, participated in several business plan competitions and won $275,000 in prize money, which helped kick-start our funding.

Image: Nova S200 (also known as Nova Mobile), with mobile phone charging feature.
Photographs: D.light Design

Prev     Next

Prev     Next

What are the challenges that you face?
D.light is trying to do what no one has done before: to build a global consumer products company that is focussed exclusively on serving bottom-of-the-pyramid households.
One of the most significant challenges for D.light is distribution.  Our customers are naturally in some of the remotest areas of the world, many of which have never even seen electricity, let alone solar-powered products. Therefore, we need to be especially innovative in our marketing and distribution strategies in all our markets.
We have rural marketing campaigns in, both, India and East Africa. We have also developed a thriving and fast-growing rural entrepreneurship programme in India, whereby individual people sell our products to their family, friends, and neighbours on a commission.
This significantly increases our reach into the most rural areas and provides the important supplementary income for rural households.
Are you looking at making products cheaper?
The challenge is always to keep the price as low as possible to tap a large market. We continue to look at ways to make our products more affordable and accessible. We have done several pilot projects with microfinance institutions and have found this to be an extremely effective strategy to make our products more affordable. We haven't yet been able to do financing on a large scale, though, and we still want to develop products that are even more affordable.

Image: Product Design staff in the field in India, talking to potential customers
Photographs: D.light Design

Prev     Next

Prev     Next

What was the reason for developing a product like Kiran?
D.light has strategically chosen to first focus on solar lighting because we have found that bright, modern lighting has huge benefits.  We have invested our resources in building out an entire product line of solar lanterns, offering products with different features and at different prices. The Kiran is our most affordable product yet, and was based on hundreds of hours of field research. We wanted to develop a low-cost product that still had the features that our customers most desired.
Each feature of the Kiran -- its two light settings, the brightness, the colour, the shape, the handle -- were deliberate decisions based on customer feedback.  Our desire in developing the Kiran was to make a 'kerosene killer', an affordable and high-quality replacement for kerosene lanterns.
Could you tell us more about the making of Kiran? How many people were involved? How long did it take to develop it?
It took several months for Kiran to move from concept to completion.  Both our product design team (based in India at the time -- they have since moved to Hong Kong) and our product engineering team (based in China) were closely involved in the process to ensure that the product was well-designed, functional, and affordable.
There were also scores of potential customers involved in providing feedback to us in every step of the product development process.

Image: Kiran: The cheapest solar lamp at Rs 499.
Photographs: Robin Chilton/D.light Design.

Prev     Next

Prev     Next

How has the response to Kiran been?
The response to Kiran has been incredibly strong in India and elsewhere.  We find that customers really like the look of the product and are more willing to adopt this new product because of the lower price point. What kind of impact has Kiran created in countries like India? How has Kiran changed the lives of villagers in India?
Like all of our products, the Kiran has had significant impact for our customers.  We are focussing on Western and Northern India. We have found that children are now able to study more effectively and for longer hours.
They are able to increase their income through the extended workday. They are saving money because they no longer need to buy kerosene as Kiran is a bright, clean alternative to polluting kerosene lanterns. 
Our customers appreciate the light and portable Kiran which can be easily used in the field, at home, or while travelling. Besides helping the needy, it is very satisfying to see that people who are selling the products have been able to lead a better life. . . They tell me that this is a great product and it has helped them change their lives, helped them get a good income, helped them send their children to better schools.

Image: Children holding the Kiran lamp in India.
Photographs: Robin Chilton/D.light Design.

Prev     Next

Prev     Next

How is the market for low-cost solar lighting solutions? How is the market in India? There is incredibly high demand for low-cost solar lighting solutions throughout the developing world. Most of our customers have not previously been exposed to high-quality lighting products, and so they are very receptive to our products.
The greater challenge is ensuring that our products can reach these customers regardless of where they live. The market in India is also very promising, though it does tend to be more competitive than our markets in East Africa and elsewhere.
There are already quite a few solar lighting products on the market in India, but we believe that our products offer the best value for the prices that our customers pay.
Which are the other products on offer?
The Nova Mobile provides high-quality light while doubling as a mobile phone charger. The Solata provides up to 15 hours of light on a full charge and uses highly efficient LEDs. It is 5 to 6 times brighter than a kerosene lantern, and performs exceptionally well for tasks where light is required from specific angles.

Image: Solatas being used in a school in Tanzania
Photographs: Theo Steemers/D.light Design.

Prev     Next

Prev     Next

How do you make these solutions cost-effective? How durable and user-friendly is this product? We know our customers very well, so we are able to design extremely useful, quality products without over designing. We understand what features are important to our customers.
We work closely with our contract manufacturers and suppliers to ensure that we are getting the best prices possible for our components and manufacturing. Our operations in China ensure that we will be able to make our products at high volumes and low cost without compromising quality.
All of our products are designed to be extremely durable.  We understand that our customers live in rugged environments, in which there may be severe weather conditions (heat, typhoons, etc.) and dust.  Our products are designed to last at least 1-5 years (depending on the product and the level of usage).
We believe that all of our products are extremely easy and safe to operate (we find that children are some of the biggest users of the products), and that the little touches we've added, such as ergonomic, multiple-setting handles, make them highly functional for our customers.

Image: Distribution in rural China.

Prev     Next

Which countries will you be targetting?

Currently, our primary markets are India and the 13 countries within East Africa, with Tanzania being our main base of sales and marketing operations.

D.light products are already being sold in nearly 30 countries around the world, in regions as varied as the Caribbean, Pacific Islands, South America, Southeast Asia, and West Africa.

Is this a profitable business?

The kerosene is a $38-billion-a-year-industry.  So we certainly entered into this business expecting to be profitable. We expect to break even in the near future.

 

 

Image: Nova used during harvesting in India.

How important is innovation for a start-up to be successful? Innovation is essential in giving a start-up a competitive edge, and in keeping ahead of the curve. D.light is not the first company to develop portable solar lighting products, but we believe we are on the leading edge due to our creative product design process, distribution strategies, and business model.
A part of innovation is also flexibility; when customers respond in a way you don't expect, or new market opportunities suddenly open up, it is imperative for a company to be able to adapt and capitalise on these opportunities.
What is the future for innovative solutions like Kiran?
We believe that there is room for tremendous growth in the solar lighting industry in general, and the bottom-of-the-pyramid space in general. We expect competitor products to continue come onto the market in the coming months and years, and so D.light will continue to push the envelope in terms of product development and distribution.

 

     Next

Manu A B in Mumbai

Their mission is to bring light to millions of households that do not have access to electricity. Betting big on solar lighting products, Sam Goldman and his team have embarked on an enduring journey to remove darkness from the remotest corners of the world.
Sam was moved by an unfortunate incident, while working as a US Peace Corps volunteer in the West African nation of Benin between 2001 and 2005, which led him to focus on this segment.
"My neighbour's son in Benin was badly burned by a kerosene lamp. It was disturbing to see that when we made so much progress in terms of technology, we still did not have a solution to this grave problem. So I had made up my mind to provide a source of light that is safe and cheap."
He then joined Stanford University to pursue an MBA in social entrepreneurship. The idea got a fillip at the 'Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability' class at the Stanford University's Hasso Plattner Institute of Design.
Sam Goldman then joined hands with classmate Ned Tozun to start D.Light Design, a company that makes affordable solar lighting solutions to serve the bottom-of-the-pyramid households in India and other markets across the globe. The initial research and early prototyping of what became D.light products, began in 2006.
The company was officially founded in mid-2007 with the ambitious mission to reach out to about 1.6 billion people in the world without electricity, and another billion or more who have unreliable electricity.
The company's latest product, Kiran (which means a ray of light), is a low-cost solar lighting solution, designed especially for households without access to electricity. Dubbed the 'kerosene killer', Kiran is priced at Rs 499 ($10) making it the most affordable, quality solar lantern in the world.
The company's mission is to replace every kerosene lantern with clean, safe and bright light. "The Indian market is complex, competitive and difficult to tap. By 2010, we plans to serve 10 million people across the world," says Sam Goldman.
A Silicon Valley venture, the company has received a funding of $6 million from both US and Indian investors, including Mahindra & Mahindra, Nexus India Capital, Acumen Fund, Garage Technology Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Gray Matters Capital.
For Sam, India is an exciting place to be in, a land of infinite opportunities. No other country is as diverse, complex and as interesting as India, he says. There are fantastic ideas among start-ups in India and in the social entrepreneurship sector as well, he adds.
Sam Goldman, CEO and co-founder, D.Light, and Dorcas Cheng-Tozun, director (communications), share their views on how the company plans to transform the lives of people with simple and cheaper solar-powered gadgets.
Click NEXT to read further...

Image: Sam Goldman (left), with co-founder Ned Tozun.
Photographs: Robin Chilton/D.light Design.

     Next

Prev     Next

How is the experience of being a social entrepreneur?

I was really lucky to find like-minded people to help me in this venture. Everyday we deal with brand new ideas and I learn new things. It is satisfying to hear that many people in the rural areas have hugely benefited by our products.
Most people find finance a major constraint to start a venture. How was it for you?
We were fortunate as we sought funding prior to the current economic crisis.  At that time, we found a significant number of venture capitalists who were very interested in investing in social enterprises. 
Investors were also attracted to the phenomenal social returns on such an investment, given that fairly straightforward solar lighting solutions can benefit families by increasing household income, reducing expenditures on kerosene, and improving education and health outcomes. 
In addition, the market potential is huge.  Kerosene is currently a $38-billion-a-year industry.  So investors clearly saw the great potential of D.light and were actually very enthusiastic about investing. I, along with Ned Tozun, participated in several business plan competitions and won $275,000 in prize money, which helped kick-start our funding.

Image: Nova S200 (also known as Nova Mobile), with mobile phone charging feature.
Photographs: D.light Design

Prev     Next

Prev     Next

What are the challenges that you face?
D.light is trying to do what no one has done before: to build a global consumer products company that is focussed exclusively on serving bottom-of-the-pyramid households.
One of the most significant challenges for D.light is distribution.  Our customers are naturally in some of the remotest areas of the world, many of which have never even seen electricity, let alone solar-powered products. Therefore, we need to be especially innovative in our marketing and distribution strategies in all our markets.
We have rural marketing campaigns in, both, India and East Africa. We have also developed a thriving and fast-growing rural entrepreneurship programme in India, whereby individual people sell our products to their family, friends, and neighbours on a commission.
This significantly increases our reach into the most rural areas and provides the important supplementary income for rural households.
Are you looking at making products cheaper?
The challenge is always to keep the price as low as possible to tap a large market. We continue to look at ways to make our products more affordable and accessible. We have done several pilot projects with microfinance institutions and have found this to be an extremely effective strategy to make our products more affordable. We haven't yet been able to do financing on a large scale, though, and we still want to develop products that are even more affordable.

Image: Product Design staff in the field in India, talking to potential customers
Photographs: D.light Design

Prev     Next

Prev     Next

What was the reason for developing a product like Kiran?
D.light has strategically chosen to first focus on solar lighting because we have found that bright, modern lighting has huge benefits.  We have invested our resources in building out an entire product line of solar lanterns, offering products with different features and at different prices. The Kiran is our most affordable product yet, and was based on hundreds of hours of field research. We wanted to develop a low-cost product that still had the features that our customers most desired.
Each feature of the Kiran -- its two light settings, the brightness, the colour, the shape, the handle -- were deliberate decisions based on customer feedback.  Our desire in developing the Kiran was to make a 'kerosene killer', an affordable and high-quality replacement for kerosene lanterns.
Could you tell us more about the making of Kiran? How many people were involved? How long did it take to develop it?
It took several months for Kiran to move from concept to completion.  Both our product design team (based in India at the time -- they have since moved to Hong Kong) and our product engineering team (based in China) were closely involved in the process to ensure that the product was well-designed, functional, and affordable.
There were also scores of potential customers involved in providing feedback to us in every step of the product development process.

Image: Kiran: The cheapest solar lamp at Rs 499.
Photographs: Robin Chilton/D.light Design.

Prev     Next

Prev     Next

How has the response to Kiran been?
The response to Kiran has been incredibly strong in India and elsewhere.  We find that customers really like the look of the product and are more willing to adopt this new product because of the lower price point. What kind of impact has Kiran created in countries like India? How has Kiran changed the lives of villagers in India?
Like all of our products, the Kiran has had significant impact for our customers.  We are focussing on Western and Northern India. We have found that children are now able to study more effectively and for longer hours.
They are able to increase their income through the extended workday. They are saving money because they no longer need to buy kerosene as Kiran is a bright, clean alternative to polluting kerosene lanterns. 
Our customers appreciate the light and portable Kiran which can be easily used in the field, at home, or while travelling. Besides helping the needy, it is very satisfying to see that people who are selling the products have been able to lead a better life. . . They tell me that this is a great product and it has helped them change their lives, helped them get a good income, helped them send their children to better schools.

Image: Children holding the Kiran lamp in India.
Photographs: Robin Chilton/D.light Design.

Prev     Next

Prev     Next

How is the market for low-cost solar lighting solutions? How is the market in India? There is incredibly high demand for low-cost solar lighting solutions throughout the developing world. Most of our customers have not previously been exposed to high-quality lighting products, and so they are very receptive to our products.
The greater challenge is ensuring that our products can reach these customers regardless of where they live. The market in India is also very promising, though it does tend to be more competitive than our markets in East Africa and elsewhere.
There are already quite a few solar lighting products on the market in India, but we believe that our products offer the best value for the prices that our customers pay.
Which are the other products on offer?
The Nova Mobile provides high-quality light while doubling as a mobile phone charger. The Solata provides up to 15 hours of light on a full charge and uses highly efficient LEDs. It is 5 to 6 times brighter than a kerosene lantern, and performs exceptionally well for tasks where light is required from specific angles.

Image: Solatas being used in a school in Tanzania
Photographs: Theo Steemers/D.light Design.

Prev     Next

Prev     Next

How do you make these solutions cost-effective? How durable and user-friendly is this product? We know our customers very well, so we are able to design extremely useful, quality products without over designing. We understand what features are important to our customers.
We work closely with our contract manufacturers and suppliers to ensure that we are getting the best prices possible for our components and manufacturing. Our operations in China ensure that we will be able to make our products at high volumes and low cost without compromising quality.
All of our products are designed to be extremely durable.  We understand that our customers live in rugged environments, in which there may be severe weather conditions (heat, typhoons, etc.) and dust.  Our products are designed to last at least 1-5 years (depending on the product and the level of usage).
We believe that all of our products are extremely easy and safe to operate (we find that children are some of the biggest users of the products), and that the little touches we've added, such as ergonomic, multiple-setting handles, make them highly functional for our customers.

Image: Distribution in rural China.

Prev     Next

Prev     Next

Which countries will you be targetting? Currently, our primary markets are India and the 13 countries within East Africa, with Tanzania being our main base of sales and marketing operations.
D.light products are already being sold in nearly 30 countries around the world, in regions as varied as the Caribbean, Pacific Islands, South America, Southeast Asia, and West Africa.
Is this a profitable business?
The kerosene is a $38-billion-a-year-industry.  So we certainly entered into this business expecting to be profitable. We expect to break even in the near future.

Image: Nova lights up a shop in Tanzania.
Photographs: Theo Steemers/D.light Design.

Prev     Next

Image: Marketing van in India, which drives around to rural areas to market the products.

What are the five things entrepreneur must have to succeed?

Entrepreneurs must have flexibility as everything is constantly changing. One must be committed and be tough as the path is often very difficult. They must be able to tell a compelling story. It is good to have mentors and advisors to guide you. One must be very passionate about the venture.

What are your company's future plans?

D.light wants to become the leading consumer products company for bottom-of-the-pyramid markets.  Therefore, we will continue to develop innovative, high-quality, low-cost solutions that encompass light but also other important needs of our customers.

We also plan to expand distribution significantly in all of our markets in the coming months and years.  D.light's goal is to impact 10 million people by the end of 2010, and to reach 50 million by 2015.