2008 Economic Development Award Laureate
DESI Power: Decentralised Energy Systems India
| Laureate Country: India |
| Project Country: India |
| Website: http://www.devalt.org/TARA/desi_power.htm |
| Video: 2008videos/DESI_Power.mov |
DESI Power helps poor villages in India build local power plants and launch micro-enterprises to alleviate poverty.
India's rural villages suffer severe poverty. Most have no electricity, limiting the possibilities for local, income-generating businesses. And with few businesses, there is not enough demand to support power plants. Poverty and lack of electricity perpetuate one another.
DESI Power breaks this cycle by bringing power and businesses to villages at the same time. They train village residents to run biomass gasification power plants and help people start micro-enterprises such as pumping and selling irrigation water, charging batteries, and making ice. These businesses use enough of the newly-generated electricity so that the power plants become profitable, while creating jobs that spur village-level development.
