Appropriate Technology

M.Sc Environmental Design

Department Home & Health Sciences Department , Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad

December 14, 2013

Resource Person
Name Profession Education
Muhammad Abid
Civil Engineer M.Phil Engineering M.Sc Engineering M.B.A, M.P.A L.L.B, D.T.L, D.L.L B.Sc Civil Engineering University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore. University of the Punjab.

University Position
Organization

Head Technical Services Group Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund

Introduction
Why to adopt Appropriate Technology (AT) ?
Combines: technology, participation and poverty alleviation Holistic approach to improve socio-economic conditions, ensuring optimal utilizations of resources with minimum or no environmental detriment. AT can be indigenous, intermediate or highdeveloped technology Efficiency of technology measured to improve lives of people and societies

Introduction
Technology is appropriate if it provides:
Tools that meet the peoples needs, and Provide solutions to the problems Merger of local conditions and development objectives for a better alternate solution AT evolved in 1970 i.e. China, India, Sudan, Tanzania, Kenya. Best possible AT possible techniques to be adopted in Pakistan, where and how they can be implemented.

What is Appropriate Technology

Defined as object, process, ideas, or

practice that enhances fulfillment through satisfaction of human needs. Compatible with social, cultural diversions of innovation and economic conditions AT meet the basic needs of hundreds of million of people largely left out of the development process.

What is Appropriate Technology

Appropriate technology has been used to cover a
wide range of both technologies and lifestyles including sustainable living, alternative fuels, and ethical technology transfers.
a social problem without many adverse negative effects. society. A technology is appropriate when its intended positive consequences outweigh its unintended negative consequences

A technology is considered Appropriate if it solves Every new technology has consequences for

How do we evaluate Appropriateness?

There are 3 ways of evaluating Appropriateness:
technical, cultural, and economic. Technical -considering the technical knowledge and background of the people who will be using this technology. Cultural - the relationship of the technology to the critical social systems in the society including family systems, religious beliefs, division of labor in a society, and levels of education and training. Economic - a technology's effect on income levels and income distribution in a society and income disparity between different socio-economic groups.

Using Appropriate Technology

For a person, who intends to work from 1st
world nation to a 3rd world nation, for:
Improving life of local community, through a possible technology

AT is simple, small scale, energy efficient,

environmentally sound, labor intensive and controlled and maintained by local community. Pay attention on local Culture Design devises or processes to improve quality of life

 Importance of Culture

Culture & Transfer of Technology

Basic force impelling nation-states, and It is Rapidly Growing

Culture effects Human Behavior

Max Weber Protestant & Catholic cultures Adda Bozeman Role of culture in national decision making Lucian Rye/Sydney Verba Connected National culture to development Robert Putnaur civic culture & democracy After Cold War Cultural factors emerged as predominant in IR

 Culture attributes play a substantial role in

providing human feelings with:
Mental, moral and economic tools of life Better than Successful Development of Capitalism

Culture & Transfer of Technology

Cultural & Economic Miracles:

Latins America persistent instability/inequity-ethnic Korean and Japanese economic miracles Cultural perspectives and belief systems strongly influence national leaders, civil servants Blue print of social, economic, military structures Chief source of conflict between nation-states, transnational's, foreign experts

Why Developing Countries Need Appropriate Technology

Provisions of Employment Production of Goods for Local Markets Substitution of Local goods for those

previously imported and that are competitive in quality and cost Use of local resources of labor, materials, including health, water, sanitation, housing, roads, and education

How AT can be Applied

Clearly Identify the Problems:

Existing technologies in developing countries

Improve Quality & Performance of Human Resources, especially Rural Poverty Recycling used Technology Adapting Imported Technology to Local Needs, Materials and Resources Research & Development of Appropriate Technologies to solve basic Human Needs

How AT can be Applied

Common definition of the Nature and

purpose of Appropriate Technology Meeting basic Human Needs requirements Technological Assessment Transfer of Technologies Information and Adaptation

Approaches to Design AT Technologies

Importance of Institutional Work to

support Appropriate Technology (community and financing organization) 3 basic levels of Design: Mental, Picture with Dimensions, and supporting Calculations Financial Costs over the Project Lifetime

Guidelines for Implementation

Separate AT from High-tech that is used

in industrialized countries AT Promotes: Local Materials, Local Know how, and local Business Opportunity 2 to 3 alternate approaches for the same project

Guidelines for Implementation

Good Short-Term Volunteer

Flexible, relaxed, innovative, organized, culturally sensitive, committed to share their knowledge and skills.

Good Listening Skills

Listen closely, and observe others to develop an understanding of communication patterns, greetings, hierarchy, and protocol

Silent Language non-verbal

communication Prepare yourself - Cultural Shock

Current Issues in Technology Development Relationship Development & Technology in 3rd World
Declining value.

Technology to Address Basic Needs

Water & Energy
Lack of access to clean drinking water, water can be cleaned and reused for household and irrigation purposes. Water source rivers, streams, rain, snowfall, glaciers, springs, groundwater

Sustainability of Technology and Projects Renewable Energy to be practiced

Current Issues in Technology Development Relationship

Technology to address Poverty Alleviation

- Agriculture
Technology can play a role from subsistence farming to high productivity,

Constraints by International Agencies

Food fermentation, biotechnology, diversifying agricultural production, Use indigenous agriculture knowledge

Current Issues in Technology Development Relationship

Policy to Build Industrial Technological

Capabilities
Agriculture cannot alone raise income to a

higher level Industrialization is necessary Belief in Market Forces Essential Growth of Small Scale Production

Current Issues in Technology Development Relationship

Channels for Technology Transfer (TT)

TT through Regulation

Local Participation in Technology Choice, Installation and Adaptation, Indigenization of Subsidiary Workforces Establishment of R & D

Current Issues in Technology Development Relationship

Technology Education & Training

Skills and Ways to transfer, receive and use technology Vocational Training Introduction to the teachers training course Technology is less important than the people Technology is to be transferred from origin to recipient

Current Issues in Technology Development Relationship

Technology Education & Training

Inequalities between North and South and within 3rd World have many causes Spectrum of Approaches to Technology and Development. Local in invention, local in design, local in manufacture and local in implementation Indigenous technology is not the only solution, rather it has to be blended with the innovation.

Examples of Appropriate Technologies

Renewable Energy Smart Growth Green Buildings

Renewable Energy
Renewable energy industries produce energy
using resources i.e. as sunlight, wind, water head/tidal, biomass and organic waste

Renewable sources of energy are diffuse

(spread thin) and intermittent. One example of the diffuseness feature is that a 1000-megawatt solar farm might occupy about 5000 acres of land, while a nuclear power station with the same generating capacity only requires around 150 acres.

Examples of Renewable EnergyBiomass Many developing countries depend on wood

and agricultural waste for energy.

Almost half of India's and nearly 90 percent of

total energy consumption in several small countries in Africa is provided by wood.

Sweden has increased its use of biomass

dramatically in the last ten years and presently uses fast-growing willow trees and other organics to supply 20 percent of its total energy supply.

Examples of Renewable EnergyHydropower

Modern large hydropower plants are very expensive to build; however, hydropower is not distributed equally around the world.

In the US, about 10 percent of the total electricity is generated from hydropower. It has dropped since the 1940s when 40 percent of the electricity in the US was hydropower. Disruption of the environment and conflicts are the major reasons for fewer hydropower plants being built today.

Examples of Renewable Energy-GeoThermal

The Philippines has the highest percentage of power
generated from geothermal sources; 22 % of its electricity is generated with geothermal steam.
20 % of the total) in four other countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Kenya, and Nicaragua.

The percentage of Geothermal is high (at least 10 Central America, parts of Southeast Asia, and the

western United States have the greatest potential for major reliance on geothermal energy. Promising sites also exist in parts of southern Europe and East Africa.

Examples of Renewable Energy-GeoWind

Experts in the field of alternative energy feel wind energy is the most auspicious (favorable) of the renewables. Windmills mechanically turn turbines without an intermediate stage of heating water.

In the early 1980s, more than 8,000 wind machines were installed in California. One of the largest wind farms is presently found in the rolling, windswept hills of the Altamont Pass, east of San Francisco.

Attempts to reap economies of scale by building larger windmills capable of generating more than 1 MW of power have been suppressed by technical problems. Capital costs have remained prohibitive.

Examples of Renewable EnergyPhotovoltaic Cells

A conference room covered in photovoltaic cells at the Bewag power plant in Berlin.

Semi-conductors have the unique property of being able

to turn sunlight directly into electric current. This application is surfacing in a variety of items such as solar-powered calculators, refrigerators, and satellites.

According to some energy forecasters, solar cells installed

on rooftops may allow for a much greater decentralization of electricity than other technologies.

Examples of Renewable EnergyThermal Solar Power

Solar thermal power technologies and solar ponds are projected to have competitive generating costs by the end of the century. The capital cost for expensive items like polished mirrors to track the path of the sun is presently exorbitant.

Examples of Renewable EnergyThermal Solar

Example: Solar Twothe solar energy was collected through a field of individually guided mirrors, called heliostats. The sunlight heats salt to 1,050 degrees Fahrenheit, which turns the salt into a liquid (or molten salt). The liquid and hot salt was then piped away, stored, and used to power a steam turbine.

Smart Growth
Smart growth is development that accommodates the
needs of a community without sacrificing the environment. Smart growth aims to balance development and environmental protection by creating new developments that are:
centered more in the towns and cities include alternative transit options (trains, bike paths, and safe walkways) have mixed use development.

Mixed use development moves away from the post-WW-II

ideal of single-home-only suburbs to a model that includes housing, commercial, and retail space in the same development.

Types of Smart Growth

Smart Growth means that less Land can
accommodate new development:
Compact Development.

This development is sometimes called There are three common techniques to

achieve compact development:

Infill development,

brownfields(contaminated) redevelopment, and cluster development.

In-Fill Development
Infill development is development that attempts to add additional housing or business facilities inside an existing development. This way, a city can fill up unused space in a particular area.
An example of a recent mixed use development is the Paseo Colorado complex in Pasadena, California. The new complex was built in center of town and includes a twolevel shopping center with four stories of apartments above the shopping areas.

Cluster Development
Cluster development allows for similar dwellings as does regular developments; however, the individual lot sizes are reduced and room is left for open spaces in the development

Green Buildings
Buildings are a major source of air pollution in the
US. According to the US Department of Energy
52 percent of all Sulfur Dioxide

Buildings emit
19 percent of all Nitrous Oxide
38 percent of Carbon Dioxide 5 percent of particulate emissions

Considering the number of homes and businesses in

the USover 76 million residential and 5 million commercial buildings at last countthis problem is considerable.

Technique Used in Green Construction

Designing energy
efficient buildings. the most important factor in green construction.
The Solectrogen House is an off-grid PV-powered residence in Nicasio, CA. It was designed to use active and passive solar energy, serve as a live-in laboratory for energy conservation and alternative energy products, and be a comfortable, traditionally attractive home with all the conveniences of modern living. Source:

Energy efficiency is

Technique Used in Green Construction

Reducing material use in construction. Smaller is better
for the environment; using less materials is always preferable from an environmental point of view.
materials during construction:

However, the trend today is for houses to get low-impact

Many construction and building materials contain toxins i.e. many carpets emit gases as they grow old. Research shows that houses which are tightly sealed, are more exposed to dangerous chemicals and pesticides is much higher from inside the house rather than outside the house.

Sustainable Agriculture

Sustainability is built upon 3 broad

goals:

Farm profitability, improvement of the

environment, and increased quality of life for farmers and their communities.

Lessons Learned from AT

What will be the effect of AT on individual and
community, and
AT can be useful in a foreign culture

Follow AT , but do not follow them rigidly AT implementation must be planned and

people must be convinced to change Understanding of Design devises or processes to improve quality of peoples life

Thank You