Grassroots innovations and sustainable energy use in urban contexts: case studies from India
Journal of Science and Technology Policy Management
ISSN: 2053-4620
Article publication date: 10 February 2022
Issue publication date: 13 April 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Grassroots innovations, developed by local people using locally available resources, have shown the potential to provide low-cost technological solutions to the problems faced by underserved consumers in the global south. This paper aims to link the concept of grassroots innovations to energy use in the context of India.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper takes three case studies from the list of technologies scouted and nurtured by the National Innovation Foundation to critically discuss the potential of grassroots innovations for the dissemination and diffusion of urban sustainable energy uses. The data for this study has been collected from various secondary sources. It discusses the opportunities and challenges in promoting grassroots innovations for sustainable energy uses in urban settings.
Findings
The paper discusses the opportunities and challenges in promoting grassroots innovations for sustainable energy uses in urban settings.
Originality/value
Although the concept and understanding of grassroots innovations have well developed, its linkages with sustainable energy use in urban settings have received scarce or no attention in the literature.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to the HNB and its associated organisations such as NIF, Grassroots Innovations Augmentation Network and Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI) for maintaining the database of grassroots innovations and all the relevant information online which was highly useful for this paper. This paper was solely written for an academic purpose and no commercial motive is intended.
Citation
Kumar, H. and Sharma, G. (2023), "Grassroots innovations and sustainable energy use in urban contexts: case studies from India", Journal of Science and Technology Policy Management, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 529-546. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSTPM-03-2021-0042
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited