Renewable energy is becoming ever more prevalent in developing as well as developed countries worldwide. The implications that this wider use has never really been examined though the interest and role of women have been well noted. Knowledge from other sectors as well as the information that has been gathered from the energy sector, suggest without a doubt that women have an important role to play in the development of sustainable energy. This article will highlight some of the cases in which women are involved and look at a few reasons why women need renewable energy.
The cooking dilemma: safety, scarcity of fuel and health. Women require this type of energy to deal with the urgent need for energy to cook. They are seeking methods to cook that are less labor intensive, safer and much more convenient. To better understand this, a general look at the fuel cycle of the household has to be examined which includes not only looking at housing and kitchen design but improved stoves and the processing and preparation food. The improvements that have been made to collect and transport wood has to be looked at as well. Despite the fact that some plans have looked at this it still remains marginalized and under resourced.
In addition to that, fuel from the earth (biomass) projects must take into consideration the fact that women are highly dependent on this type of energy to fulfill basic requirements. The benefits that can be accrued from the improvement in this technology would be immeasurable.
A point to note is that a portion of the females’ contribution to the economy remains unpaid undervalued and most times go unrecognized. This ends up with less focus being put on technological development in that area and less investment as well.
Women require renewable energy to combat not only their energy needs but to enable better labor saving as well. Thing that are of major concern are transportation of the renewable energy source, food processing, pumping drinking water and the grinding of grain.
Women also require this type of energy to be able to increase the level of profitability as well as safety in areas that they work. An improvement in stoves and other biomass devices like solar baking ovens, solar vegetable and fruit dryers, and commercial grade solar cookers as well as fish smokers are just some of the things that apply to the activities that women engage in. Lighting is also an important factor as it allows for more productive work in the evenings.