Lighting the way: solar lighting and refugee security in Rwanda

Event details

In this lunchtime webinar, Professor Heaven Crawley will introduce research from the EPSRC funded Humanitarian Engineering and Energy for Displacement (HEED) project. This project united researchers to seek innovative responses to the growing recognition of the need to improve access to energy, particularly renewable energy sources, for populations displaced by conflict and natural disasters.

In this session, Heaven will focus on the work conducted in the refugee camps in Rwanda – Gihembe, Kigeme and Nyabiheke. HEED investigated how refugees use energy, asking what are their energy needs and aspirations? In what way do renewable energy systems have the potential to deliver improved energy services that meet displaced populations’ energy needs for cooking, lighting and power? Can alternative energy models, using intelligent supply and demand systems, be imported to displacement contexts to improve energy efficiency, social cohesion and economic growth?

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