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AE4H-ASU Joint Working Paper
This joint working paper was developed by AE4H in collaboration with researchers at the Grassroots Energy Innovation Laboratory, School for the Future of Innovation in Society, Arizona State University.
The working paper presents a multi-layer design framework for social value creation within the energy access sector:
- Layer 1 - Social Value of Energy
- Layer 2 - Socially Valuable Energy Services
- Layer 3 - Effective and Efficient Socio-Technical Systems Integration
- Layer 4 - Energy Enterprises
- Layer 5 - Ownership and Financial Reinvestment
- Layer 6 - Energy Innovation Ecosystems
- Layer 7 - Policy and Governance
AE4H researchers presented this work at the workshop ‘Eradicating Poverty through Energy Innovation” at Arizona State UNnversity
Mapping the Energy Access Innovation Ecosystem
The sustainable provision of affordable clean energy is a complex undertaking encompassing a large number of actors that make up the energy access sector.
In late 2017, AE4H director Jatin Nathwani, AE4H Manager Nigel Moore, and collaborator Malcolm McCulloch, Head of the Energy and Power Group at the University of Oxford, developed an ‘ecosystem map’ of the sector. The map includes key actor groups and flows of money, data, equipment, expertise and influence that link them.
This map was intended to help those involved in the sector understand how their actions fit within the larger ecosystem.
Energy Access Innovation Centres Program Proposal
100&Change is a MacArthur Foundation competition for a $100 million grant to fund a single proposal that will make measurable progress toward solving a significant problem.
In late 2016, AE4H submitted a proposal to this competition. While not ultimately successful, of the 1000+ submissions, our proposal was selected as one of the ‘Top 200’ and is highlighted on the MacArthur Foundation’s 100&Change Solutions Bank website.
Since 2016, AE4H has further developed this proposal as a collaboration between partners at the University of Waterloo, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, University of Oxford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, UC Berkeley, Ashesi University, and the Institute of Advanced Sustainability Studies.
Our proposal is to create a network of ‘Energy Access Innovation Centres at locations across the developing world that link a global network of leading edge research institutions with on-the-ground entrepreneurial change-makers that deliver energy access solutions to the communities that they understand.
Our approach has three pillars:
- Accelerate ‘Use-Inspired Basic Research’ for energy access on a global scale
- Create the next generation of leaders and ‘Change Agents’ to build the energy access sector
- Make local entrepreneurship the fundamental delivery method of innovative solutions