Determination of the socio-economic and political

impact of supplying clean, efficient and cheap energy

to vulnerable sub-communities of bigger
conglomerates

Introduction
This question emerged from the idea of equality, not as a right, but as a
possibility brought into the picture by the technological growth of the era we
live in. In the country where I was born (Colombia), the gap between classes is
evident, and there is no apparent effort to change that. Power is stripped from
the mass, and given to individuals, through careful control of the resources, but
now that the resources are within the reach of everyone, just a small push can
have repercussions which I wish to study.
A very small scale improvement of conditions is the topic of this proposal,
addressing something that actually can be considered as a commodity: Energy.
Using technologies that have been around for many decades, but that people
in this communities have barely heard off, I plan to design and implement a
simple but sturdy energy production system, able to generate and distribute
cheap energy for a sample of the population.
It would be meaningless to supply only the current demand of energy, the
whole idea is to create in the collective mind, the idea of a better quality of life,
and ground the possibility of achieving it. For instance, if the community is
used to cook with wood and that is as far as their possibilities go; the output of
the system would be to generate enough energy not only to cook without
breathing poisonous gases, but also to heat water for a shower, to power a
fridge or a computer, or to cover any particular or communal needs that may
arise.
Some projects attempting to improve the conditions of these communities have
been undertaken in the past, but none addressing clean generation of cheap
energy. For the purpose of this study, the key findings of those projects can be
grouped into three categories:

Initial acceptance or reception

Involvement and enthusiasm
Follow through (this will give an idea of the overall improvement caused
by the project)

Hypothesis
According to similar studies in different regions of the world, and the specific
results of different projects in the studied community, the end result of this
project should be a general improvement of the quality of life, not only of the
involved sub-communities but also of the surrounding ones. Involvement of the
people would create awareness, which in time might mean a continuous search
of better conditions and spread of a wellbeing attitude.

Main body of the study

What are some of the most basic uses that can be given to energy in this
communities?
Will this slight improvement in specific conditions lift a load from the supporters
of the families?
Is the free time achieved by lifting a load (if any) going to be used in a
productive or destructive way?
How fast will the demand for energy grow? And to what purposes?
What complementary technologies, approaches, knowledge or techniques can
be used to keep improving the conditions, or contain negative outputs?
Is there going to appear a hierarchical approach to these technologies from the
people, due to the specific layout of the system? Or will it be necessary to
establish one?
What will be the impact on surrounding communities, and regional politics?

Methodology
The first course of action would be to recruit help from the local area, a task
that would be easily achieved as I was born and raised in the city where I
intend to carry out the research. There would be the need to conduct a
preliminary investigation, pondering the level of acceptance a project like this
would have in different specific sub-communities of the city. After approaching
the community leaders of the chosen community and reaching an agreement,
the next step would be to seek the appropriate permission from the Town Hall
of the city, maintaining the nature of the project as apolitical as possible.
Once the community is chosen and the permissions are secured, the technical
part of the research would take place: finding the most suitable energy source
(most likely solar energy), deciding and calculating the overall capacity,
designing the configuration and layout of the system, installing the
infrastructure, and finally performing the verifications, and tests.
After the technical requirements have been met, and the energy system
infrastructure is fully functional and yielding the desired amount of energy, the
last stage of the project would commence. For this stage, specific data would
have to be gathered for as long as the whole process allows. The specific
variables to be studied would hold a direct relationship with the questions that
were presented earlier in this document and would help to determine when the
whole project, as a System, with all its interconnected fronts, is going to
stabilize. In other words, when the people of the sub-communities, surrounding
communities, and local government would internalize the effects of the project.
At this point, the final conclusion over the real impact of the project can be
reached.
Summaries and conclusions
The proposed location for the research is a city in Colombia, a third world
country which is currently transitioning out of a 50-year war. The
ultimate goal is to understand the ramifications of bringing a technology
into a society far behind today civilization, in hopes to aid in the recovery
and supply the basic human needs. As a starting point, the research for
the masters degree would be undertaken in a known and familiar
location, in a city that stayed far from war, but nevertheless suffered the
consequences of it, and thus, will help in creating a basic approach
model. As time passes, and throughout the years, I would like to take the
findings of this research and use them with communities gravely
affected by war, and in process of recovery.