Optimize! Cleaner Energy Options for Rural China
Ready for sale in China, a truckload of honeycomb coal briquettes, a commonly available, non-renewable fuel that is a source of air pollution when burned in indoor cookstoves like this one.
Students work in engineering teams to optimize cleaner energy solutions for cooking and heating in rural China. They choose between various options for heating, cooking, hot water, and lights and other electricity, balancing between the cost and health effects of different energy choices.
Engineers bring clean energy solutions to rural villages around the world — solutions that are robust, affordable, sustainable and culturally appropriate. To do so effectively, they must optimize the benefits of various energy types with the costs to the families. As people tell engineers around the world: "It's not a solution if we can't afford it."
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Explain what optimization means (to consider a variety of factors and inputs and find the best solution).
- Explain three challenges facing families in rural China (poverty, lack of access to education, lack of access to health care, environmental pollution, use of solid fuels leading to indoor air pollution).
- Describe three solutions engineers design to help rural families use cleaner energy for heating and cooking (biogas digesters, solar hot water systems, improved cookstoves).