APPLICATION OF DESIGN THINKING CONCEPT TO ASSESS THE USE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY IN RURAL

AREAS OF LAGOS

Over the past 30years, energy access has been a major challenge for most dwellers in the  rural area of Lagos, Nigeria due to increasing energy demand, increasing population, and  demand for enhanced standard of living. The issue of energy access in Lagos mostly affects  rural settlements as the areas are usually far from the national electricity grid connection.  This research was conducted using the Design Thinking (DT) approach to investigate energy  availability and management in rural settlements. The DT methodology consists of six phases  namely, understand, observe, define a point of view, ideate, prototype, and testing. Through  the ‘understand’ phase, an intensive literature review was undertaken to assess the feasible  renewable energy resources. In the ‘observe’ phase, interviews were conducted in rural  settlements of Lagos. It was found out that cooking is the main energy need and the rural  inhabitants travel up to 10km to collect firewood. A ‘point of view’ (POV) statement was then  created to initiate the ideation stage. The ‘Ideate’ phase involved using viable technologies  to generate solutions targeted at the profile defined in the POV. A selection matrix was then  used to obtain the best energy solution. Through the ‘prototyping’ phase, a concept model  biogas digester was designed for rural settlements. This paper reports on the first 4 stages  of DT methodology.    UNDERSTAND & OBSERVE  The initial phase of the Design Thinking process ‘Understand’, conceptualizes the energy problem  facing in rural communities in Lagos. This phase identifies the core energy needs of the people  by establishing the perspective of human-centered problem solving.     It was observed that:    • Paraffin is used for lighting and it is purchased from filling stations as far as 10km away.  • Dry firewood which is collected from local wooded areas is employed for cooking and heating       purposes.  • The rural dwellers are interested in solar technology,  • The people are willing to use community-wide payment methods for a product that will solve      their electricity problems,    Define point of view (Pov)  The purpose of the customers’ Point of View (POV) is to bring clarity to the complex problem. The  insights from the previous phase aids in breaking down the complex problem into smaller and  more manageable questions. Defining a POV involves synthesising the interview results. The  developed POV will be based upon insights of one customer who uses solar power technology  for operating a radio and charging her phone, spends most of the day picking firewood for  heating and cooking, and uses paraffin and candles for lighting. The POV is to provide the

customer with a life changing experience by incorporating renewable energy, which she is  familiar with, into her daily life in an efficient, healthy, and economical manner    Ideation  The Ideate phase of the Design Thinking model involves using viable technology to generate  solutions targeted at the profile defined in the POV. The POV aids in the process of idea  generation to solving the problem. The ideation phase explores various ideas in line with the POV  by using ‘What if’’ questions in conjunction with technological literature.  The ideation technique  that is key for consideration are as follow:   • How to help the customer not to travel long distance for her energy needs?  • How to help the customer to use renewable energy for her energy needs?    Based on the insights from the observation and POV phase two matrices were crated to assist in  decision-making. Through research into the various renewable energy sources, biogas  production using cow dung was selected as the best viable option for the customer’s cooking  energy needs.     Conclusion  People living in rural areas rely on solid fuels for energy provision for daily activities. The  continued use of solid fuels such as fuelwood has been reported to have detrimental health  effects on children and women. The Design Thinking process is a resourceful approach to  understand the challenges of energy provision experienced by people living in rural areas and  identify alternative energy solutions. The process enables creativity and critical analytical thinking  to identify a feasible and clean energy alternative to solid fuels for people living in rural areas.  The Design Thinking process comprises six phases, namely, understand, observe, define,  ideation, prototyping, and testing.     The ‘ideation’ phase found possible clean energy solutions considering environmental impact  and easy access to resources. Through a matrix analysis of the energy solutions, community  biogas production with solar lighting was the best probable energy solution. The major  advantage for biogas production is the availability of abundant cow dung that is a raw material  for biodigestion. The remaining stages of Design Thinking will be used to complete the synthesis  of a solar energy plant and central biogas generation unit. The report will be presented in a future  communication.

