Durham E-Theses Energy Access in an Era of Low Carbon Transitions: Politicising Energy for Development Projects in India KUMAR, ANKIT How to cite: KUMAR, ANKIT (2015) Energy Access in an Era of Low Carbon Transitions: Politicising Energy for Development Projects in India, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11387/ Use policy This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives 3.0 (CC BY-NC-ND) Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk Energy Access in an Era of Low Carbon Transitions: Politicising Energy for Development Projects in India For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Ankit Kumar Department of Geography Durham University August 2015 Abstract This thesis examines the role of low carbon energy projects in widening energy access, progressing energy transitions and furthering development goals in rural India. Currently in development contexts, energy access and transitions are mobilised through micro energy projects like solar lanterns and micro-grids. The successes and failures of these projects are primarily assessed quantitatively – number of villages covered, number of households connected etc. However, this approach fails to understand how energy transitions projects perform in people’s everyday lives. It does not capture the reasons why they work for particular groups of people and not for others. To go beyond the quantitative understanding, this thesisfocuses on the micro-politics of everyday life that shape the effects energy transitions projects have on different groups of people. Itconsiders how power, politics and culture are vital for understanding the successes and failures of these projects. Theoretically the thesis conceives low carbon projects as low carbon assemblages to understand their fluid and contingent nature and the ways in which they are configured and reconfigured through relationships of power and everyday politics. Engaging with governmentality studies, it further considers how different, pre-existing and newly configured relationships of power conduct people’s conducts and sometimes lead to resistances for low carbon projects. The thesis critically examines three crucial aspects of low carbon energy projects by engaging with three key ideas – trusteeship, significances and resistances. Firstly, it explores how, by positioning themselves as trustees, particular actors seek to assemble and govern low carbon projects in order to achieve specific outcomes. Secondly, it investigates how, by focusing on particular significances of electricity, these interventions work to achieve particular development goals in different spaces of everyday life. Finally, it asks how and why different pressures and contestations emerge as everyday resistances in low carbon transitions. The thesis takes an ethnographic route of enquiry in order to examine energy in everyday life, using participant observations, interviews and photography. It explores two different low carbon projects – Lighting a Billion Lives (LaBL) solar lanterns project and Husk Power Systems (HPS) biomass micro-grids project – and contrasts them against the central grid and kerosene oil networks, in five villages in Bihar. Three key arguments emerge from the thesis. Firstly, electricity access should be understood as a spatially heterogeneous and temporally fluid idea. Its firm quantification and standardisation are problematic because electricity access is geographically and socially differentiated.It needs to be explored in an ethnographic manner, in which not onlyquestions of ‘how much’ but also of who, how and where are critical. Secondly, in energy and development projects, context matters. The society, culture, politics and economy of spaces in which projects are implemented mediate their impacts. Finally, the upkeep and maintenance of low carbon energy projects is not just about economies and i supply chains of spare parts but also about cooperation and coordination between the project designers and users.Being able to fulfil people’s changing electricity requirements by building flexibility in the projects is critical to respond to these three issues. This will make projects more sustainable and increase people’s trust on low carbon projects leading to a convergence between energy access and energy transitions. ii Peer reviewed publications from this research Kumar, A. (2015). Cultures of lights. Geoforum. 65. p.pp. 59–68. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2015.07.012. Kumar, A. (2015). Sustainable energy for all: can we take care of the ‘all’? In: J. Tomei & D. Gent (eds.). Equity and the energy trilemma Delivering sustainable energy access in low-income communities. London: IIED, pp. 8–16. Available from: http://pubs.iied.org/16046IIED.html?c=energy. iii Acknowledgements This thesis has been possible due to the help and support of many people. I would like to thank my supervisors, Prof. Harriet Bulkeley and Dr. Colin McFarlane for their relentless intellectual support. This thesis would not have been possible without their guidance and inputs. I have also benefited greatly from discussions with several members of staff here at Durham University. Thanks to Prof. Cheryl McEwan, Dr. Divya Tolia-Kelly, Dr. Rob Shaw, Dr. Gordon McLeod, Prof. Lynn Staeheli among many others. Thanks for making a social scientist out of me. I am deeply indebted to my family, without whom embarking on this PhD would not have been possible. Thanks to my parents Dr. Abhilash and Neelam Singh for countless debates on Bihari people and culture. I hope you got as much out of it as I did. Thanks for your support, patience and pickles and for not asking too many times – when are you going to finish? I am grateful to the people of the five villages that I conducted research in, for not only participating in the research but also giving me unlimited glasses of tea. A special thanks to those who gave me food, shelter and guidance for extended periods of time without complaining even once. With their incredible and sumptuous food, they also contributed to another long-term target for me – a substantial weight gain. My Durham friends have been one the greatest supports during this PhD. They supported me through moments (and there were many) of frustration and self- doubt. They participated in intellectual conversations and often gave the timely and much needed advice of taking a step back from the intellectual conversations. Thanks to Marisa, Boris, Brendan, Lara, Raihana, Britta, Pammi, Madhu, Lucy, Ruth, Simon, Philip, Mattand everyone else in W301, W102, W601and Christopheson building. Thanks for the pizzas, pints and curry nights.Thanks to Chandni, Smita and Priyanka for highly stimulating debates about India and its people and for helping me at different stages of the thesis. Finally, special thanks to Marisa for pushing my gender thinking and for often discussing debating and questioning my arguments. iv Table of Contents 1 Introduction 1 1.1 RESEARCH AIMS 1 1.2 PURPOSE OF THIS THESIS 1 1.3 IMPORTANCE OF THE THESIS 2 1.3.1 WHAT IS ENERGY ACCESS 2 1.3.2 KEY DILEMMAS: ENERGY-DEVELOPMENT-SUSTAINABILITY LINKAGES 3 1.3.3 SUSTAINABLE ENERGY TRANSITIONS 4 1.4 ENERGY AND DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA AND BIHAR 6 1.4.1 HISTORY OF ELECTRIFICATION: RISE AND FALL OF ELECTRICITY AND DEVELOPMENT 6 1.4.2 OTHER ‘DEVELOPMENTS’ AND OTHER ENERGIES 9 1.5 KEY ARGUMENTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE THESIS 11 1.6 STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS 14 2 Literature Review and Theoretical Approach 19 2.1 INTRODUCTION 19 2.2 LINKING DEVELOPMENT WITH LOW CARBON ENERGY TRANSITIONS 20 2.2.1 THE PROCESS: MOVING TO CLEANER, SAFER, SUSTAINABLE ENERGY 21 2.2.2 TOOLS AND CONCEPTS 23 2.3 ENERGY AND POLITICS OF THE EVERYDAY 28 2.3.1 TAKING AN ASSEMBLAGE APPROACH 33 2.3.2 ASSEMBLING AND GOVERNING 37 2.3.3 RESISTANCES 47 2.3.4 MATERIALITY OF CONTROL AND RESISTANCE 50 2.4 CONCLUSIONS 53 3 Spaces and Places of the Research 57 3.1 INTRODUCTION 57 3.2 PLACES OF THE RESEARCH 57 3.2.1 BIJURIYA 64 3.2.2 SAHARIYA 68 3.2.3 HARDIYA 71 3.2.4 RANGPUR 73 v 3.2.5 BERANGPUR 76 3.3 REGIONAL CONTEXT MATTERS: HOW HAS THE HISTORY OF INVESTMENT IN ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE IN BIHAR SHAPED PATTERNS OF ENERGY ACCESS? 79 3.4 SPACES OF RESEARCH 85 3.4.1 SEPARATION OF MALE AND FEMALE SPACES 85 3.4.2 CASTE SYSTEM AND CASTES THAT APPEAR IN THIS THESIS 89 3.5 TIME OF RESEARCH – ANNUAL AND DAILY RHYTHMS OF VILLAGES 92 3.5.1 ANNUAL RHYTHM AND ECONOMIES 92 3.5.2 DAILY RHYTHM 93 4 Researching Energy Access in Rural India 96 4.1 INTRODUCTION 96 4.2 THE CASE STUDY ROUTE 96 4.2.1 LIGHTING A BILLION LIVES (LABL) 96 4.2.2 HUSK POWER SYSTEMS (HPS) 100 4.3 THE ETHNOGRAPHY WAY 103 4.4 METHODOLOGICAL TOOLS 105 4.4.1 PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION 105 4.4.2 INTERVIEWS AND FOCUS GROUPS 111 4.4.3 ANALYSING AND WRITING THE DATA 122 4.5 BARRIERS AND ACCESS 123 4.5.1 ACCESSING THE VILLAGES AND CASTES: CHOOSING A GATEKEEPER 124 4.5.2 ACCESSING CASE STUDY PROJECTS 125 4.6 POSITIONALITY 126 4.7 ETHICS 128 4.8 CONCLUSIONS 131 5 Energy Trusteeship: Assembling and Governing Low Carbon Assemblages 134 5.1 INTRODUCTION 134 5.2 TECHNIQUES OF ASSEMBLING: CONNECTING TO PARTICULAR DISCOURCES 136 5.2.1 SIGNIFICANCES 137 5.2.2 INNOVATION 145 5.2.3 APPROPRIATENESS 150 5.3 TECHNIQUES OF GOVERNING AND STANDARDISATION 153 5.3.1 TECHNIQUES OF EXPERTISE: STANDARDISING MENTALITIES TO MATCH MATERIALITIES 154 vi 5.3.2 TECHNIQUES OF LEGITIMACY: LEGITIMISING AND DELEGITIMISING