A New Methodology for the Development of Appropriate Technology: A Case Study for the Development of a Wood Solar Dryer

This paper introduces a new methodology for the development of appropriate technology that allows satisfying energy needs in rural communities. The methodology integrates the technological development, taking particularly into account the assessment of environmental impacts as well as evaluation of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSustainability Vol. 11; no. 20; p. 5620
Main Authors López-Sosa, Luis Bernardo, Núñez-González, José, Beltrán, Alberto, Morales-Máximo, Mario, Morales-Sánchez, Mario, Serrano-Medrano, Montserrat, García, Carlos A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 12.10.2019
Subjects
Appropriate technology
Case studies
Computer simulation
Construction materials
Emissions
Energy consumption
Environmental assessment
Environmental impact
Evaluation
Heat transfer
Identification
Methodology
Natural resources
Participation
Rural areas
Rural communities
Sustainability
Mexico
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Summary:This paper introduces a new methodology for the development of appropriate technology that allows satisfying energy needs in rural communities. The methodology integrates the technological development, taking particularly into account the assessment of environmental impacts as well as evaluation of the functionality of the technology. Therefore, it is implemented as a case study in the development of a solar wood-dryer in an artisan community in Mexico. Relevant issues were identified for the success of the methodology, which includes identifying key participants in the community, as well as the use of specialized simulation- and computer-based design tools, and a prior evaluation of the potential environmental impacts through Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the solar wood-dryer. Three geometries of a solar wood-dryer prototype were proposed and analyzed with computer-based simulations, which showed better interior heat transfer than the traditional wood brick-dryer. LCA revealed that the new solar wood-dryer prototype has environmental impacts in all analyzed categories that are 5% or smaller than those of the traditional dryer. Therefore, it was demonstrated that the solar wood-dryer developed with our introduced methodology leads to less environmental impacts compared to those of the traditional wood brick-dryer previously used by the rural community.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su11205620