Davi is conducting his doctoral research at the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), under the supervision of Dr. Witold-Roger Poganietz and Professor Dr. Armin Grunwald, who are also partners of the Global Change Initiative.
Davi’s research aims to analyse whether and under which conditions renewable energies may improve living standards and reduce poverty in rural areas, in a sustainable and long-term planning. As case study, the Brazilian state of Ceará is being used, which has one of the biggest potential for solar and wind energy and at the same time is one of the poorest Brazilian states.
Regarding the situation in Ceará, the state already achieved universal electricity access by grid extension to supply basic needs. Currently, a challenge is the enhancement of rural families’ awareness of the use of electricity to ameliorate living conditions. Additionally, improvement of electricity supply, capability of human resources, market organization and funding are important to support and develop productive chains. The provision of better means of cooking is also necessary, since unhealthy cooking conditions (i.e. traditional cook stoves based on biomass without chimneys and kitchens poorly ventilated) are normally used in rural areas of the state.
The main expected outcome of the research is the provision of sound information to be considered by stakeholders, such as policymakers, scientific community and leaderships of ONG’s and rural communities, regarding how renewable energies may improve living standards and help people overcome poverty in rural areas. To achieve the expected outcome, context energy scenarios, by using Cross-Impact Balance Analysis (CIB), are going to be constructed. The results may also be applied for similar rural areas around the world.