Wednesday, March 8
"Productive Uses of Decentralized Renewable Energy"
Vivek Shastry, PhD Student, University of Texas, Austin
Moderator: Mark Laser, Associate Professor of Engineering, Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth

About the Talk
For over a billion households today, electricity is still unavailable, unreliable, or unaffordable. Historically, the use of standalone decentralized renewable energy (DRE) for rural electrification primarily focused on powering lights and mobile chargers. In the past decade, the electrification agenda has shifted to a demandcentric approach, focusing on understanding how rural livelihoods, healthcare, and education can be powered by DRE, enabled by a supporting ecosystem. In this talk, Vivek Shastry will present findings from an indepth field study of rural entrepreneurs in southern India who are using solar powered appliances for a range of rural livelihoods and businesses. Specifically, he explores the market and nonmarket factors that influence entrepreneurs' access to these solutions, and the mechanisms through which they contribute to building their resilience to future livelihood and climate shocks.

About the Presenter
Vivek Shastry is passionate about facilitating inclusive development through sustainable energy solutions. As a doctoral candidate in Public Policy at the University of Texas at Austin, his current work explores the intersection of energy access, primary health care, rural livelihoods, and gender. Prior to pursuing his doctorate, he earned master's degrees in Sustainable Design, and Community and Regional Planning from the University of Texas at Austin and worked with the policy and planning group at SELCO Foundation. He has traveled extensively in rural India and worked on decentralized renewable energy projects from implementation, research, and policy perspectives.

About the Series
New Energy: Conversations with EarlyCareer Energy Researchers is an online series featuring graduate, postdoctoral, and other earlycareer researchers sharing their discoveries and perspectives on energyrelated topics. From policy to analysis to emerging technology, this series will give anyone interested in energy the opportunity to learn from the rising stars in the field.

Learn more at dartgo.org/NewEnergy