1. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
carlo vezzoli
politecnico di milano . DESIGN dept. . DIS . School of Design . Italy
Learning Network on Sustainability (EU asia-link)
Learning Network on Sustainabile energy systems (EU edulink)
course System Design for Sustainability (SDS)
learning resource 5.1
Sustainable energy for all

2. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
. sustainable development is not possible without a
sustainable energy for all
. Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE): key
leverage for a sustainable development
. Sustainable Product-Service System (S.PSS): a
promising model for Distributed Renewable Energy
(DRE)
CONTENTS

3. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
1. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IS NOT POSSIBLE
WITHOUT SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FOR ALL

4. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
source: http://www.un.org/en/events/sustainableenergyforall/index.shtml

5. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
energy is the world’s largest industrial sector
whose output is an essential input to
almost every good and service
energy services have a profound effect on:
. health
. food and water security
. education
. communication services
. productivity
….
ACCESS TO ENERGY STRONGLY CONTRIBUTE TO
REDUCE INEQUALITY AND POVERTY

6. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
“SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IS NOT POSSIBLE
WITHOUT SUSTAINABLE ENERGY”
the UNITED NATIONS General Assembly
(resolution 65/151)…
… has designated
“2012 INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF SUSTAINABLE
ENERGY FOR ALL”
… and unanimously declared
"2014-2024 THE DECADE OF SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
FOR ALL"

7. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
THREE INTER-LINKED OBJECTIVES:
to be achieved by 2030 necessary for long-term
sustainable development
. ENSURE universal ACCESS to modern energy services
. DOUBLE the rate of improvement in energy EFFICIENCY
. DOUBLE the share of RENEWABLE energy in the global
energy mix
SUSTAINABILITY ENERGY FOR ALL:
UN AGENDA

8. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
THE EXISTING ENERGY SYSTEM IN DEFINITELY
UNSUSTAINABLE!
SUSTAINABLE ENERGY REQUIRE A PARADIGM SHIFT
IN ENERGY SECTOR

9. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
2. DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY: KEY
LEVERAGE FOR A SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

10. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY (DRE)
A (THE) PROMISING MODEL AIMING AT
SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FOR ALL
a paradigm shift alternative to traditional
centralised and non-renewable (e.g. fossil fuels)
system of energy generation and distribution

11. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
2 CHARACTERISING ELEMENTS
. SYSTEM STRUCTURE:
from centralised to decentralised and distributed
energy systems
. TYPE OF ENERGY SOURCES:
from non-renewable to renewable energy sources
DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY

12. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy 12
SYSTEM STRUCTURE: from centralised to
decentralised and distributed energy systems
large power plant that deliver
energy via great transmission
and distribution networks
CENTRALISED ENERGY SYSTEM
DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY

13. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy 13
SYSTEM STRUCTURE: from centralised to
decentralised and distributed energy systems
small scale generation plants,
that deliver energy to local
consumer (eventually
connected with others)
DECENTRALISED ENERGY SYSTEM
DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY

14. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy 14
SYSTEM STRUCTURE: from centralised to
decentralised and distributed energy systems
small scale generation plants at
the point of use (eventually
connected with others)
DISTRIBUTED ENERGY SYSTEM
DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY

15. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
SYSTEM
STRUCTURE from centralised to decentralised and distributed
SYSTEM STRUCTURE: from centralised to
decentralised and distributed energy systems
DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY

16. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy 16
GEOTHERMAL
HYDRO
WAVE
WIND
TIDAL
BIOMASSSOLAR
TYPE OF ENERGY SOURCES
DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY

17. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY:
CHARACTERISTICS
. renewable resources: sun,
wind, water, biomass,
geothermal energy
. small-scale generation plants
. generation at or near the point of use
. end-users are the producers: individuals, small
businesses and/or communities
. can be connected with each other to share energy
surpuls

18. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
THE TOTAL SOLAR IRRADIATION OF THE SUN IS ABOUT
50 MILLION GW WHICH IS 10.000 TIMES MORE THAN
THE ENERGY USED BY THE WORLD POPULATION
to satisfy the world energy
needs would be enough a
surface of 500.000 km2
of
Photovoltaic panels

19. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy 19
how big surface of photovoltaic plants would be enough
to meet the (country) Italian demand for energy?
the Italian energy demand is
about 340,000 GWh/year
the surface required to install
a PV plant to produce 340,000
GWh/year is 2.890 Km2
it would be enough to cover
existing building of the
Lombardy region to meet the
national energy need: around
1% of the total Italian surface

20. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
off-grid local mini-grid main grid connected
distributed
decentralized
DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY: CONFIGURATIONS

21. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
SYSTEM
STRUCTURE
from centralised to decentralised and distributed
DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY
RESOURCES from non-renewable to renewable
a paradigm shift alternative to traditional centralised
and non-renewable (e.g. fossil fuels) system of
energy generation and distribution

22. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
“A small-scale generation plant sourced by renewable
energy resources (such as sun, wind, water, biomass
and geothermal energy), at or near the point of use,
where the user is the producer, whether an
individual, a small business and/or a local
community. Nearby generation plants can be
connected with each other to share the energy
surplus (local mini-grid)”.
[LeNSes proposal, EU Edulink project, 2013-2016]
DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY: DEFINITION

23. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
WHY ARE DRE ENVIRONMENTALLY AND
SOCIOETHICALLY SUSTAINABLE?
LET’S COMPARE DRE WITH NON-RENEWABLE
CENTRALISED ENERGY SYSTEMS

24. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
NON-RENEWABLE + CENTRALISED RENEWABLE + DISTRIBUTED
based on exhausting resources
high greenhouse gases emission (global
warming)
environmental impact of extraction and
refinement processes
(high energy transmission losses)
based on non-exhaustable resources
low greenhouse gases emission
lower environmental impact for extraction,
transformation, distribution
(low energy transmission losses)
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

25. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
NON-RENEWABLE + CENTRALISED RENEWABLE + DISTRIBUTED
SOCIO-ETHICAL AND ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY
big-scale generation plants
require high economic investment
complex to be realised and managed
low direct access to resources >
low power to individual over their own
destiny > widening rich AND poor gap
small generation scale plants
require low economic investment
easy to be installed, maintain and managed
allow individuals and local communities
install/manage plants > democratisation of
access to resources > enhance local
employment and dissemination of
competences

26. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
26
MORE FLEXIBLE AND RESILIENT
NON-RENEWABLE + CENTRALISED RENEWABLE + DISTRIBUTED
SOCIO-ETHICAL AND ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY

27. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
“the creation of a renewable energy
regime, loaded by buildings,
partially stored in the form of
hydrogen, distributed via an energy
internet—a smart intergrid—and
connected to plug in zero emission
transport, opens the door to a Third
Industrial Revolution.”
[Rifkin, 2011]
THE THIRD INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

28. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
1. shifting to renewable energy (solar, wind, hydro,
geothermal, ocean waves and biomass)
2. buildings as power plants
3. deploying hydrogen and other storage
technologies in every building and throughout the
infrastructure to store intermittent energies
4. using internet technology to transform the power
grid of every continent into an energy sharing
intergrid that acts just like the internet
5. transitioning the transport fleet to electric, plug
in and fuel cell vehicles that can buy and sell
electricity on a smart continental interactive
power grid
PILLARS OF THE THIRD INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
[Rifkin, 2011]

29. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
3. SUSTAINABLE PRODUCT-SERVICE SYSTEM
(S.PSS): A PROMISING MODEL FOR DISTRIBUTED
RENEWABLE ENERGY (DRE)

30. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
… a paradigm shift from traditional individual
consumption/ownership systems
PRODUCT-SERVICE SYSTEMS (PSS):
an offer/business models capable of creating (new)
value decoupling it from the materials and energy
consumption and reducing the environmental impact
SELLING PRODUCT TO “UNIT OF
SATISFACTION”
VALUE INDIVIDUAL OWNERSHIP TO ACCESS
INNOV. TECHNOLOGICAL TO STAKEHOLDER CONFIGURATION

31. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
S.PSS APPLIED TO DRE IN LOW-INCOME CONTEXTS:
AN EXAMPLE

32. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
SOLAR HOME KITS
electricity + lamps > light
it is environmentally sustainable because
it uses the solar energy + it is
socioethically sustainable because give to
poor people access to useful services + it
is economically sustainable because is a
business for TSSFA company.
TSSFA company offers to Brasilian rural
people a solar home kits that include the
hardware to generate solar energy + the
installation service + products that use
the electricity, e.g. lighting and electrical
outlets. Customers sign a three-year
service contract (all of the tangible inputs
are owned by the provider).

33. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
A RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS (LeNSes)
S.PSS APPLIED TO DRE, SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
IN LOW AND MIDDLE-INCOME (ALL) CONTEXTS:
“A S.PSS approach may act as a business opportunity
to facilitate the diffusion of DRE-based value production
system (satisfaction system) in low and middle-income
(all) contexts, because they
reduce/cut both the initial (capital) cost of access to
energy and the running cost of maintenance, repairing,
upgrade, etc.,
resulting in a key leverage for a sustainable
development process aiming at democratizing access to
resources, goods and services.”
[LeNSes proposal, EU edulink project, 2013-2016]

34. Carlo Vezzoli
Politecnico di Milano / DESIGN dept. / DIS / School of Design / Italy
A RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS (LeNSes project)
S.PSS APPLIED TO DRE:
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES IN LOW/MIDDLE
INCOME (ALL) CONTEXTS
+
SELLING PRODUCT TO “UNIT OF SATISFACTION”
CUSTOM. VALUE INDIVIDUAL OWNERSHIP TO ACCESS
INNOVATION TECHNOLOGICAL TO STAKEHOLDER CONFIGURATION
CENTRALISED TO DECENTRALISED AND DISTRIBUTED
NON-RENEWABLE TO RENEWABLE
STRUCTURE
RESOURCE