Social enterprise is an organization that improves human and environmental well-being through the use of commercial methods that maximize social impact. There is a plethora of businesses and projects that have been started in recent years that aim to use renewable energy to improve the lives of various communities of people across the globe. Some of these projects are Solarkiosk, Makani-Energy Kites, Pollinate Energy, Bio-Bean, and SunCulture. Solarkiosk is a project operating in parts of Africa that builds small kiosks in places without an electrical grid. The kiosk is self-sustainable and gains energy through solar panels. The kiosks themselves offer citizens a place to charge any electrical device. Makani-Energy Kites provides island communities with electricity through the use of an airfoil kite. The kite is a form of wind turbine that flies 1000 feet above the ground using wind currents. Another project I looked into, Pollinate Energy, provides sources of renewable energy to the poor in urban India. These sources include solar powered lights and cooking appliances. Bio-Bean is a company based in London that uses coffee ground waste to create biofuels that provide an alternative, renewable source of power. The final company I researched, SunCulture, created a drip irrigation system that runs on solar power called the “AgroSolar Irrigation Kit”. This kit gathers water from any available source and then drips small amounts of the water onto the roots of crops in an efficient way that requires far less water than other methods. The company’s main goal is to end world hunger and this project helps to do that. There are various ways I can get involved with renewable energy through supporting social enterprise. By donating to the companies, I could help to give them the means to produce their goods at a decreased cost so that they can remain accessible by the poor in third world countries or others that need them. Furthermore, I could volunteer my time to work with the companies to go to other countries and distribute the projects and services created. Some challenges with the success of these projects are that they require a lot of funding in order to be able to provide their services to struggling people for free. Furthermore, many under developed countries have political unrest and war. It would be difficult to distribute the projects and have them be self-sustainable in these conditions. When viewing renewable energy under the lens of social enterprise it I important to realize that renewable energy sources will be necessary across the globe in coming years. Because of this, there are a plethora of projects in social enterprise companies aimed at bringing renewable energy to the world.
Work is being done on all three levels of the citizenship model through renewable energy social enterprise. On the personally responsible level, citizens are donating money to and buying shares in these companies that aim to provide the world with renewable energy. On the participatory level, many individuals are creating new social enterprises involving renewable energy each year. Lastly, on the justice oriented level, companies such as Makani-Energy Kites explore the reasons that these regions are unable to get power and then design projects to supply energy while getting around these challenges. For example, islands lack lots of space required for traditional wind turbines and thus don’t receive power. However, with the Energy Kite, less space is required and it still uses the island’s powerful winds to generate electricity.
The TedTalk I found is titled, “A Reality Check on Renewables” by David Mackay. In this video, Mackay explains some of the limitations of renewable energy by using mathematics. Developed countries require a large amount of power per area. However, most renewable energy sources have a low power per area except for nuclear energy. Because of this, to power highly developed countries, renewable energy plants would take up a substantial fraction of the country’s land. But, for under developed countries such as Africa or parts of India, social enterprises working with renewable energy are very feasible and helpful for the country’s development.