Scaling up - is it needed?

In an average home, the refrigerator is a big power consumer and can account for over 25 percent of the electricity bill. While simple measures like keeping compressor coils clean, covering food, checking the seal and filling the fridge with water jugs can help save energy, a new innovation makes it more efficient and roomier. And how? By using rice husk as the insulating material!

The $200,000 MIT Clean Energy Prize was recently awarded to a Michigan startup, Husk Insulation, the company’ whose patented technology could increase refrigerator efficiency by up to 50 percent. The thermal properties of this agricultural byproduct mean that a 1-inch-thick panel containing rice husk ash provides as much insulation as a 4-inch-thick panel filled with polystyrene. So refrigerators made with the new material could have 20 percent more interior space on the same footprint.

One such simple fridge did emerge in rural India a couple of years ago. Mitti Cool is a refrigerator made entirely from clay that keeps water cool and preserves fruits, vegetables and milk for days. It was the invention of a grassroots innovator Mansukhbhai Prajapati, a potter and clay baker from Gujarat in India. Costing about Rs 2750 for a company to manufacture, the unit made a few ripples in media and disappeared.

Today, with the power scenario bleak in the country, one hears many people sigh and wish that Mitti Cool was available in the market. It is not.

Another invention was a double layered pot with water placed in between keeps the pot cool when the water evaporates. A simple gadget that cashes in on the latent heat of evaporation theory!

Few of these ideas reach the urban market where there is a big demand. Why? Is it lack of scaling up? Do you think we need to do that? If so how do we network such knowledge? Can universities play a role?

The World bank believes a cross pollination of such local innovations could send the GDP up by few points. But it will call for some actions.

Or are such innovations best for regional adoption? Is scaling up really needed - the kind of model where big corporations alone stand to gain?

Finally, do we have enough innovations? If not, why?

Share your thoughts. We look forward to the same.