ABSTRACT

India is facing two major transitions. In 2040, its energy demand will double while 800 million Indians will live in cities by 2050. Situated at this intersection, this article contributes to the field of urban energy research by looking at Solar Rooftop Systems (SRS) in a district located in the extended periphery of Delhi. Using a multi-pronged qualitative methodology in a corridor made of villages and small towns, we argue that public policies are framed applying a rigid territorial grid opposing urban and rural, ignoring the motivations of both residential and professional users, which are not bounded by the rural/urban binary. This disjunction explains that renewable energy does not lead to a new imagination of urban and energy systems. These two fields remain disconnected while solar energy fuels consumption and the city expansion in its peripheries. Finally, the observed variegated urban energy landscapes (UEL) embody a land and energy intensive form of urban growth.

摘要

印度正面临两大转型。到 2040 年，其能源需求将翻一番，而到 2050 年，将有 8 亿印度人居住在城市中。本文位于这个十字路口，通过观察位于扩展区的一个地区的太阳能屋顶系统 (SRS)，为城市能源研究领域做出贡献德里周边。在由村庄和小镇组成的走廊中使用多管齐下的定性方法，我们认为公共政策是框架化的，适用于城市和农村对立的严格地域网格，忽略了不受约束的住宅和专业用户的动机农村/城市二元。这种分离解释了可再生能源不会导致对城市和能源系统的新想象。这两个领域保持断开，而太阳能燃料消耗和周边城市扩张。最后，观察到的多样化城市能源景观 (UEL) 体现了城市增长的土地和能源密集型形式。