Appropriate technology

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Appropriate technology is technology that is most appropriate to the environment and culture it is intended to support. Suitable for use in developing nations or underdeveloped rural areas of industrialized nations, which may lack the money and specialised expertise to operate and maintain high technology. In practice, it is often something that might be described as using the simplest and most benign level of technology that can effectively achieve the intended purpose in a particular location.

The terminology is not very precise. Isolated rural communities in developed nations may also benefit by using some of the same technologies. On the other hand, large cities in developing countries may find it more appropriate to use technologies usually found in wealthy countries. An expensive technology may be the most appropriate in a wealthy community with the ability to pay for and maintain it.

Such technology, as asserted in the book Small is Beautiful <ref>Schumacher, E. F.; Small Is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered : 25 Years Later...With Commentaries. Hartley & Marks Publishers ISBN 0881791695</ref> by E. F. Schumacher, tends to promote values such as health, beauty and permanence, in that order.

What exactly constitutes appropriate technology in any given case is a matter of debate, but generally the term is used by theorists to question high technology or excessive mechanization, human displacement, resource depletion or increased pollution associated with unchecked industrialisation. The term has often, though not always, been applied to the predicaments of developing nations or underdeveloped rural areas of industrialized nations.

It could be argued that "appropriate technology" for a technologically advanced society may mean a more expensive, complex technology requiring expert maintenance. However, this is not the usual meaning of the term, and is not the meaning intended in this article.

1 Background of the term
2 Different usages, controversies
3 Characteristics of these technologies
- 3.1 Not necessarily "low" technology
4 Sustainability
5 Some appropriate technologies
6 See also
- 6.1 Organizations
- 6.2 People in this field
7 References
8 External links

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Background of the term

The term came into some prominence during the 1973 energy crisis and the environmental movement of the 1970s. The economist (and former British Coal Board advisor) E. F. Schumacher of the UK was one of the originators of the concept.

A related term, intermediate technology, refers specifically to tools that cost more or are more sophisticated or complex than those currently in use in a developing nation but still much less costly, or less inaccessible, than those tools that would be used in a developed nation. Often, in a developing nation, this is a first step among "appropriate" criteria. As well, it is usually only "appropriate" to use technologies that can at least be locally repaired.

See also intermediate technology.

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Different usages, controversies

One approach to the term, among advocates of voluntary simplicity (sometimes termed neo-luddites by others), is that "appropriate technology" is technology whose risk/cost/value tradeoff is compelling enough to justify continued use. Examples might include a clothesline, small kitchen gardens, home composting, better thermal insulation or commuting by bicycling rather than automobile.

Many advocates who use the term "appropriate technology" imply changes that extend even to the "highest" technologies when those technologies are, in fact, the technologies best fitted to their applications. Use of radio broadcasts, cellular telephones or distance education might be considered appropriate "high technologies."

Another commonly encountered approach to the term "appropriate technology" is when it is used to describe specific technologies, like wind power, that provide an alternative to fossil fuels. Also, the term is sometimes used to describe things like the telephone, radio and television that can reduce the need for travel or replace print. Such usage is controversial, as, very often, windmills or electronics may rely on very high technology elsewhere, in their production.

Which technologies are truly "appropriate" was a matter of debate among those who pioneered the concept, and is still a matter of some debate. Further, the use of technologies that are appropriate is an issue both for industry and consumers. For instance, in recent years some consumers have heard the criticism that SUVs are not appropriate to transport one person from A to B on flat terrain and without transporting goods. The other extreme is the use of Alternative propulsion, which may involve investing more in the means (say, a car or motorcycle) than the average citizen can afford.

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Characteristics of these technologies

Low cost and low maintenance requirements are of prime importance. More frequent maintenance can be considered appropriate, if the maintenance can be done with locally available skills, tools, and materials. It is usually only "appropriate" to use technologies that can at least be locally repaired.

In one view, appropriate technology is technology considered to be fitting for one or more specific uses in a particular locality by members of a particular community (taking into account environmental or biological factors). One example is provided by an instance among the many possibilities for direct use of solar energy in India. The Auroville community (at Pondicherry, India) has installed a huge “solar bowl” employing solar energy for cooking. This is a south-facing 15-meter diameter mirror bowl that focuses sun rays on a cylindrical boiler. The bowl follows the sun's position by means of a computerized tracking device. With this boiler, steam at a temperature of 150°C can be generated, which is then utilized to cook two meals a day for 1,000 people, on clear days. Another large solar cooker of essentially similar concept is in use at Mt. Abu in Rajasthan, India. Obviously, these have been put in place in notably sunny climes.

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Not necessarily "low" technology

Appropriate technology can benefit from the latest research, as with the cloth filter which was inspired by research into the way cholera is carried in water. It may use very recent technology - for example a type of white LED lights is sometimes used in remote areas of Nepal due to their low power requirements and reliability. [1]

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Sustainability

Features such as low cost, low usage of fossil fuels and use of locally available resources can give some advantages in terms of sustainability. For that reason these technologies are sometimes used and promoted by advocates of sustainability and alternative technology.

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