Svati Bhogle - South Asia Women in Energy (Sawie)

Ms. Svati Bhogle has done MTech (Chemical Engineering), from  IIT Bombay. She has worked in Hindustan Lever Research Centre (1 yr.), Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology, Indian Institute of Science (5 yrs.) followed by a career break for about 5 years. She then founded TIDE a non-profit to bridge the gap between research and the grassroots; continues as CEO to date. She promoted Sustaintech a cookstove company and conceived CLEAN, the clean energy access network with other DRE industry leaders. Her present institutional affiliations include CEO, TIDE, Managing Director / Promoter, Sustaintech, Chairperson CLEAN and Technical Advisor, ENERGIA. She is an Ashoka Fellow and TED Fellow

In the area of clean cooking, she has developed/assisted in developing the following cookstoves (i)Sarala stove, a two pan, wood-burning stove and trained grass-root women to disseminate the same as a women’s livelihood activity. Very high acceptance of stoves. About 60,000 stoves built by women (ii) PYRO range of cookstoves for domestic and institutional cooking: These are a range of 5 natural draft cookstoves each in 3-5 different sizes for cooking on a flat plate, for frying, for tea making etc. stoves for India’s mid-day meal programme etc. About 5000 stoves sold with high social, economic and environmental programmes. (iii) She has recently been associated with the dissemination of Agni Sakhi forced draft, continuous fired, cookstove. (iv) she has also developed biomass fired dryers and kilns and is currently designing biomass fired ovens, steamers and roasters.

 

Key large projects implemented:

Women’s Technology Park: A facility for awareness creation, technical and enterprise training, production, incubation and marketing of energy linked products made by women. About 200 women trained in this facility. Some working there. Supported by Govt. of India

All India dissemination of Sarala stoves: Developed a grass root women’s leadership and stove construction programme for women’s empowerment. About 50 training programmes for women stove builders conducted all over India.

Biomass energy for small business: Developed and transferred technology for post harvest processing, brick making, herbal medicines preparation, pottery wares firing. About 8000 users of this technology again disseminated through grass root enterprises (Ashden award for this work).

Energy efficiency in India’s tea industry: Through this UNDP funded project transformed energy consumption patterns in India tea industry through energy audits and technical consultancy.

 

Some gender and energy consulting assignments and trainings:

• For ENERGIA: Gender mainstreaming training, development of gender action plans for cookstove project of GERES in Myanmar
• For CARE India: Developed the SHE (Sustainable Household Energy Curriculum as a training course for grassroot women leaders)
• Academic course for post graduate students on technology and development (gender perspective)

 

Committees:

• Member of the panel constituted by the Bureau of Indian Standards for developing standards for biomass energy products including cookstoves
• Expert Committee Women in Science – Engineering & Technology Development. Department of Science and Technology
• Advisory Group Council for Energy Environment and Water for Development of Road map for Clean Cooking in India

 

Awards include:

• Ashden Award for sustainable energy 2009
• Rianta award for the best business plan in the emerging clean energy enterprise category of Sankalp Intellcap 2009
• Finalist at the Cartier women’s Initiative awards for the Asia Pacific Region 2011
• “Parisara Prashasti” the environment award from the Government of Karnataka on World Environment Day, June 5, 2012
• National Award for Women’s Development through Science and Technology, Department of Science and Technology Govt. of India 2013
• Star Entrepreneur Award, Indira Innovation Awards,
• SEED Award for Sustaintech at UNEP

Innovation award of Social Venture Network, USA 2014