Community-based energy model: A novel approach to developing sustainable energy

Conventional energy development and management systems are centralized and grid-connected, making the setup vulnerable and unsustainable. In this paper, a new energy development and management model is proposed. This proposed approach aims at utilizing available natural resources and considers the community as the main stakeholder to implement the model. Locally produced wastes are considered as one source for generating energy to ensure "zero-waste" living. Some sustainable energy development techniques, such as cooking stoves, biofuel cells, green biodiesel, and direct solar energy, are also proposed. To justify this model, a case study was conducted in Mineville community of Nova Scotia, Canada, to show that local people can be self-reliant in terms of supplying their energy needs. This model is also preferred as a component in improving the local economy in a sustainable manner.