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Positive Impacts: The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa

Sustainable Energy Fund for AfricaWith increased global interest in the use of renewable energy resources, the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa is working to channel Africa’s clean energy potential into promoting employment and economic growth.

According to an International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) report, renewable energy is expected to quadruple by 2030.

The IRENA reports that “renewable energy-related employment remains low in Africa except in a few counties, like Kenya Morocco and South Africa.” Nevertheless, the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) is combining the resources of the African Development Bank with those of the governments of Denmark and the United States. This is being done in order to provide both monetary and structural support to develop infrastructure for renewable energy sources.

The proposed plan consists of three main parts: project preparation, equity investments, and enabling environment.

Project Preparation provides funding and technical assistance for “private project developers/promoters” who intend to engage in renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. SEFA screens all proposals for such projects prior to getting involved in them.

The Equity Investments segment focuses on facilitating the growth and stabilization of “small-and-medium-sized projects” that are geared toward developing solar, wind, biomass, hydro, or geothermal energy sources. This financing window, as AfDB terms it, provides assistance specifically for development on a smaller scale.

The Enabling Environment program provides grants to public sector activities that are involved in creating a viable atmosphere for the successful development of private sector sustainable energy spaces. Such measures include financial, regulatory, structural, and operational support.

One of the largest grants was provided by Italy as it joined the SEFA coalition and contributed $8 million to the program. Additionally, at the beginning of 2016, Rwanda received a SEFA grant of $840,000 specifically designated for the construction of green mini-grids. The mini-grid is one of the many modern forms of renewable energy that are expected to enormously expand economic and employment opportunities.

– Liz Pudel

Sources: African Development Bank Group, Forbes, IRENA
Photo: Flickr

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Plant Lamps Light the Way for Rainforest Villages

Plant_Lamps
According to the Universidad de Ingenieria y Tecnologia (UTEC), around 40 percent of the rainforest villages in Peru do not have much electricity.

Translation: sundown means lights out. It’s a genuine problem for families and students unless they resort to unhealthy and dangerous kerosene lamps which are bad for eyesight and lungs because of the resulting smoke.

Nature, the geographical isolation of these communities and routine flooding are all part of the problem.

However, researchers and students at UTEC decided to make nature part of the solution. Taking stock of their surroundings, the team used two plants and soil to create “plantalámparas” or plant lamps.

Elmer Ramirez, a professor of Energy and Power Engineering at UTEC, explains, “We can obtain energy from the earth. Based on principles and findings documented in other countries we developed our own prototype, using a clean energy system.”

Ramirez goes on, “Every plant produces nutrients, and these nutrients — in contact with microorganisms in the earth called geobacter — undergo an oxidation process generating free electrons that are captured through electrodes. These electrodes are in a grid. This energy is stored in a conventional battery to be used to light an LED light bulb.”

Each plant lamp unit consists of a planter with an electrode grid buried in the soil, in which a single plant is growing. The electrode grid collects free electrons generated by oxidation processes and stores the energy in a conventional battery, also buried in the soil.

The battery then powers the low-consumption LED lamp, attached to the side of the planter. Each lamp is capable of generating enough power to supply two hours of light per day.

UTEC has partnered with global ad agency FCB Mayo to produce several prototypes for distribution. As of now, ten houses in Nuevo Saposoa have a plant lamp. With such innovation and low production costs, the demand for plant lamps will likely increase.

A promotional video provided by UTEC presents many members of the Nuevo Saposoa community expressing their gratitude. One resident is heard saying, “electricity is life for our children.”

– Kara Buckley

Sources: Discovery News, Slate, MIT Technology Review, YouTube
Photo: Vimeo

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Google Invests in Renewable Energy Resources Overseas

Renewable_Energy_Resources
Google is not only known for its innovative technology, but also for its support of sustainability and clean energy. Google has also made a name for itself on Wall Street, investing billions in clean energy sources that have contributed to its $727 share price.

During 2011, Google made its first international investment of nearly $5 million in one of the largest solar plants in Brandenburg, Germany. The project has an 18.65 MW that powers enough energy for 5,000 homes. The majority of the modules used to create the project were from German companies who lead in the renewable energy sector.

In May of 2013, Google invested $12 million in the Jasper Power Project: Investing in South African Solar. The project will fund a 94W solar photovoltaic plant that will ultimately provide electricity to 30,000 families.

The project was developed by The Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program (REIPPPP) that promotes clean energy development.

Last month, Google made its third international investment of $12 million in support of the Lake Turkana Wind Power Project in northern Kenya. Google Director of Energy and Sustainability Rick Needham plans to see more investments in renewable energy resources in the developing world from Google.

He states, “The fastest growing economies are here, and there’s a strong need for critical power. Economies are being held back because they don’t have enough power — and yet they have wonderful renewable resources. These nations can meet their future and growing energy needs by tapping into some of the best renewable resources in the world.”

According to Bloomberg, renewable energy companies First Solar Inc. and SunPower Corp developed a business model that converts income from the wind and solar farms into dividends for investors. Renewable energy projects are eligible for tax benefits and see a reduced price for a solar power system under contract with Google.

If more corporate investors took advantage of these benefits, demands may grow; prices and the industry’s financing costs go down. Google has invested more than $2 billion to fund renewable energy resources programs that together will generate enough electricity to power half a million homes.

– Kelsey Lay

Sources: Bloomberg, Google 1, Google 2, Google Finance, Lake Turkana Wind Power Project, Wired
Photo: Wikimedia

World Bank, Oxfam Reject “Coal is Cure for Poverty”

Coal_is_Cure_for_Poverty
“Coal is a cure for poverty.” In a rejection of a popular argument on the part of the energy industry, World Bank climate change envoy Rachel Kyte has said that the continued extraction of coal has imposed heavy costs on civilians living in the world’s poorest communities.

At an event hosted by The New Republic magazine and the Center for American Progress, Kyte argued that while over a billion people worldwide lack reliable access to energy, coal extraction carries heavy social costs, among which is the loss of breathable air.

“If [poor communities] all had access to coal-fired power tomorrow their respiratory illness rates would go up, etc., etc.,” she said. “We need to extend access to energy to the poor and we need to do it the cleanest way possible because the social costs of coal are uncounted and damaging, just as the global emissions count is damaging as well.”

Such arguments come in response both to the increasing effects of global climate change on impoverished communities and to energy sector arguments that fossil fuel extraction can help alleviate global poverty. In its Advanced Energy for Life campaign, led by the world’s largest private-sector coal company Peabody Energy, the coal industry has argued that “coal is critically required to reduce energy poverty and to help achieve the U.N. development goals.”

But Oxfam International has refuted those claims, arguing that in addition to the more immediate implications of polluted local air and dirty extraction methods, the burning of coal is largely responsible for the acceleration of climate change that is primarily affecting poor, rural communities. In a statement directed at the Australian government – which, under Tony Abbott’s leadership, has abandoned its emissions targets and in 2014 became the first nation to repeal its carbon tax – Oxfam Australia argued that the proliferation of coal extraction runs contrary to the interests of civilians living in poor and developing countries.

“Even for rapidly growing urban populations, the past advantages of coal are diminishing as the cost of renewable energy falls and the harmful effects of coal become more and more evident,” reads the report, entitled Powering Up Against Poverty: Why Renewable Energy is the Future. “Burning coal poses significant health risks through air pollution – a major driver of China’s shift away from coal – and is leading to hundreds of thousands of premature deaths around the world.”

The report notes that the construction of coal mines is displacing many in the world’s poor communities and that extraction often leaves rural civilians without access to clean water and affordable land. Most importantly, the report notes, burning coal is the largest contributor to climate change, and “as such, it is creating havoc for many of the world’s poorest people, who are already feeling the impacts of climate change through decreased crop yields, increased risk of disasters and loss of land.”

Though the mining industry has channeled a huge amount of effort into convincing governments of the benefits of coal mining for poor communities, organizations in such communities have refuted those claims. In response to a claim made by conservative think tank the Institute of Public Affairs that increasing the supply of Australian coal to India would provide access to energy for 82 million people, Sirinivas Krishnaswamy, CEO of the Vasudha Foundation, said that those arguments “simply do not stand up to even the most basic scrutiny.”

In order to relieve poor communities around the world of the troubles perpetuated by the burning of fossil fuels, governments will need to resist the convenience and influence of already-established industries like coal. Moreover, they ought to embrace projects like the Lake Turkana Wind Farm, which, with subsidies from the Kenyan government, is set to provide the Kenyan people with energy at two-thirds the cost of electricity in the United States. However, until governments like Australia’s resist the influence of vested interests, they will continue to be working against the safety of their own environments, as well as the interests of poor people in developing countries.

– Zach VeShancey

Sources: The Guardian, Think Progress, Advanced Energy for Life, OXFAM
Photo: Free Stock Photos, Wikipedia

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WakaWaka is “Sharing the Sun”

WakaWaka
The Personal Solar Power Station is energizing Haiti with a mission to bring the 1.3 billion people in the world without electricity the basic right to energy.

Energy poverty’s progress has been regressing in over a quarter of the world’s population. According to the WakaWaka site, hundreds of millions face regular blackouts, and, even if they have access to kerosene lamps, they are extremely inefficient, dangerous and expensive, and also pose risks to health and the environment.

WakaWaka, which translates to “Shine Bright” in Swahili, works to create and market advanced solar-powered lamps and chargers at affordable costs. WakaWaka works to replace kerosene lamps with safer, cheaper and more sustainable energy sources, and their off-grid solar powered products do just that.

Intivation, a mobile solar products manufacturer, partners with WakaWaka Light to patent and distribute the most efficient models for solar technology.

The self-proclaimed impact-driven social venture fights to abolish energy poverty throughout the world with its original lamps. Currently, WakaWaka Power produces the “most compact power station in the world.”

What began as a kickstarter via crowd funding developed from a “buy one, give one campaign” to a full-blown sustainable enterprise and benefit corporation.

Maurits Groen and Camille van Gestel launched WakaWaka in 2010. They looked to revolutionize the energy market in South Africa by designing “an ultra-efficient LED lamp.” The award-winning model took first place in an international competition for emission-reduction ideas. WakaWaka’s bright future developed in its vision for bringing South Africans living off the electricity grid the chance to try solar-powered lamps.

Five years running, WakaWaka found partners around the world, from NGOs to national and local companies. WakaWaka lamps are charged by nothing but the sun. As of 2013, more than 12,000 LED lamps were provided to Haitian communities without electricity. WakaWaka also provides its lamps to Syrian refugees and those hit by typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

Mali, Liberia and Indonesia have also been impacted by WakaWaka’s off-grid lighting solutions. So far, WakaWaka has been established in more than 200 aid, crisis, and relief projects among developing nations.

The business model follows that all proceeds made from Western purchase go toward making them freely available to off-grid areas around the world at much lower prices.

As if WakaWaka was not doing enough, every WakaWaka product sold in the United States donates a WakaWaka Light to The International Rescue Committee, one of the world’s leading humanitarian aid organizations that has helped deliver tens of thousands of WakaWakas in regions that need them most.

– Lin Sabones

Sources: Waka-Waka, Kickstarter
Photo: Kickstarter

UNITAID Chair Promotes Innovative Financing

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In an interview with the Inter Press Service News Agency, UNITAID chair Philippe Douste-Blazy stressed the importance of “innovative financing” in closing the global poverty gap.

Mr. Blazy, who is also the UN Under-Secretary General in charge of Innovative Financing for Development, made these remarks leading up to the Third International Conference for Financing and Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which concluded on July 16. The conference, which included “heads of state and government, and ministers of Finance, Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation, as well as all relevant institutional stakeholders, non-governmental organizations and business sector entities,” focused on financing solutions in the fight against global poverty.

Issues addressed at the conference included funding sustainable energy for the world’s poor, ways to finance gender equality programs and funding access to water. These are issues that are traditionally focused on, but focusing on them from the perspective of financing allows for sustainable and long-term solutions.

These solutions are imperative to closing the poverty gap. Instead of leaving innovative ideas that remain unfunded and, ultimately, unfulfilled, they provide solutions with a plan.

The initiatives proposed at the conference are ambitious. They include a plan from the Netherlands to provide 30 million people with water and 50 million with sanitary facilities, an effort by nonprofit Solar Sister to fight energy poverty and empower African women, and a commitment by Germany to “lift 500 million people in developing countries out of hunger and malnutrition by 2030.”

Though these goals are lofty, they are imperative in addressing the issue of global poverty in the future. And addressing that issue is imperative in ensuring a safer and more secure world, according to Mr. Blazy, who warned that “if we don’t close the poverty gap, the 21st century will end in extreme violence.” With the stakes higher than they’ve ever been, the financial solutions chosen today will clearly be important tomorrow.

– Andrew Michaels

Sources: Financing for Development Conference 1, Financing for Development Conference 2, Financing for Development Conference 3, Solar Sister, IPS News, IISD Reporting Services
Photo: IPS News

Biodiversity and Sustainability

BiodiversityGlobal warming, pollution and the extinction of thousands of animals have severely imperiled biodiversity. The harm this causes affects the environment as well as people living in rural areas. In poorer countries, livestock and crops not only feed people, but they also provide income for the farmers that distribute these goods. When farmers face the impacts of climate change, they experience the loss of biodiversity and higher levels of food and water insecurity. As the world’s poorest countries struggle with these challenges, the World Bank and the United Nations are working to improve conditions.

The World Bank has invested millions to end deforestation as this has a strong influence on the emission of greenhouse gases. The World Bank’s Amazon Region Protected Areas program, or ARPA, keeps forests in Brazil safe from being destroyed. “The program has helped protect around 70 million hectares of rainforest…with a 37% decrease in deforestation between 2004 and 2009,” according to the World Bank.

The World Bank also works closely to protect wildlife and oceans. The loss of biodiversity has influenced the organization’s investment of millions into many countries. In Honduras, the World Bank has protected a species of hummingbirds by stopping the construction of certain roadways. In Namibia, the organization has invested $4.9 million “to help establish a strong platform for governance of the coastal land and seascape and for development of a National Policy on Coastal Management.”

The U.N.’s sustainable development goals find that biodiversity is crucial. “Protecting ecosystems and ensuring access to ecosystem services by poor and vulnerable groups are essential to eradicating extreme poverty and hunger,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. The U.N. brings awareness to these issues by celebrating the International Day for Biological Diversity on May 22.

Another way the U.N. is taking action is by tackling proper energy use. Utilizing wind energy and solar power eliminates greenhouse gases and pollution. “Powering the Future We Want offers a grant in the amount of one million U.S. dollars to fund future capacity development activities in energy for sustainable development,” according to the U.N. Together, these programs will bring the world closer to creating a sustainable world.

– Kimberly Quitzon

Sources: The World Bank, Shanghai Daily UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs
Photo: Marty’s Market

Biodigesters: Sustainable Fuel from Manure

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Farmers interested in sustainable agriculture have taken to doing something different with the manure they collect from their livestock. Normally, manure is piled into a mound in the corner of the farm to be used as fertilizer when needed or simply left to break down in its own time. Sustainable farms, however, are pouring the manure into plastic sheeting measuring about a meter wide and ten meters long. The end result resembles a large white sausage. This plastic encased manure is called a biodigester, and it’s not a new idea.

Biodigesters or anaerobic decomposition was first documented in the early 18th century. Breaking down waste through fermentation in a sealed container has been used since the early 20th century. It has only been in recent years, however, that small farmers have embraced the use of biodigesters.

The long plastic tube is the most common kind of biodigester. They consist of a few very simple parts. The main body is made of hardy plastic sheeting rolled into a tube with PVC pipes at both ends. One pipe is the waste entrance where farmers put manure into the biodigester. The other end is the fertilizer exit. The highest point of the biodigester has a third PVC pipe that usually leads into the house. This pipe collects and directs the natural gas from the fermented manure and sends it to places it can be used as an energy source, like a stove or a furnace. Everything that happens within the tube is technology-free. There are no mechanisms or added chemicals within the body of the biodigester.

Biodigesters perform several functions at once. As it breaks down, the manure separates into flammable natural gases, mostly methane, a liquid fertilizer called biol and solid waste. The high-methane environment inside the biodigester chokes out all of the aerobic bacteria normally found in manure, like e. Coli. This means that fertilizer fermented in biodigesters is sterile. This is a huge advantage over raw manure, which can spread bacteria and other contaminants to crops when used as fertilizer. Furthermore, studies have shown that the biol produced by this fermentation process increases plant health.

Theoretically, biodigesters can be used anywhere there is enough ground, rural or urban. They are mostly popular in developing countries. Currently, their use is widespread in Vietnam, India, China and Nepal. Their recent success in South and Central America is due mostly to the fact that development agencies have switched from marketing them as an affordable energy source to marketing them as an affordable and effective fertilizer source.

Every biodigester produces both biol and methane. Another possible cause of the increase in interest is the fact that the materials to build a biodigester are now very inexpensive and available in almost every town. Their simplicity means farmers can build and install their own biodigesters relatively easily.

Hopefully this trend toward green energy and fertilizer will only increase as the international community turns its attention to the Sustainable Development Goals, where environmentally friendly technology like biodigesters are primed to play a central role.

– Marina Middleton

Sources: Sustainable Development, World Bank, Clay for Earth, Agricultures Network, FAO
Photo: Flickr

GravityLight in African Homes

A considerable amount of resources have been dedicated to finding a sustainable means of providing electricity to those suffering from poverty. In order to create a solution for such a complex problem, a tremendous amount of creativity, innovation and resources have been directed toward finding an answer. Thus far, one idea has managed to utilize the same power that keeps our entire earth in orbit — gravity.

GravityLight, a new product created by the London-based design consultancy firm Deciwatt, does just that. The light is entirely powered by a specific weight, usually around 10 kilograms. This weight can be anything, including sand, stones or even water. As the weight descends due to gravitational force, the kinetic energy created by this process is converted into light by a handful of small gears within the self-contained mechanism. The light lasts anywhere from 28 minutes to 12 minutes, depending on what setting the light is on. It requires no batteries, and can be used repeatedly without any running costs.

The best part about this technology? The entire apparatus only costs $6. For the price of a hamburger, families can buy a source of light more reliable than a kerosene lamp.

Naturally there was some original skepticism surrounding the product. GravityLight was almost shelved entirely in 2012, due to a lack of funding. Jim Reeves, co-creator/inventor of GravityLight said, “In truth, at first it didn’t go well. But it’s an iterative process. You see what doesn’t work, you move on. You see what doesn’t work, and you improve upon it.”

Eventually inertia kicked in, the word spread and the product began to gain traction. The original fundraising goal was to raise $55,000. However, the campaign massively exceeded expectations by raising $399,590 thus far. This has allowed for the product to become even more accessible to those who need it.

The end goal is to eventually make GravityLight commercially available. While the producers of the technology haven’t hit that goal yet, they are currently on track to pursue mass production by next year. With any luck, GravityLight will provide hundreds of thousands of people with a source of light more stable than any other form of electricity.

– Andre Gobbo

Sources: Devex, Deciwatt
Photo: Sustainable Brands

The Importance of Clean Cookstoves

On March 10, Senator Susan Collins of Maine introduced the Clean Cookstoves Support Act. The bill has received support since being introduced. It is co-sponsored by Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois. In order for the bill to receive more support, though, people must understand why clean cookstoves are so essential to the well-being of people in developing countries.

According to the World Health Organization, 4.3 million deaths were caused by cookstove smoke emissions in the year 2012 alone. This number is shockingly high, but maybe not as surprising with the knowledge that over half of the world’s population currently cooks over unclean and dangerous surfaces.

By cooking over open-air fires or dirty cookstoves, families are putting themselves at risk. The smoke from the fire releases harmful toxins into the air that can get trapped in a kitchen space and cause diseases. When the same smoke is released through unsanitary cookstoves, the risk of illness is even higher.

The smoke is also bad for a person’s lungs. Damage done to the respiratory system is detrimental to long-term health and can make accomplishing simple, every-day tasks more difficult.

Because of familial roles in many developing countries, unsanitary cooking conditions have affected women and children more than men. As a result, the average age of death will become lower. Women with smoke-related illnesses experience a great deal of difficulty in child birth, and high child mortality rates are never good for a country’s statistics.

Aside from health related issues, a family would benefit from replacing old cookstoves and open-air fires because the new methods are so much more efficient. The Justa wood conserving stove, for example, is 70 percent more efficient than a regular stove. Families can save a lot of money by switching to safer methods of cooking and heating.

U.S. citizens should also realize that the Clean Cookstoves Act would have a positive global impact as well. Cleaner cookstoves and more efficient methods release fewer chemicals into the air. Therefore, the strain on the environment is reduced. In order to stop or slow climate change on a global scale, the world needs to take action in areas of the developing world that are emitting harmful chemicals without knowing.

If passed, the bill would initiate the replacement of dangerous cookstoves with more efficient ones in 100 million homes by 2020.

Supporting the bill and funding its causes will help families learn how to burn wood more efficiently and provide the money necessary to refurnish kitchen areas in more environmentally conscious ways.

Senator Collins calls the Clean Cookstoves Support Act the “low-hanging fruit” of sustainable development goals. Unsafe and unsanitary cookstoves are a quick and easy fix that just require a little bit of planning and additional funding. With these resources, the bill could change the lives of millions of people combatting harmful diseases and other negative effects of inefficient open-air fires and dirty cookstoves.

– Emily Walthouse

Sources: American Society of Civil Engineers, The Borgen Project, Govtrack, Susan Collins
Photo: Clean Cookstoves