Of Pretty Women, the cleanness of clean cookstoves, and the sysiphian pursuit of financial promises
When it comes to “clean cookstoves,” to paraphrase a former US president, “it depends what your definition of the word “clean” is…
We’re under attack at TCP! Help us!
A ransom note from the kidnappers of our website and our director….
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Unsustainable woodfuel consumption and public health
Researchers warn that East African plants that could cure malaria could disappear before scientists have a chance to study them.
A new book by scientists at the World Agroforestry Centre, “Common Antimalarial Trees and Shrubs of East Africa,” identifies 22 tree and shrub species that traditional healers in East Africa use to fight the disease.
But, the researchers say, they are being cut down for cooking fuel and other uses and could disappear before scientists have a chance to study them.
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NEWS: Simpler carbon financing can accelerate sustainability in Africa
A fundamental reason why improved cookstoves aren’t more widely in use in Africa is that small and medium-sized energy businesses lack access to finance. Without investment or backing, small and medium-sized energy enterprises are staying just that: small.
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Photo essay: Of Haiti, charcoal, and energy poverty
We’ve focused before on Haiti‘s complete dependence on charcoal as a primary fuel and the impact this has had on the country’s environment.
The UK newspaper The Guardian recently ran a slideshow of powerful photos depicting aspects of the country’s charcoal trade.
The images are a profound reminder of the link between poverty, energy needs, and the environment.
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NEWS: The case for combining water treatment & clean cookstoves
From WASHupdate: Combined Household Water Treatment and Indoor Air Pollution Projects in Urban Mambanda, Cameroon and Rural Nyanza, Kenya, 2011– WHO.
The positive experience from these two projects concerning the apparently clear benefits of delivering household water treatment and household energy interventions in an integrated way has important implications for future programs. Specifically, the key strategic question is whether integrated delivery should be the norm, rather than, as at present, the exception and only seen in a few innovative projects.
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International Conference on Charcoal in 2012 gets thumbs up from Swiss government
The Tanzania office of Switzerland’s international development agency (SDC) gave Tuesday a shot in the arm to a proposed International Conference on Charcoal to be held in Africa in 2012. The SDC made a significant financial commitment to support the organization of the conference.
The SDC representatives in Tanzania have identified the country’s current level of production and consumption of charcoal as a priority area.
About 90 percent of the country’s energy needs are met by woodfuels. These figures are in keeping with average biomass consumption in sub-Saharan Africa. The annual consumption of more than 1 million tons of charcoal results in a loss of 130,000 to 150,000 hectares of forests and the emission of about 9 million tons of CO2. In Tanzania, on average, only one hectare of forest is replanted for every three hectares destroyed.
The recent spike in oil is sure to increase woodfuel and charcoal consumption above the current 10 percent growth rate, experts say, a situation that could potentially tip the country into a charcoal crisis.
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UNEP: Unsustainable charcoal production & consumption threaten MDG achievements
We were very pleased to receive this morning a letter from the United Nations Environment Programme that recognizes the unsustainable nature of current levels of charcoal production and consumption in sub-Saharan Africa, and the threat this poses to the progress on the MDGs. The letter, signed by Mr. Mounkaila Goumandakoye, Director and Regional Representative of
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NEWS: U.S. Expands Biomass Research
NEWS: The New York Times. 4/15/2011. “On Friday, the departments of Agriculture and Energy announced that up to $30 million would go toward supporting research and development in advanced biofuels, bioenergy and “high-value biobased products” over the next three to four years.”
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Foreign investment to protect Ghana forest not keeping up w destruction
NEWS: Indiscriminate felling of trees for firewood and charcoal to either sell or for domestic use is a routine for most locals in Ghana.
At the same time it’s a major contributing factor eating up the forests.
About 69 percent of all urban households use charcoal for cooking and heating and the annual per capita consumption is around 180 kg. The total annual consumption is about 700,000 tons, 30 percent of which is consumed in the capital Accra, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
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Why the UN’s report on the State of the World’s Forest is James Cameron’s worst nightmare.
The UN year of the forest in 2011 is being launched with a number of reports outlining a positive role for forestry industries and biomass in particular.
The UN’s flagship study, The State of the World’s Forests 2011, paints a healthy picture for energy crop growers, calling for greater industrial integration, increased productivity and the rapid adoption of technological advances.
Ugandan schoolmaster leads way in seeking energy efficiency & sustainable renewable fuels for schools
Born to a very poor family, orphaned at a young age, Henry Twinemasiko is providing hope and education to 1,650 schoolchildren in this remote corner of Uganda.
Henry’s next mission is to bring clean-burning biomass fuels and green technology to the schools and the community’s 15,000 inhabitants.
At The Charcoal Project we are proud and humbled to be Henry’s partner.
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