Equipping 50 percent of households that burn biomass with improved stoves by 2015 would cost about $2 billion upfront but would almost immediately yield $37 billion in fuel savings, leaving a net gain to the world’s energy poor of some $35 billion.
Over a ten year period this would generate an economic return of U$105 billion.
At two to 10 times above Mongolian and international air quality standards, Ulaanbaatar’s PM rates are among the worst in the world, according to a December 2009 World Bank report. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimates that health costs related to this air pollution account for as much as 4 percent of Mongolia’s GDP.
MONGOLIAN Capital grapples with smog problem from IAP Read More »
The Central Cardamom Protected Forest (CCPF) in Cambodia is a 400,000-hectare zone that the government created in 2002.
Conservationists see the Cardamoms as an ecological jewel. It is home to dozens of threatened species, including some that have become extinct elsewhere, as well as a vital watershed that supports hundreds of thousands of people downstream of its rivers.
But the CCPF is also home to more than 3,000 isolated villagers, many of them indigenous Khmer Daeum whose ancestors have lived in the forest for centuries.
In dealing with them, authorities have two choices: Offer a stick, or offer a carrot. Officials can tell the communities to stop using their ancestral forests outright, or work with them to end destructive commercial poaching and logging.
A balancing act in the Cardamoms Read More »
The latest quarterly update from the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air (Bulletin 23)is dedicated to harnessing the power of the carbon credit market to support stove projects around the world.
Tool: generating carbon credits from stove projects (PCIA) Read More »
Industrialized and emerging nations are poised to leap into the clean fuel and green technology future, leaving behind nearly a third of the world’s population who is destined to continue burning wood, charcoal, and animal dung using noxious technologies that have remained unevolved for the last 3000 years. What’s up with that?
Green tech, clean fuels for the rich and wood, charcoal, and animal dung for the poor. Read More »
BRASILIA, March 16 (Xinhua) — Brazil’s Ministry of Environment on Tuesday announced a plan to encourage industries to use charcoal that is not made from native trees in efforts to protect forest and the ecosystem.
According to the Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Deforestation in Cerrado (PPCerrado), Brazilian companies are not allowed to buy charcoal made from native trees of the Cerrado ecosystem.
The PPCerrado, to take effect in 2013, is the extension of Resolution 3545 of Brazil’s Central Bank, which rules that any producer who fails to comply with environmental laws should not be qualified for applying for credit from the Central Bank.
Brazil introduces plan for charcoal consumption to protect native Read More »
Peru could have bought every rural poor two energy efficient stoves in 2007 for the equivalent of what Indoor Air Pollution cost the country. That would be U$321,123,160 in 2007, in case you were wondering.
As we discussed last week, The Charcoal Project is leading a research on a global analysis that would put a price tag on the inefficient domestic combustion of biomass as practiced today in the vast majority of the developing world.
The figure mentioned above comes from the World Bank’s Country Environmental Analysis (CEA) reports published on their website.
We randomly selected the 2007 assessment for Peru.
We realize that not every stove and briquette program is viable until some serious “ground-truthing” has occurred. But who, or what agency, does one turn to to carry out this work? What multi-lateral or development agency is spearheading the coordination of a global effort to ramp up the adoption of green technology and clean fuels
Where does one turn to for support in implementing stove & briquette programs? Read More »
One thing we’ve learned is that stoves are a bit like dogs: they come in every shape, size, and specs.
From the scrappy mongrel that’s hardwired for survival, to the pedigreed hound that’s bred for speed, they all have traits their fans will swear by.
So, when a report evaluating the performance of various mass-produced stoves landed on our desk(top), we pounced on it!
Battle of the manufactured stoves Read More »
We’ve been scratching our heads wondering why energy-efficient stoves have not caught on among the world’s 2.4 billion energy poor.
Stove prices are relatively affordable, the advantages seem fairly obvious, and the technology is simple, proven, and effective.
So what’s the hold up?
One company’s quest to serve hot stoves to the Bottom Of the Pyramid Read More »
We recently announced The Charcoal Project’s intention to help quantify the cost to society of current levels and practices of biomass consumption in the developing world.
Once we discover the direct and indirect costs of “business as usual”, we can then figure out the cost-benefit of pushing for the large-scale adoption of energy efficiency technology and policies.
Starting today you will find a section titled Biomass in Numbers on the right-hand column. Here you will find blurbs and links to information that will help us better understand the true cost of energy poverty.
Valuing global biomass fuel consumption Read More »
With a single, concerted initiative, says Lakshman Guruswami, the world could save millions of people in poor nations from respiratory ailments and early death, while dealing a big blow to global warming — and all at a surprisingly small cost.
World’s Pall of Black Carbon Can Be Eased With New Stoves Read More »
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