OPINION We almost choked on our first Red Bull of the day when we opened up our social media apps and stumbled upon this tweet. How could we possibly not be excited by the influential David Roberts (Grist) tweeting about the UNDP’s call for greater attention to alleviating energy poverty as a key strategy to […]
OK, UNDP, what’s the REAL plan to alleviate energy poverty? Read More »
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) seeks to award a five-year $100 million Cooperative Agreement, Supportive Environments for Healthy Households and Communities. Approximately 20 percent of the proposed work will focus on indoor air quality. The RFA lists “increased use of alternatives to cooking with biomass fuels using traditional stoves and/or increased use of housing improvements to improve indoor air quality” as a key environmental health intervention.
Now we’re cooking: USAID to grant some $20m for indoor air pollution over 5 years Read More »
Bill Gates last week joined the CEOs of GE, Bank of America, Xerox, Lockheed Martin, and others, in calling for the United States to modernize its energy systems with investments in cleaner, more energy efficient technologies.
What seemed especially eerie is how the group’s exhortation could easily have been uttered by the top CEOs of companies based in developing countries.
Energy Obesity vs Energy Poverty: Will US Corporate CEO’s address them simultaneously? Read More »
BP, the US Congress, and the White House don’t know this yet, but we think the Macondo gusher in the Gulf of Mexico is going to help put better cookstoves, fuels, and policies in the pots of the world’s 3 billion energy-poor households.
How BP is going to help alleviate energy poverty Read More »
If only we could figure out a way to combine the allure of sexy technology with the utilitarian nature of energy-efficient cookstoves. (And did I also mention reducing emissions and fuel consumption?)
Well, guess what, folks, this may have finally happened!
A Great Stove with A Killer App Read More »
What’s more important: reducing fuel consumption or reducing emissions of black carbon and other toxic gases?
The answer is, of course, both, but designing a stove that meets the highest current ratings in emissions reduction and energy consumption at a reasonable cost has so far proven elusive.
Coming up with the right standards will be critical to getting cookstove projects to scale, especially since carbon-credit financing will be vital for some projects to make financial sense, says Dean Still of the Aprovecho Research Center.
To achieve cookstove scale we need standards Read More »
As Climate Change negotiations get underway in Bonn, a coalition of green groups has released a report sharply criticizing the United States for its projected use of biomass for electricity generation.
North-South divide grows over use of biomass to generate electricity Read More »
Even though there are still a few skeptics out there, we were excited to learn that the current draft of the American Power Act acknowledges the potential role biochar can play in capturing CO2 during the biomass combustion process. Whether or not this language will end up in the final draft of the APA that
American Power Act to fund biochar R & D as part of “fast CC mitigation” strategy. Read More »
The IPCC and the climate change movement are missing the boat on a crucial fix.
Why black carbon abatement is not one of the central topics of discussion by the climate change movement is a mystery to me given the findings in this report.
Yo, IPCC & CC movement! (cough, cough) Here’s an easy win: Black Carbon (wheeze, wheeze) Read More »
Is someone selling you counterfeit malaria pills? Let a mobile phone check on that for you. (1)
Too poor to have a bank account? Try mobile banking.(2)
Are you a herder in Kenya or Tanzania and have a sick goat? Track it on a mobile phone. (3)
Someone trying to pull a real estate scam on you in Lagos? Let Google’s Android handle that for you.(4)
Now, the World Bank is wondering if the mobile phone story may be the ticket out of energy poverty for rural sub-Saharan Africa.
We are pleased to share with you this list of 25 cookstove-related videos posted on YouTube and curated by the good people over at USAID’s Indoor Air Pollution News Update.
Thanks IAP Update for doing this!
Compilation of Energy-Efficient Cookstove videos on YouTube (via IAP Updates/USAID) Read More »
OPINION I almost cut myself shaving this morning while listening to a BBC News story about The Hartwell Paper, which I’d only heard about en passant. The Hartwell Paper was drafted by a group of academics in an attempt to offer a radically different way of framing the issues raised by climate change, and hence
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