Ecuador – pioneer carbon trading to finance household energy efficiency

July 13, 2010 · 2 comments

London, Deutsche Bank and the Government of Ecuador have entered into a pioneering transaction to finance household energy efficiency in Ecuador through the carbon market.

The Government of Ecuador, acting through the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy, has the potential to generate Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs), the emissions credits issued by the UN, from a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project by distributing six million energy efficient lightbulbs (CFLs) to 1.5 million poverty-level households throughout Ecuador.

This project is expected to generate 440,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions reductions per annum. The Government has sold the emissions reductions to Deutsche Bank under a forward contract and will use the funds raised from the sale to recover costs already incurred to implement the project.  The project would be the first large-scale project of its kind to receive regulatory approval from the Clean Development Mechanism and the first carbon credit transaction by the Government of Ecuador. CERs are traded globally and bought by industrial companies as part of their efforts to comply with emission reduction obligations in Europe and Japan.

Source – http://www.webnewswire.com/node/548153

BBC News – Solar lamp wins award for helping developing countries

July 13, 2010 · 0 comments

The developers of a solar lamp that aims to replace kerosene-burning lights in developing countries have won a prestigious environmental award.

D Light Design says its lanterns, which sell for $10-45 (£7-30), contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions.

One of the runners-up for the Ashden Award for Sustainable Energy was the Rural Energy Foundation (REF) for promoting solar energy in Africa.

More than 70% of sub-Saharan Africa has no access to electricity.

D Light takes home the £40,000 ($61,000) Gold Award, for “its passion and dedication to the cause of ridding the developing world of the health and pollution problems associated with the use of kerosene lighting”, the judges said.

The company, set up by US entrepreneurs, says indoor air pollution by kerosene fumes kills 1.5m people per year.

One of the entrepreneurs said: “This will do to kerosene what mobile phones did to letters.”

“The judges were particularly impressed with their highly effective marketing strategy which has put solar lighting within reach of over a million people in 32 countries with significant potential for further expansion,” the Ashden Awards said in a statement.

According to the awards body, in three years REF has helped 300,000 people in nine Africa countries gain access to solar energy.

Source – http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/10486605.stm

Nepal – Assessment of Improved Cook Stove in Reducing Indoor Air Pollution

July 7, 2010 · 0 comments

Assessment of Improved Cook Stove in Reducing Indoor Air Pollution and Health Impact in Nepal (Study period: 2008-2009)

Ashish Singh and Bhushan Tuladhar, Research and Development Unit, Environment and Public Health Organization, Kathmandu, Nepal.  www.enpho.org , ashish.envs@gmail.com, Bhushan.tuladhar@gmail.com

1. Introduction
With more than 80 percent of the population depending on solid biomass fuel, such as wood, dung and agricultural residues for cooking, indoor air pollution (IAP) is a major problem in Nepal. World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 2.7 percent of Nepal’s national burden of disease is attributed to IAP related diseases. Likewise, the total death was estimated 7500 deaths per year (WHO, 2007).

For alleviating the smoky kitchen, improved cook stove (ICS) is a popular biomass energy technology in Nepal. The Alternative Energy Promotion Centre/Energy Sector Assistance program (AEPC/ESAP) has been promoting the mud ICS in Nepal. So far more than 275,000 stoves have been installed in the country.

2. Research Objectives
To monitor the effectiveness of ICS promoted by AEPC/ESAP in reducing IAP and improving health in Nepal.

3. Research Methodology
The study followed the “Before-After” design referring to simple monitoring methodology by developed by Edwards et al., 2007, and Smith et al., 2007. It is a longitudinal research design that in principal requires monitoring in the same household before (i.e. while using Traditional cook stove, TCS) and after the installation of ICS. The monitoring of ICS was conducted twice once after 3 months and after 1 year of use. A total of 47 sample households were estimated as the sample size for the study, assuming a detectable difference of 50% and co-efficient of variance (COV) of 1 (Edwards et al., 2007) and 50% of extra sample for possible dropouts.

3.1 Selection of study site
Selection of study site was based on two factors: geographical distribution of ICS program and socio-cultural variation found in different regions of Nepal. Therefore, for proper representation, the study had selected– Dang in the western region representing Inner Terai (<500 meters), Dolakha (1500-2000 meters) in the central region representing high hills and Ilam in the eastern region representing mid hills (800-1500 meters).

3.2. Studies Parameters
a) Indoor air Pollutants: 24 hr mean concentration of Particulate matter (PM2.5) and Carbon monoxide(CO) b) Health Survey of Mother and Child under 5 years age: Questionnaire survey

4. Results of the Study
4.1. IAP Reduction
1.1. Sixty three (63.2 %) percent in PM2.5 and Sixty (60 %) percent reduction in CO in ICS (which was used for one year) was estimated. In terms of absolute value, the Indoor PM2.5 reduced from 2.06 mg/m3 during TCS use to 0.76mg/m3 in ICS. Like wise, CO level was 8.62 ppm in ICS from 21.55 ppm in TCS.
1.2. Comparing the IAP level in Kitchen between ICS use after 3 months and 1 year shows no significant change (P>0.05) in mean concentration.

4.2. Health Impact
The prevalence of acute respiratory symptoms like coughing, phlegm, both cough and phlegm, chest whistling/wheezing etc were low during ICS use than TCS use in Mothers and Child. For instance, the episode of cough in mothers was reduced from 55.6% reduced to 36.1% in ICS after one year of use. Likewise, the episode of phlegm reduced to 44.4 % from 69.4%. One of the important indicators of health impact i.e. eye irritation decreased from 75% to 22.2% in mothers.

5. Lessons Learned

  • Although significant reduction was seen in IAP level, the IAP levels are still higher than the WHO guidelines values.
  • Ventilation plays are important role in reducing indoor air level, beside ICS. Ventilation co-efficient was higher in Ilam and as a result the IAP levels measured in the stoves of Ilam are lower than the IAP level measured in Dolakha that had low ventilation co-efficient.
  • Backfire problem in ICS is frequent. Therefore proper orientation of stove and wind direction in the kitchen should be taken into consideration to avoid this problem.
  • Handling of ICS and regular cleaning of the chimney and stove played an essential for the efficient functioning of the stove.

6. Conclusion and Recommendation
This study showed that the two pot hole mud ICS is an effective rural intervention to reduce indoor air pollution in kitchens of rural Nepal. It is cheap, easy to build with a local material and local stove maker and thus suited as one of the most feasible intervention to be promoted throughout Nepal to save the lives of rural women and their children. But to realize the full benefits of a smoke free kitchen, the need for good ventilation, proper operation and maintenance of stoves, and good kitchen management practices also should be highlighted.

Acknowledgement
Participating households, Regional Renewable Energy Service Centers and Alternative Energy Promotion Centre /Energy Sector Assistant Program (www.aepc.gov.np), CEIHD

Nepal & Malawi – Airborne Endotoxin Concentrations in Homes Burning Biomass Fuel

July 7, 2010 · 0 comments

Environmental Health Perspectives, July 2010

Airborne Endotoxin Concentrations in Homes Burning Biomass Fuel

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Sean Semple1,2, Delan Devakumar3, Duncan G. Fullerton4, Peter S. Thorne5, Nervana Metwali5, Anthony Costello3, Stephen B. Gordon4, Dharma S. Manandhar6, Jon G. Ayres1,7

Background: About half of the world’s population is exposed to smoke from burning biomass fuels at home. The high airborne particulate levels in these homes and the health burden of exposure to this smoke are well described. Burning unprocessed biological material such as wood and dried animal dung may also produce high indoor endotoxin concentrations.

Objective: In this study we measured airborne endotoxin levels in homes burning different biomass fuels.

Methods: Air sampling was carried out in homes burning wood or dried animal dung in Nepal (n = 31) and wood, charcoal, or crop residues in Malawi (n = 38). Filters were analyzed for endotoxin content expressed as airborne endotoxin concentration and endotoxin per mass of airborne particulate.

Results: Airborne endotoxin concentrations were high.  Averaged over 24 hr in Malawian homes, median concentrations of total inhalable endotoxin were 24 endotoxin units (EU)/m3 in charcoal-burning homes and 40 EU/m3 in wood-burning homes. Short cooking-time samples collected in Nepal produced median values of 43 EU/m3 in wood-burning homes and 365 EU/m3 in dung-burning homes, suggesting increasing endotoxin levels with decreasing energy levels in unprocessed solid fuels.

Conclusions: Airborne endotoxin concentrations in homes burning biomass fuels are orders of magnitude higher than those found in homes in developed countries where endotoxin exposure has been linked to respiratory illness in children. There is a need for work to identify the determinants of these high concentrations, interventions to reduce exposure, and health studies to examine the effects of these sustained, near-occupational levels of exposure experienced from early life.

Editor’s Summary: About half of the world’s population is exposed to smoke from burning biomass fuels at home, and the health burdens of ths exposures have been well described. Burning unprocessed biological material such as wood and dried animal dung may also produce high concentrations of endotoxin, but there is limited information on endotoxin levels in these homes. Semple et al. (p. 988) sampled air in homes burning wood or dried animal dung in 31 homes in Nepal, and wood, charcoal, or crop residues in 38 homes in Malawi. Averaged over 24 hr in Malawian homes, median concentrations of total inhalable endotoxin were 24 endotoxin units (EU)/m3 in charcoal-burning homes and 40 EU/m3 in wood-burning homes. Short-cooking-time samples collected in Nepal produced median values of 43 EU/m3 in wood-burning homes and 365 EU/m3 in dung-burning homes. These results suggest increasing endotoxin levels with decreasing energy levels in unprocessed solid fuels. The authors note that airborne endotoxin concentrations in homes burning biomass fuels are orders of magnitude higher than those found in homes in developed countries where endotoxin exposure has been linked to respiratory illness in children. The authors also note the need for health studies to examine the long-term effects of exposure to endotoxin in children.

Guatemala – Personal child and mother carbon monoxide exposures

July 1, 2010 · 0 comments

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2010 Jul;20(5):406-16.

Personal child and mother carbon monoxide exposures and kitchen levels: methods and results from a randomized trial of woodfired chimney cookstoves in Guatemala (RESPIRE).

Smith KR, McCracken JP, Thompson L, Edwards R, Shields KN, Canuz E, Bruce N. Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-7360, USA. krksmith@berkeley.edu

During the first randomized intervention trial (RESPIRE: Randomized Exposure Study of Pollution Indoors and Respiratory Effects) in air pollution epidemiology, we pioneered application of passive carbon monoxide (CO) diffusion tubes to measure long-term personal exposures to woodsmoke. Here we report on the protocols and validations of the method, trends in personal exposure for mothers and their young children, and the efficacy of the introduced improved chimney stove in reducing personal exposures and kitchen concentrations.

Passive diffusion tubes originally developed for industrial hygiene applications were deployed on a quarterly basis to measure 48-hour integrated personal carbon monoxide exposures among 515 children 0-18 months of age and 532 mothers aged 15-55 years and area samples in a subsample of 77 kitchens, in households
randomized into control and intervention groups. Instrument comparisons among types of passive diffusion tubes and against a continuous electrochemical CO monitor indicated that tubes responded nonlinearly to CO, and regression calibration was used to reduce this bias.

Before stove introduction, the baseline arithmetic (geometric) mean 48-h child (n=270), mother (n=529) and kitchen (n=65) levels were, respectively, 3.4 (2.8), 3.4 (2.8) and 10.2 (8.4) p.p.m. The between-group analysis of the 3355 post-baseline measurements found CO levels to be significantly lower among the intervention group during the trial period: kitchen levels: -90%; mothers: -61%; and children: -52% in geometric means.

No significant deterioration in stove effect was observed over the 18 months of surveillance. The reliability of these findings is strengthened by the large sample size made feasible by these unobtrusive and inexpensive tubes, measurement error reduction through instrument calibration, and a randomized, longitudinal study design.

These results from the first randomized trial of improved household energy technology in a developing country and demonstrate that a simple chimney stove can substantially reduce chronic exposures to harmful indoor air pollutants among women and infants.

Off-grid energy services for the poor – Malawi

July 1, 2010 · 0 comments

Edwin Adkins, Sandy Eapen, Flora Kaluwile, Gautam Nair, Vijay Modi,

Off-grid energy services for the poor: Introducing LED lighting in the Millennium Villages Project in Malawi, IN: Energy Policy, Volume 38, Issue 2, February 2010, Pages 1087-1097.

Lanterns that use light-emitting diodes (LEDs) powered by batteries, which are in turn charged by grid electricity or small solar panels, have emerged as a cost-competitive alternative to kerosene and other fuel-based lighting technologies, offering brighter light for longer duration at equal or lower cost over time. This paper presents lessons learned from the introduction of solar LED lanterns in rural Malawi.

We discuss a market-based program using new and existing local commercial structures such as vendors and cooperatives to sell lanterns to village households without subsidy. The paper addresses issues of enterprise development, community interactions, and survey data on lighting use and expenditure patterns before and after LED lantern introduction. Households that purchased a lantern reported high levels of satisfaction with the LED lanterns as well as savings in annual kerosene expenditure comparable to the price of the lantern.

These households also reported monthly incomes comparable to the price of the LED lanterns whereas non-adopters surveyed reported monthly incomes about half this level, suggesting a need for financing options to maximize adoption among poorer populations in rural areas. These results suggest that similar market based models of LED lighting technology dissemination have the potential to be replicated and scaled up in other off-grid regions in developing countries. However, viability of local cooperatives and supply chains for lantern products over the medium-to-long term remain to be assessed.

Biochar: A Panacea for Global Warming Issues

July 1, 2010 · 1 comment

Haiti and other Latin American countries are benefiting from an ancient practice that converts waste into essential products and services. Biochar is a sustainable alternative to firewood and charcoal with the power to restore soil productivity, provide energy for domestic, agricultural and even industrial purposes, and mitigate climate change through carbon storage.

In Haiti, the proliferating population’s quest for firewood has deforested this mountainous country, regularly washed by flooding rain. As a result, nearly a third of topsoil has been lost and Haiti can no longer feed itself. The recent earthquake highlighted the fact that many Haitians were subsisting in the country’s cities, forced off the land by the poor soil fertility and the inability to grow food.

Nathaniel Mulcahy, the founder of non-profit organisation World Stove, is using biochar technology to help developing nations.

“Biochar-producing stoves save fuel, reduce both emissions of greenhouse gasses and indoor—and outdoor air pollution,” he said. “In this way, we improve soils, preserve forests and bring better health and economic independence to people.”

Many Benefits
Biochar can be produced from urban, agricultural and forestry residues or biomass – from sugar cane waste and coffee hulls to palm fronds and paper mill pulp. It removes the need to harvest trees for firewood and charcoal by generating syngas and bio-oil for cooking, heating and drying, and even electricity generation. Biochar’s co-product is applied to soils with many carbon sequestration benefits including increased bio-available water and organic matter, enhanced nutrient cycling, and reduced leaching. It can also be used to filter water.

The International Biochar Initiative (IBI) is aiming to store 2.2 gigatons of carbon annually by 2050. This process was used thousands of years ago in the Amazon Basin where, anthropologists speculate, nutrient rich “terra preta” or “dark earth” was created by Indigenous people using cooking fires and middens to deliberately add charcoal to the soil.

Read More – Epoch Times, June 21, 2010

Feature on USAID Energy

June 28, 2010 · 0 comments

Expanding access to modern energy services to power economic and social development is the cornerstone of USAID’s energy-related mission.

To achieve this mission, USAID develops and implements programs that seek to:

  • Support the construction and rehabilitation of infrastructure to restore basic services in post conflict and conflict-prone states
  • Improve enabling environments, including policy, legal, regulatory, and commercial reforms, to boost energy sector performance and increase private sector participation and investment
  • Enhance operational and commercial performance of public and private sector institutions, including utilities
  • Promote increased energy trade and regional power pools
  • Help countries reduce their overall carbon emissions and address climate change through clean energy and energy efficiency projects.

Newsletters, reports, toolkits and other resources are on the USAID Energy website.

New Nigeria cookstove project

June 28, 2010 · 0 comments

An efficient wood stove project initiated by ICEED and supported by the Swiss Embassy and GTZ kicked off in Bida, Niger State in June 2010. The project seeks to develop technical standards and advocacy on replacing the inefficient three stone method of cooking with wood in secondary schools with modern and efficient woodstove technology.

By switching to this new technology, respiratory diseases as result of indoor air pollution will be reduced. It will also result in the reduction of the cost of wood, deforestation and green house gas emissions. When completed, the project will provide the basis for advocacy to ensure that Nigeria’s over 12,000 secondary schools now use this efficient stove.

The institutional woodstove project will be an important addition to already existing efforts by Nigerian N.G.O’s such as Development Association for Renewable Energies (DARE) in disseminating efficient woodstove technologies.

Source – Daily Independent, June 27, 2010

War against global warming in the rural kitchens of Sri Lanka

June 28, 2010 · 0 comments

War against global warming in rural kitchens of Sri Lanka

The demand for efficient stoves increased with many housewives falling victims to indoor air pollution.

Following this demand especially for large stoves, stoves were constructed without any assistance in areas where Kithul treacle is produced.

The demand for ‘Anag’-an efficient stove recommended and promoted by the Integrated Development Association (IDEA) is very popular and 20,000 stoves are produced monthly.

IDEA’S Executive Director R.M. Amarasekara told The Island Financial Review yesterday that that both dealers and consumers get the best out of the product.

“To date nearly two million stoves had been sold, they of three levels large, medium and small scale. I was behind this project since 1982 and to date we have trained about 300 persons,” he said.

He believes the demand will continue as people now use firewood for cooking, due to the price hike in LPG.

The sustainability of the kitchen improvement programme following the rehabilitation of Tsunami affected areas by the trained NGOs who have constructed many kitchens according to what they learned at the training.

In Sri Lanka, 55 per cent of the total energy consumed is derived from a variety of biomass resources of which 80 per cent is used for domestic cooking and 20 per cent in the industrial sector.

Nearly 90 per cent of rural households use biomass for cooking. Although biomass is a renewable, affordable and widely used source of energy, toxic gasses such as Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Methane, Oxides of Sulphur and Oxides of Nitrogen are released to the atmosphere while burning contributing to the Green House Effect-GHG- and the depletion of the Ozone layer causing global warming and climatic changes.

Amarasekara says most of the households and small industries cannot afford to use any other source of energy other than firewood which has become essential, especially for the rural poor.

He believes in this situation the most appropriate action is to introduce technologies to reduce the emission of these GHGs while used for domestic cooking and also small industries such as rice par-boiling, curd making, sweet making, etc.

Housewives using firewood for cooking are exposed to toxic emissions and are at the risk of suffering from ailments caused by wood smoke such as cataract, asthma, and other respiratory ailments, said Programme Director S. D. Abaywardana.

Improved Cooking Stoves (ICS) have been identified as one of the potential interventions to reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses and therefore it is considered as a CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) project.

A report by Dr. W.S. Hulscher titled `Stoves in the Carbon Market’ conclude: ‘A wood fuel stove project could well be put on the international carbon market at a competitive cost to reduce greenhouse gas emission. A report titled ‘Initial Evaluation of CDM Projects in Developing Countries’ by Dr. K.G. Bregg University of Surrey, commenting on the Sri Lankan ‘Anagi’ Improved Stove gives details of emission reduction ranging from 111 to 266 kg CO2/Capita/Year.

The main issues of the stove programme is, the production of low quality ‘Anagi’ imitations by untrained potters, and lack of trained personnel at rural level to design and construct stove to suit local requirements for household cooking and domestic industries.

Abayawardana says they have observed that a well managed kitchen with an improved stove and a chimney would reduce the emissions considerably and also reduce the indoor air pollution. Therefore an improved kitchen would lower the GHG emissions and also relieve housewives from suffering due to toxic emissions which causes many ailments.

Indoor air pollution equipment were used to measure the emission CO and particulate matter in Kirinda, Pallebedda, Kandy and Deraniyagala areas with the respective NGOs participation. Positive results were obtained as to the reduction of emissions after the improvements made to kitchens and a report to that effect was prepared and submitted to GEF.

Source – The Island, June 27, 2010

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