Nov 25, 2010 – Nokero, which claims to be the manufacturers of the world’s only solar light bulb, announced on November 16 the launch of the new Nokero N200, a bulb 60 percent brighter than its predecessor the N100. The bulb is designed to be used in communities around the world that do not have reliable access to electricity.
The company claims that the N200 can last over six hours on one day’s charge and, according to the press release, is designed to be affordable to “billions of people who live worldwide without electricity.”
The bulb contains one solar panel with which it draws light from the sun to store in a battery for use at night, the bulb turns off automatically in bright light in order to conserve power and is rainproof for use outside.
The bulb is currently being used to aid flood victims in the refugee camps of Pakistan and in Kenyan orphanages and, according to the press release, Nokero also plan to ship the bulb to Iraq as a replacement for the expensive diesel generators currently being used.
The bulb is designed to provide an alternative source of light to the kerosene and other similar fuels typically used in communities with little or no access to electricity, research from the Intermediate Technology Development Group and the World Health Organization estimates that indoor air pollution from such fuel contributes to 1.5 million deaths per year.
Through more for environmental than health reasons, solar powered lighting is a growing trend across Europe and America; a variety of solar powered garden lamps and lighting devices are available from most major retailers and can even be bought online at amazon.com.
Nokero: http://www.nokero.com
A note from Kobus Venter: I have just returned from Arusha, Tanzania having attended a ‘fuel briquette producers workshop‘. At the end of it it was clear that combustion issues and eliminating smoke is high on their agenda. To sell briquettes they have to improve the quality of the briquette AND advocate the use of better quality insulated stoves. Here is the link to the post:
The aim of the conference is to create awareness that there are alternatives to charcoal usage. It’s a hard sell, but The Legacy Foundation who first introduced this low-pressure, hand press system feels it’s a battle worth fighting and the results will eventually come.
USAID – Changing Glaciers and Hydrology in Asia: Addressing Vulnerabilities to Glacier Melt Impacts, 2010.
Excerpt from the Conclusions
The review of scientific information about glacier melt in High Asia revealed, first and foremost, a lack of data and information, a lack that hampers attempts to project likely impacts and take action to adapt to changed conditions. Known near-term impacts include the increasing potential for GLOFs and the disappearance of small glaciers, especially at lower latitudes.
Understanding that glacier melt/retreat, although occurring at increasing rates, is not likely to produce widespread disastrous impacts in the next decade or two means that societies have time to build their resilience to changes in the amount of water available and when it arrives during the year. However, existing vulnerabilities in human health status, population pressure, degraded ecosystems and – especially – water stress make societies and ecosystems vulnerable to any changes in water availability as glacier melt accelerates in the coming decades.
As a result of this analysis, the program concepts developed in consultation with USAID addressed three different elements: the challenge of lack of information, vulnerabilities related to current societal and ecosystem conditions, and the need for mitigation, focusing on black carbon.
Cooking with Renewable Energies – What Can African Households Afford?
Download Full-text (pdf, 489KB)
Paul Kramer
Traditional biomass consumption has increased its share in total energy consumption in Africa, at the expense of fossil and renewable energies, and contrary to policy intentions of national and international bodies. The use of electric energy for cooking – either produced form fossil or renewable sources – is not an economically sound option under conditions of poverty.
Solar cookers, for instance the Papillon (butterfly) use solar heat energy directly, without passing through electricity. Thus they tackle the problem of overexploitation of wood resources in a more direct way. Moreover, they are carbon-neutral and a means to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.
Glob Pub Hlth, forthcoming article
Health effects of an efficient vented stove in the highlands of Guatemala
Full-text: http://pdfserve.informaworld.com/247406__929758146.pdf
Steven A. Harrisa; James B. Weeks; Juan Perez Chenb; Peter Laydec
In Guatemala, as in many places throughout the world, millions of indigenous people cook over non-ventilated indoor open fires. Indoor air pollution and accidental burns are well-known problems attributed to such fires. Efforts have been made to improve health outcomes by placing more efficient vented stoves in homes to decrease such exposure.
The purpose of this study is to see if there are any measurable improvements in health outcomes after placement of such stoves within a community. Specifically, this study is designed to evaluate the health effects of placement of the ONIL stove, a rocket-style stove that has been shown to decrease household carbon monoxide (CO) levels and wood-fuel use. The ONIL stove was installed in more than 90% of the homes in Santa Avelina, Quiche, Guatemala between 2002 and 2006.
The number of clinic visits per year for acute upper- and lower-respiratory illnesses in this village was compared for the years 2002 and 2006. Clinic visits for upper- and lower-respiratory illnesses combined decreased by 26%, and for acute lower respiratory solely, by 45% between 2002 and 2006. This study suggests that the placement of an improved vented stove may be associated with a corresponding decrease in acute respiratory illnesses.
Nov. 16, 2010 – It was estimated that about 4 to 6 lakh premature deaths can be attributed annual to use of biomass fuel in Indian population as per WHO Report (Kirk R. Smith : National burden of disease in India from indoor air pollution, 2000; WHO 2007). Based on extrapolation of health effects in developed countries due to indoor air pollution, WHO has estimated that about 2.8 million premature deaths are due to indoor air pollution and highest number of deaths will occur in India.
Ministry of Environment & Forests have introduced the new national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) in 2009 for the extended list of 12 pollutants which are more closely related to health.
The Government though the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy has taken various steps to control and prevent indoor air pollution, through National Programme on Biogas Development to provide alternatives to burning firewood, agricultural residues, cattle dung and coal as fuel. National Programme on Improved Chulhas has been taken up to promote thermally efficient and low smoke stoves/smokeless chulhas. IEC activities through electronic and print media are undertaken to give publicity to the programmes. Women Education programmes are also organised in villages to generate awareness about the hazards of burning firewood, agricultural wastes, cattle dung in traditional chulhas and benefits of the biogas technology etc.
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=67164
Nov 17, 2010 – PUNE: Indoor air pollution and not smoking is the most important cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in India, says a prevalence study conducted by Pune-based Chest Research Foundation (CRF) in collaboration with the KEM Hospital, Pune, and the Imperial College, London. In the West and other wealthier countries, smoking is the single most important causative factor of COPD.
The CRF study found that the prevalence of the respiratory disease was 6.9 per cent in the Indian population. Among those identified with COPD, only 7 per cent were smokers while the remaining 93 per cent were non-smokers.
Over 700 million people in India suffer from high levels of indoor air pollution affecting women and young children as 75 per cent homes use biomass fuel like wood, crop residue and dung cakes.
Other research says that exposure to wood smoke through home heating and cooking or through ambient neighborhood pollution may further increase the risk of COPD and related pulmonary problems in smokers.
The age factor was particularly disturbing. “Nearly 23 per cent of COPDs occurred in people less than 40 years of age. It was believed that COPD starts after 40 in people who have been smoking for over 15-20 years. In India, where the exposure to indoor air pollution begins from childhood, it occurs in younger people,” said chest physician Sundeep Salvi, director of the CRF.
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Turning science on: Improving access to energy in sub-Saharan Africa presents an overview of the current status of access to electricity and modern fuels in sub-Saharan Africa. The importance of energy access to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is underlined and some key interventions that have worked in Africa are described.
This publication was prepared for the Sixth Annual Meeting of the African
Science Academy Development Initiative (ASADI), hosted by the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) from 7-10 November 2010 in the Western Cape.
Full-text: http://www.nationalacademies.org/asadi/2010_Conference/PDFs/TurningScienceOn.pdf
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Official Visits Ethiopia: Focus on Cookstove Opportunities
Addis Ababa, November 18 – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Assistant Administrator for Research and Development, Dr. Paul Anastas, is visiting Ethiopia from November 16-18 to deliver a keynote address at the 1st Pan-African Chemistry Network (PACN) Green Chemistry Congress and meet with Ethiopian officials and representatives to discuss the indoor household cooking situation in Ethiopia.
In meetings with the Ministry of Water and Energy, the Gaia Association, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and GtZ, Dr. Anastas will discuss the future of cleaner household cooking alternatives and the commercialization potential of cleaner cookstoves in Ethiopia and other parts in the developing world. Dr. Anastas will conduct field visits to sites of ongoing cookstove projects and tour households in low-income Ethiopian communities that have adopted cleaner cookstove use as well as those that use traditional technologies.
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Bull World Health Organ. 2009 Jun;87(6):472-80.
Comparative impact assessment of child pneumonia interventions.
Full-text: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2686204/?tool=pubmed
Niessen LW, ten Hove A, Hilderink H, Weber M, Mulholland K, Ezzati M.
OBJECTIVE: To compare the cost-effectiveness of interventions to reduce pneumonia mortality through risk reduction, immunization and case management.
METHODS: Country-specific pneumonia burden estimates and intervention costs from WHO were used to review estimates of pneumonia risk in children under 5 years of age and the efficacy of interventions (case management, pneumonia-related vaccines, improved nutrition and reduced indoor air pollution from household solid fuels). We calculated health benefits (disability-adjusted life years, DALYs, averted) and intervention costs over a period of 10 years for 40 countries, accounting for 90% of pneumonia child deaths.
FINDINGS: Solid fuel use contributes 30% (90% confidence interval: 18-44) to the burden of childhood pneumonia. Efficacious community-based treatment, promotion of exclusive breastfeeding, zinc supplementation and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and Streptococcus pneumoniae immunization through existing programmes showed cost-effectiveness ratios of 10-60 International dollars (I$) per DALY in low-income countries and less than I$ 120 per DALY in middle-income countries. Low-emission biomass stoves and cleaner fuels may be cost-effective in low-income regions. Facility-based treatment is potentially cost-effective, with ratios of I$ 60-120 per DALY. The cost-effectiveness of community case management depends on home visit cost.
CONCLUSION: Vaccines against Hib and S. pneumoniae, efficacious case management, breastfeeding promotion and zinc supplementation are cost-effective in reducing pneumonia mortality. Environmental and nutritional interventions reduce pneumonia and provide other benefits. These strategies combined may reduce total child mortality by 17%.
