The Charcoal Project

December 2010

Cancun: What they’re saying

Posted on by Jean Kim Chaix

News roundup on Cancun

The piece that really caught our eye was an editorial by the Wall Street Journal on Saturday which all but sealed the coffin on multi-lateralism and a UN-brokered solution to Climate Change in Cancun.

The reason we’ve chosen to share the nay-sayer’s perspective is because that US remains a major emitter of greenhouse gases and there exists a powerful lobby of Climate Change-deniers that have grown increasingly confident since the sweep by Republicans in the recent November mid-term elections.

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Cancun: A flat-line or heartbeat for energy poverty alleviation?

Posted on by Jean Kim Chaix

OPINION

When it comes to deploying energy efficient technologies — like clean cookstoves, improved charcoal-making kilns, and sustainable alternatives to wood, charcoal, and animal dung fuels for the world’s three billion energy poor — the ratio of words to action and funding has, until recently, been woefully lopsided.

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CANCUN: “We must end energy apartheid”

Posted on by Jean Kim Chaix

The Guardian, London, UK — 10 December, 2010 As ministers discuss the technicalities of carbon emissions at the Cancún climate change conference, 1.5 billion people in poorer countries still have no access to electricity. We need to address this injustice While the discussions on strategies to reduce global emissions rage on in Cancún, too many of the world’s poorest people continue to live without adequate access to energy. It’s clear that for people living in poverty, energy access is absolutely essential for a better life. The services provided by energy are needed in so many ways: cooking meals, lighting, refrigeration Continue reading→

VIDEO: A modern take on the “killer in the kitchen.”

Posted on by Jean Kim Chaix

No, we’re not referring to Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction. From our friends at WorldStove comes this playful video intended to drive home the point about the perils of cooking on three stone fires, which, as we all know, is the only technology available to almost  half the world’s population. Factoid: Glenn Close’s Dad was a physician in the Zaire during Mobutu’s reign. He was one of the first Western doctors to encounter the Ebola virus. Continue reading→

KENYA: Demand for food and fuel endangers forests

Posted on by Jean Kim Chaix

A report by the Kenya Forest Services (KFS) and environmental lobby groups says that most parts of the country are likely to suffer desertification if measures to control indiscriminate cutting of trees are not taken.

“Water volume in at least eight rivers in the North Rift have drastically declined while springs that feed River Kerio and Sosiani River are on the verge of drying up,” said Mr John Chumo of Friends of Nandi Environmentalists, a local lobby group.

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