taken from Green, a NYT blog about energy and the environment By Elisabeth Rosenthal New York – Oct. 4th, 2010 — The United Nations Millennium Development Goals were adopted in 2000 as a commitment to improve health and education as well as end poverty in less fortunate parts of the globe. The eight goals include targets like universal childhood education, reducing infant mortality and ensuring environmental sustainability. This year there has been a growing movement to add a ninth goal: ending energy poverty. Some 1.4 billion people lack access to electricity. Energy experts like Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the Continue reading
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Why solar cookers are not a viable option for the energy poor
Solar cookers do not work as reliable substitutes for traditional biomass cooking.
That’s in part because rural inhabitants in developing countries are often small plot farmers who must get up when it’s still dark out to get things going on the farm. Breakfast, the key meal of the day if you’re a farmers, is impossible to prepare before sunrise using a solar cooker.
The working urban poor have a different problem. If a family is out all day and doesn’t return until after dark, how can they prepare dinner? Also, where can you safely leave your solar cooker with food cooking when you live in a shanty town?
Charcoal: A Fuel in Urgent Need of Solutions
Sub-Saharan Africa today produces about the same amount of greenhouse gases from charcoal production and consumption as all of Europe’s transport combined.
If nothing changes, emissions are likely to triple by 2030.
To meet MDGs, fight energy poverty, report says
The chief economist for the International Energy Agency says the international community must mobilize to target the 1.4 billion people worldwide without electricity, and to meet the UN Millennium Development Goals.
Lost kittens for Friday, October 1st.
Friday’s Best-of-the-web and other assorted nuts and bolts and lost kittens we found for you for the weekend.