I did not attend Copenhagen but I did follow news stories from many sources. Below are some of the more widely held conclusions as well as a quick analysis of what this means for energy efficiency, REDD, and energy poverty alleviation. 1. A deal appeared to be within striking distance but it was scuttled by one of the BASIC countries for political reasons. 2. Any future, meaningful agreement will likely arise through a non-UN framework 3. All the heavy CO2 hitters, with the exception of China, came very, very close to reaching a meaningful agreement. 4. The big looser in Continue reading
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Hello 2010. Where to now?
And we’re baaack! It’s 2010, where do we start? Pick up with the qualified fiasco that was Copenhagen? Where does that leave REDD and forests? What will happen with the dangling carrot of financing for forest protection in the tropical belt? What are the prospects of a deal in 2010? Will 2010 see expanded energy efficiency programs that target the energy poor through improved stoves, kilns, and fuels? I’ll be blogging about all this and other issues in this quarter. But, first, a quick update of where we are three months into the launch of The Charcoal Project (TCP) and Continue reading
Maybe if Obama, Jiabao, and the others had seen this in Copenhagen…
A presentation unveiled at the recent COP15 meeting by the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air (PCIA, of which we are proud members) might have turned the tides had it received greater attention. Titled Cleaner Cook Stoves for Developing Countries: Improving Health, Reducing Climate Change, the PowerPoint focused on the carbon offset potential and role of improved cookstoves and biofuels. According to the slides, the presenters included • Health Effects: Dr. William Martin, Associate Director, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, USA • Black Carbon: Professor V Ramanathan, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Continue reading
Culture, stoves, and fuels come together in Bangladesh
Fifteen years ago I was driving out of Dhaka, Bangladesh, to film a segment on family planning practices in rural villages. While looking out the window of our van as we drove past an open landfill I noticed there was not a single scrap of inorganic material to be seen. No bright red or yellow plastic containers, discarded appliances, or busted mattresses and bed frames were visible. (Not the picture above.) In fact, it appeared there was little intact organic material either. An old lady scavanging through the refuse picked up a some dried coconut husks and stuffed in her Continue reading
Relief agency "gets it" by putting the right stove in the right hands
A few weeks ago a story in the Financial Times led with the stove project of Mercy Corps, a relief agency working in camp for Internally Displaced People in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo. We wanted to know more so we sent a list of questions to Elisha Moore-Delate. She is the Environment Program Manager for Mercy Corps in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the person responsible for the stoves program. We’re sharing her inspiring and insightful responses below. 1. When, and how, did you realize that introducing energy efficient stoves would help improve conditions for the IDPs? Continue reading