This BBC video report focuses on India’s public-private partnership to invest 55 million accelerate the deployment of solar panels for the country’s 450 million people who don’t have access to electricity. Continue reading
Companies
Can the Gates-ian approach to treating infectious disease work to alleviate energy poverty?
It occurs to us that Mr. Bill Gates’ description above of how the market treats (or not) infectious diseases could easily apply to energy poverty and the 3 billion people who depend on biomass as their primary fuel. For one, the socio-economics of the victims are similar. Second, there is no natural market for clean cookstoves.
So, could a Gates-ian approach to combating infectious disease work for poverty alleviation? Maybe, but there are major, maybe irreconcilable differences, between the two.
Namibia: Clean electricity from invasive trees?
(AlertNet) WINDHOEK, Namibia – The country’s first bush-to-energy plant is under construction north of Otjiwarongo and expected to open in September.
The rocket stove’s rocket stove
StoveTec’s rocket stoves come in different shapes and sizes but their main product line will completely incinerate wood and charcoal. This means the stove can average a 40 – 50 percent reduction in fuel consumption and 50 – 75 percent in emissions reduction.
A kiln that boost crops, cuts CO2 emissions, and generate income? Now we’re talking!
A scrappy four year-old startup thinks it can improve the livelihood of the world’s energy poor by converting 6 billion tons of agricultural farm waste produced annually in developing countries into sustainable biomass fuel (like briquettes or biodiesel, for example) and biochar, a valuable soil additive that can dramatically boost a farmer’s crop yields.