There is an excellent film by South Africa-based photojournalist Jeffrey Barbee that will hopefully get quite a bit of play in Copenhagen. It explores how African forests and woodfuel efficiency can play a big role in reducing CO2 emissions while improving people’s livelihood. We were especially interested to learn through this film about a stoves project in Malawi which is not only improving the lives the local inhabitants but also providing valuable carbon credits to an eco securities firm for sale on the voluntary carbon market. (The segment about Malawi and the stoves begins at 5:40 on part 2 but Continue reading
Environment
A Prius in Every Pot?
We have good reasons to believe the age of enlightened energy awaits us around the corner, right? Not so fast. It will be a long while before every thatched or corrugated tin roof on the globe has a photovoltaic array or a wind turbine. In the meantime, the plight of the energy poor – the 2.5 billion souls who depend on wood, charcoal, and animal dung for heating and cooking – will continue to deteriorate as they watch their environment, health, and prospects for emerging from poverty grow worse by the day. They are predictably scattered across the globe, but Continue reading
On Environmental Brink, Haiti Scrambles for a Lifeline
“With any reforestation campaign, you have to find first a solution for energy.” — Antonio Perera, Program Manager, UNEP, Haiti The satellite image compares forest cover along the Haiti-Dominican Republic Border. A recent New York Times article explains what happens when a country’s energy-poor population exhausts its last remaining fuelwood resources. The country is Haiti and the picture painted is not pretty. With much of its forest cover gone, the poorest (and oldest) developing country in the Western Hemisphere’s stands now on the brink of environmental catastrophe. The story, reported by Nathaniel Gronewold of Greenwire, the web-based environmental policy and Continue reading
Uganda will need to import firewood in 2020
A report by Uganda’s Ministry of Water and the Environment says the country will need to import firewood in 2020 if current rates of deforestation and fuelwood consumption are not abated. Quoting the report, Uganda’s Monitor newspaper says that”with 91 per cent of the total energy used being derived from biomass, which includes firewood and charcoal. The Ministry warns that, the pressure on forests and woodlands could easily wipe out the country’s capacity to provide the resource.” “At the present rate of deforestation, it is predicted that Uganda is likely to be importing fuel wood by 2020,” says the report, Continue reading
Charcoal Project joins Partnership for Clean Indoor Air!
The Charcoal Project is thrilled to join the global Partnership for Clean Indoor Air (PCIA)! The organization’s 330 partners contribute their resources and expertise to reduce smoke exposure from cooking and heating practices in households around the world. The partnership works on four priority areas: Meeting the needs of local communities for clean, efficient, affordable and safe cooking and heating options; Improving cooking technologies, fuels and practices for reducing indoor air pollution; Developing commercial markets for clean and efficient technologies and fuels; and Monitoring and evaluating the health, social, economic and environmental impact of household energy interventions The among the Continue reading