In the spirit of the energy reconversion that half the world is about to undergo in the next decade or so, I thought it appropriate to post some of the sobering slides produced by the International Energy Agency which suggest a completely different perspective for the world’s energy poor. The takeaways are that (1) the number of people who will be denied electricity access and who will rely mostly on biomass to meet their energy needs will grow in the future and, (2) this great disparity will continue to be most evident between rural and urban zones. Per Capita Energy Continue reading
Human development
REDD as a Human Rights Disaster: Fact or fiction?
From IPS news came this item in the context of Copenhagen. The thesis is that REDD — Reduced Emissions through avoided Deforestation and Degradation, the proposed mechanism by which developing nations will be compensated for protecting and restoring their forests under a global greenhouse gas reduction agreement — would encourage countries to cordon off their forests, and therefore restrict access to the indigenous and rural inhabitants that depend on the forests for their survival and their identity. How real is this scenario? We thought it worthwhile to examine the piece in detail and see how much water this theory holds. 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
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
But what does it really mean to be energy poor?
In reading up on the IEA’s World Energy Outlook released today, I stumbled upon the most compelling and sobering picture of what it means to be energy poor in this world today. The excerpt comes from a the acceptance speech given by WOE director, Dr. Fatih Birol, in 2006. Read the whole speech here. Energy Economics: A Place for Energy Poverty in the Agenda? Fatih Birol* Unfortunately, the energy-economics community has given far less attention to the challenge of energy poverty amongst the world’s poorest people. Over the past five years, less than 20% of the articles that have appeared Continue reading