By Matthew Berger / WASHINGTON, Apr 26, 2010 (IPS). Against the backdrop of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s spring meetings this weekend, numerous groups have chimed in on the need for and direction of a new World Bank energy strategy. (…) The new energy strategy will try to bridge the dangerous gap between increasing energy access and not exacerbating the effects of climate change. As such, energy likely represents one of the most contentious areas of the bank’s lending policy.
International Development
Recycled trash to fuel Haiti
A few weeks back, a radio reporter from US-based Public Radio International contacted us to discuss charcoal, woodfuels, and briquettes projects in Haiti. We are pleased to share with you her story. “Before the recent earthquake, Haiti was no stranger to natural disasters. In recent years, thousands of people have been killed by floods and landslides. To understand why the toll is so high, one need look no further than the country’s bald mountains. Haiti has lost about 97 % of its forests. And the main culprit is the nation’s most popular cooking fuel: charcoal. Reporter Amy Bracken looks at Continue reading
BBC: Life-saving stove in the Congo
First the FT mentioned it. We blogged about it in December. Then CNN’s Anderson Cooper did a piece. Now it’s the BBC’s turn to take a whack a it, albeit with a twist. Whatever the case, I always learn something new from this story. In this case, it’s the alarming statistic that 90 percent of the women who travel to the forest for fuel reported been harassed, raped, or experienced violence while collecting woodfuel. Continue reading
When it’s Earth Day in America, is it Earth Day everywhere?
OPINION
So, to answer the question, “when it’s Earth Day in America is it Earth Day everywhere?”
The answer is, sadly, no.
WHO: Boosting improved cookstoves by 50% by 2015 would yield $105 billions/year for energy poor
Equipping 50 percent of households that burn biomass with improved stoves by 2015 would cost about $2 billion upfront but would almost immediately yield $37 billion in fuel savings, leaving a net gain to the world’s energy poor of some $35 billion.
Over a ten year period this would generate an economic return of U$105 billion.