Financial Times FT.com COMMENT Letters http://bit.ly/8crnzA Go for the quick energy-efficient fixes Published: November 20 2009 02:00 | Last updated: November 20 2009 02:00 From Mr Jean Kim Chaix. Sir, The suggestion that climate change negotiators shift their focus from emissions reduction to enhancing global access to energy-related services for the world’s poor is well-intentioned but misguided. Whereas the proposed deployment of energy-efficient technologies to the neediest would take decades to fulfil, mandatory caps on emissions would immediately result in accelerated technological transfers and direct payments to developing countries for forest protection and other offsets. A faster, cheaper and more Continue reading
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What does woodfuel really cost?
An undated study by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization that sought to discover the real cost of woodfuel concluded that, ultimately, it’s impossible to know. And rightly so. How do you factor in time spent collecting the wood? The loss of the resource? Decline in value of ecosystem services? Cost of future replacement of extinguished resource with alternative fuel? The authors point out that it’s not a futile excercise altogether. Valuing woodfuel is actually vital to those responsible for managing energy resources because, “…it may provide invaluable warning signals of developing scarcities in a manner that is understandable both 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
Stacking up to each other: fuelwood vs charcoal
This fascinating little map (see explanation at the bottom) came up in an update from the International Energy Agency through its World Energy Outlook bulletin, which bills itself as “the authoritative source of energy analysis and projection.” What’s interesting about this (uninspiringly titled) document, Implication of energy poverty on health & environment, is the roles it assigns to fuelwood and charcoal. Consider this: Fuelwood is more often gathered from the roadside and trees outside forests, rather than from natural forests. Clearing of land for agricultural development and timber are the main causes of deforestation in developing countries. Studies at the Continue reading
To really succeed in Copenhagen, tropical forest protection needs smart stoves and briquettes
There’s little doubt that Copenhagen will allow for some form of compensation to countries that substantially protect their forests. This is the essence of REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation). Already a handful of developing countries have joined the World Bank in establishing the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, a framework for the day when the fat pipe from industrialized countries starts flowing dollars in exchange for the protection of forests. I’m wondering if that’s what’s behind Rwanda’s motivation to plant 20 million trees by 2012, thus raising its forest cover by 3.5%. The plan is to raise this figure Continue reading