Workshop on: “Improving Access to Modern Energy Services in Mozambique”

Following upon the workshop held as part of the IS-Academy programme RENEW in Amsterdam on Monitoring and Steering of Renewable Energy Programmes in December 2012, a 1-day workshop was organised by ECN and IVM in Maputo on the 7th of May to bring together renewable energy practitioners in Mozambique to gain a deeper understanding of some the issues related to the implementation of energy access projects. More specifically, how can programmes improve access to modern energy services for cooking and household use (electrical appliances) in Mozambique in an effective, efficient and sustainable manner.

The broader aims of the workshop were:

- Networking and information sharing and dialogue.

- Sharing of experiences and identification of key research questions for further research.

- Drawing conclusions based on workshop to improve evidence base on effective practices.

The full report of the workshop can be found here.

A summary report is also available in English and Portuguese.

10 maps related to energy access

Maps can be handy in stepping back and thinking about the global picture. Here are 10 that we've come across with links to energy access:


1. Ayllu Energy Map - Over 40 BOP clean tech social enterprise profiles

2. Global database of forest carbon projects - Over 300 individual forest carbon projects

3. CDM Projects interactive map - Visualization of all projects in the CDM pipeline

4. Energizing Development countries map - Map of EnDev country activities

5. The Carbon Map - Visualizing demographic and climate change datasets

6. UN-Energy Measuring Energy Access - Visualizations of the MEPI (Multidimensional Energy Poverty Index) and the EDI (Energy Development Index)

7. World Poverty Map - Where do people living under $1/day live?

8. Energypedia countries - Energy situations and resources for countries listed on energypedia

9. Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves Community - a map of GACC community members

10. REN21 interactive renewables map - searchable map for global energy information

"Energy aid and climate compatible development strategies", on CDKN blog

Jos Bruggink recently published an article on the CDKN blog based on his report titled "Energy Aid in times of Climate Change - Designing Climate Compatible Development Strategies".

The report challenges the popular 'triple-win' approach of climate compatible development, which aims to encompass mitigation, adaptation, and development objectives simultaneously.  Prof. Dr. Bruggink proposes that the traditional divide between solving problems of development and climate change be replaced by an alternate divide between solving problems of rising affluence and problems of persistent poverty. Illustrated in the context of energy aid, he suggests that traditional ODA funding should focus on problems of energy access involving poverty alleviation and climate change adaptation, while new climate change funding should focus on problems of green growth and climate change mitigation.

View the article and report, and learn more about the Climate and Development Knowledge Network here.

Upcoming CDM PoA Course hosted by World Bank e-Institute

The World Bank e-Institute is hosting an 8-hour e-learning course on Challenges and Opportunities presented by CDM Programme of Activities.

The course costs $200 and will be held between February 20 - March 02, 2012. Application ends Monday, February 13. Learn more and apply here.

Modi research group: New York State uses more energy than SSA

The Modi Research Group at Columbia University recently presented an interactive map representing the total annual building energy consumption for New York City. Users can view estimated data available at the block level.

In an interview with Metropolis, Professor Modi pointed out that: “Midtown Manhattan has more energy use than the whole country of Kenya, and New York state uses more energy than all of sub-Saharan Africa.” The research group also works on energy and development, often in collaboration with the Millennium Villages Project.

"Ending energy poverty" at Davos

Watch live streaming video from worldeconomicforum at livestream.com

Online Course: Regulation and Sustainable Energy in Developing Countries

This week, Leonardo Energy and the Clean Energy Solutions Center began a 10-session online course on Regulation and Sustainable Energy in Developing Countries. The course is conducted as a series of 1-hour webinars, and covers topics including: renewable energy and rural electrification policies, feed-in tariffs, cases of massive scale RE dissemination, and cases of successful energy efficiency policies.

Click here to view more content and register for the course.

RENEW workshop - "New realities in energy and development"

Last week RENEW hosted a workshop describing "New realities in energy and development" at the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), VU Amsterdam. The workshop convened the broader Dutch energy and development community and discussed recent issues, challenges, and perspectives in energy access. Approximately 30 energy and development professionals representing the private sector, civil society, policy, and academia contributed to lively discussions throughout the day.

View the workshop programme here, and see our Events page to download individual presentations. A short document summarizing discussions will be added soon.

Liters of light

An innovative lighting solution taking off in the Philippines, with 10-year old roots in Brazil:

Stoves charging phones

In the post below, we mentioned two very fresh approaches changing the cookstove landscape from dissemination to market penetration. We also mentioned that the stoves in question have been changing. While some "traditional" stoves like the Rocket are being redesigned and mass manufactured for higher quality, there have also been some serious stove feature advancements. 

Here's a look at a stove from BioLite that uses thermoelectric generation to provide charging services, either for LEDs or a mobile phone, for a target price of $20:

Read more about the BioLite stove at The Charcoal Project and in Fast Company.

Business innovation and improved cookstoves

The world of improved cookstoves has become increasingly more interesting with greater technological and business innovation in the sector. The viability of carbon financed activities (both voluntary and compliant) with new rules and programmatic approaches, has drawn greater interest from private sector actors, while advances in cookstove design and manufacturing have made these new implementation models feasible. Below are two examples of innovative approaches we've been excited about:

WorldStove's LuciaStove and INYENYERI

Photo credit: Jonathan Kalan

Manufactured in Italy, at first glance the LuciaStove by WorldStove hardly seems a likely solution for household energy in low income markets. A closer look at the stove and intended implementation models (i.e. WorldStove's Five-Step Program) quickly reveals the potential social, economic, and environmental benefits that the stove can deliver. The stoves are flat-packed and assembled in country, delivering a feature of local job creation. The stoves themselves are pyrolytic, producing a blue cooking flame from the combustion of pelletized local biomass. As an added bonus, the sophistication of the burn process produces biochar - a substance increasingly discussed and researched for its carbon sequestration and fertilization potential. While there are indeed challenges for the stove (such as first cost and local tastes), it is an interesting new look at household energy.

One of the latest deployments of the LuciaStove is underway by INYENYERI, a startup Rwandan social benefit company. A few of us had the good fortune of learning about INYENYERI in great depth from the source - founder Eric Reynolds and marketing director Jean Bosco Musana - on a picturesque shore overlooking Lake Kivu earlier this summer. INYENYERI brings an aggressive and refreshing approach to the household energy challenge, and will piloting a number of varying business models during their market research phase this year. For more information, have a look at profiles by the New York Times and NextBillion, as well as their August newsletter.

The Paradigm Project

The Paradigm Project has a goal of bringing 5 million improved cookstoves to the world by 2020, and is built around a stove that is perhaps more familiar to the broader household energy community - the Rocket stove. Carbon finance is integral to Paradigm's model, allowing them to sell both imported and locally produced versions of the stoves at subsidized prices. While many improved cooking stove projects and enterprises are underway with similar logic, the Paradigm Project is set apart by its first-in-class marketing. Check out the trailer for their self-produced series on stoves and energy poverty, "Stoveman", below, and make sure to visit their website.

Two recommendations for peer-reviewed literature related to this post: 

2011, Shrimali et al, Improved stoves in India: A study of sustainable business models (Energy Policy)

2009, Bailis et al, Arresting the Killer in the Kitchen: The promises and pitfalls of commercializing improved cookstoves (World Development)

RENEW workshop Kigali - presentation materials uploaded

In June, RENEW hosted an energy access practitioner workshop in collaboration with the Royal Embassy of the Netherlands in Kigali. The workshop was attended by over 40 solar and biomass professionals in Rwanda, including entrepreneurs, academics, policymakers, and investors.

Find links to all presentation materials and a workshop summary on our Events page.

Researchers for a low carbon Rwanda

RENEW is not the only international research initiative looking into issues of energy access and low carbon development in Rwanda. We have came across a few related projects from around the world - have a look!

Dartmouth Humanitarian Engineering - Pico-hydro in Rwanda

Imperial College London - e.quinox energy kiosks

MIT's D-Lab - various projects

University of Oxford - Rwandan National Strategy on Climate Change and Low Carbon Development

Recent practitioner publications in energy access

Climate Focus and the African Development Bank present an overview and guidelines for developing PoAs in Africa: Handbook for Programmes of Activities in Africa

The World Bank compiles research and new thinking for improved cookstoves: Household cookstoves, environment, health, and climate change

Alliance Magazine looks at rural electrification in Bihar, including profiles of Husk Power Systems and Greenlight Planet: June 2011 - Electrifying Bihar: the role of philanthropy and social investment

The Netherlands and the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves

Last week SNV and the Shell Foundation convened a round table discussion of Dutch rural energy practitioners in Den Haag to discuss the recently formed Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves. The purpose of the meeting was to provide an overview of activities currently being driven by NL parties in clean cooking, and explore the potential for future collaboration.

The discussion focused heavily on programmatic carbon finance, though other topics including the need to stimulate market demand,  and further understand the entire cooking energy value chain (including forestry management and feedstocks) were also highlighted. We saw quite a bit of overlap between the research directions in RENEW, and contributed insights gained from fieldwork in Rwanda, Kenya, and Indonesia. 

Inclusive Business Model Generator publication launched

The "Inclusive Business Model Generator" publication, a practitioner oriented tool developed by Berlin based think tank Endeva, launched last month at the 14th International Business Forum in Berlin.

View the project website and download the publication here.

NURU Light and RENEW in Toronto's Financial Post

Last month Rahul Barua spoke from Kigali to Toronto's Financial Post on renewable energy entrepreneurship in Rwanda, and a groundbreaking BoP venture called NURU Light. NURU delivers a micro-franchising model to address the challenge of off-grid lighting in low income markets. Village-level entrepreneurs are provided "PowerCycles" to charge LED lights; the lights are rented to village residents on a daily basis, and mimic the payments required for micro-purchases of kerosene.

Read the FP article here, and learn more about NURU's innovative approach below.

Energy access and RENEW

Energy poverty remains a critical challenge for poverty alleviation and sustainable development worldwide. Over 1.4 billion people around the world lack access to electricity today, and up to 2.7 billion people rely on the traditional use of biomass for cooking. The consequences of energy poverty are many, with significant implications for health, environment, and economic advancement. 

Renewable energy technologies (RETs) and energy efficient appliances are often suggested as promising solutions for the alleviation of energy poverty. Despite this, the potential of these technologies to provide access to basic energy services remains under-exploited. The RENEW IS-Academy is a five year, collaborative research project investigating renewable energy, energy poverty, and implications for development cooperation.