Copenhagen: our solutions
A casual glance at the daily newspapers here suggests that Copenhagen is all about expression of dissent, discontent and in general dissonance when it should ideally be about collective resolve and affirmative action in the context of climate change.
Of course Copenhagen is about reducing emissions globally but it is also about equitable and efficient use of energy, use as different from abuse in the developed world and misuse in the developing world. Forecasts suggest that with population growth, there would be progressively more energy poor people. 2 billion people mostly in the developing world depend on traditional fuels (wood etc.) for cooking and heating. Fortunately the fuel of the poor is also a zero GHG fuel. Unfortunately their cook stove is so inefficient that they cannot argue their case for sustainability of biomass use and leverage their contribution to global emission reduction unless they move to an energy efficient stove.
A quick back of the envelope calculation shows that these two billion people are consuming at least 1.2 million tons of biomass everyday for cooking. Fuel efficient stoves have the potential to reduce cooking energy needs by half. But this would require collective resolve among policy makers globally and deep thought by the policy implementers on the ground. If the rhetoric of the past has not translated into a symphony with visible relief to the poor, it is because musicians with different talents have not been a part of the orchestra.
If Copenhagen can highlight the need for energy efficient solutions for wood fuel based cooking needs and direct that planners, technology developers, supply chain creators, financiers, implementers, thinkers to come together for an equitable, clean, green, healthy, cooking energy solution, then Copenhagen would have delivered a strong message.
Thursday, 15 October 2009
Blog Action Day 2009: Climate Change
Thursday, 24 September 2009
Blog Action Day 2009
We've signed up, have you? This year, Blog Action Day is on Climate Change:
Tuesday, 16 June 2009
Ashden Awards Ceremony 2009
Last Thursday night, the event we have all been looking forward to - the Ashden Awards night - took place. This year we had HRH Prince Charles speaking and he gave a forthright speech about the climate change crisis facing us, and his strong admiration for all the finalists lined up for awards. Having been a keen supporter and patron of the awards for many years, he has met many of them individually and taken an interest in their work. This year he presented the awards to each winner, and the school pupils in particular were proud to be able to meet him and talk about their achievements.
We watched a short film about each finalist, heard a brief but powerful speech from each one about their work and then the announcements were made. Wait for it… In the UK first prizes went to Kirklees Council for their free, massive roll-out of insulation; Geothermal International for their large-scale installations of ground source heat pumps for heating and cooling buildings; Ashley CofE and Currie School were awarded jointly for their amazing low carbon approach to all aspects of school life; and the Sustainable Energy Academy showing that older homes can be made low-carbon. Second prizes went to Devon County Council for boosting the green energy sector in the county; Architype for their exceptional design of sustainable buildings and Marches Energy Agency for enthusing local communities to take the low carbon path.
Our international finalists are literally changing peoples’ lives in the developing world – and this year has been no exception. We had programmes bringing electricity to Ethiopian villages for the first time - where only one percent of the population has access to grid electricity – through affordable solar home systems; solar-heated greenhouses in the Himalayas providing vegetables year-round, making for healthier families; a Nicaraguan social business spreading renewable technology throughout the country; a gasification plant using local biomass and bringing a reliable power supply to businesses in Bihar, India; and a Ugandan business producing briquettes out of agricultural waste to replace wood and charcoal, protecting local forests. This year’s Outstanding Achievement Award went to the wonderful IDE in India who are scaling up the production of their simple treadle pumps for irrigation that are lifting thousands of poor farmers in India out of poverty. And last but not least… the overall Energy Champion award went to a remarkable collaboration between the well-known US stove programme, Aprovecho Research Center that is working with Shengzhou Stove Manufacterer in China to boost the volume of high quality, efficient stoves manufactured aiming to reach the millions of poor people in the developing world who need them.
Beyond the giving of these awards, we’re looking forward to working with many of these inspiring organisations over the next year, supporting their expansion and replication in collaboration with investors, businesses, NGO’s, policy makers and other partners, many of whom were at the Ashden Conference last week and the awards night.
You can read more about these fascinating initiatives, and find photos and films about their work at www.ashdenawards.org
Friday, 29 May 2009
Ashden Awards Imperial College conference - 10 June 2009
There are still a few spaces available at this event, so if you'd like to come, please send your name, organisation and email address to: conference@ashdenawards.org
Local solutions to climate change
The Ashden Awards Imperial College Conference
10 June 2009
The conference will bring the achievements of the 2009 International and UK Ashden Awards finalists to a specialist audience of practitioners, academics and students with a practical interest in sustainable energy. We will show short films about each finalist’s work, and then you will hear from them in person, talking about what has made their work so successful. With Q&As built into each session, and time during breaks to meet the finalists, there are ample opportunities to find out what you really want to know.
The Ashden Awards promote the widespread use of local, sustainable energy which can address climate change, alleviate poverty and improve quality of life. Find out more about us and our work at www.ashdenawards.org
We are delighted to be running this conference in partnership with Imperial College, London, and we are most grateful for significant support from the Faculty of Natural Sciences.
There is no charge for the conference or lunch, but numbers are limited, so please confirm names, positions and email addresses of people attending, by email to conference@ashdenawards.org. If you subsequently find that you are unable to attend, please let us know so that your place can be offered to someone else. The lunch provided will cater for vegetarians; if you have any other dietary requirements, please mention them when you confirm attendance.
Programme
09:30 Registration and refreshments
10:00 Welcome and introduction to the day
Professor Sir Brian Hoskins, Director of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change, Imperial College
10:10 Session 1: Buildings for the future
10:50 Session 2: Green energy businesses
12:15 Session 3: Mobilising communities
14:00 Session 4: Radical carbon cuts
15:30 Session 5: Scaling up
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Global green awards’ 2009 finalists selected
On 11 June 2009 sustainable energy champions from Ethiopia, India, Nicaragua, Uganda and the US will be recognised with cash prizes by the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy for their life changing solutions to poverty and climate change. One will be crowned global Energy Champion, with an associated prize of £40,000. An Outstanding Achievement Award will also be made to a previous Ashden Award winner who has forged ahead in the field at the Awards ceremony, held in Central London. The finalists will present their work to their peers and other experts at the Ashden Awards Imperial College Conference, to be held on 10 June.
This year’s final six demonstrate massive potential for growth and replication:
Ladakh, India: A highly insulated, heat-retaining greenhouse powered only by the sun enables villagers to grow vegetables through the winter, even when outside air temperatures fall below -25C. Since 2005 nearly 600 greenhouses have been built cheaply by masons using mainly local materials.
Bihar, India: A new biomass gasification system generates electric power for eight hours per day, providing a popular alternative to an unreliable grid supply. Electricity is currently sold to ten businesses which previously used diesel generators. Most of the biomass is ‘dhaincha’, a local woody plant which grows in water-logged areas where crops cannot be grown.
USA/China: A cheap and efficient stove saves 40% fuelwood and reduces polluting emissions by 50-75% compared to traditional cooking. It is manufactured in a factory in China and used in programmes as widespread as South Africa, India, and Argentina. 60,000 stoves have been sold.
Nicaragua: 2,000 solar home systems and 560 larger solar energy systems have been sold and installed in rural areas by a 25-year-old family-run business, for uses including light and communications for schools and police stations; vaccine and blood refrigeration for clinics; pumps for village water supplies; and power for mobile phone masts.
Ethiopia: A village scheme pioneering rented small photovoltaic (PV) solar-home-systems in each of 1,100 homes was successfully trialed to replace kerosene lighting and dry cell batteries. It has now supplied a further 1,000 systems to outlying areas, and has established a centre providing training for solar technicians.
Uganda: A business started making briquettes from agricultural waste for its own use, but now sells over 100 tonnes per month to schools and other businesses, and has installed over 1,300 large, efficient stoves for cooking using briquettes. Briquettes replace fuelwood and charcoal, thus reducing deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions.
click here for the full press release in PDF format
UK finalists for Ashden Awards 2009 selected
On 11 June 2009, local sustainable energy champions from around the UK will compete for the Ashden Awards 2009 at a ceremony in London. Finalists offering climate change
solutions will take part – from Birmingham, Coventry, Devon, Herefordshire, Milton Keynes, Scotland, Surrey, and Yorkshire. International schemes will also be recognised for their work. The contenders will present their work to their peers and other experts at the Ashden Awards Imperial College Conference on 10 June.
This year’s eight UK finalists in four categories demonstrate massive potential for growth and replication:
UK Business Award finalists
Architects put environment at heart of building design
A firm delivering low-energy architecture in close consultation with their buildings’ end users has beaten 2006 building regulations standards by at least a third on both energy and CO2.
Business booms for carbon-cutting heat pumps
A fast-growing company has installed nearly 800 heat pumps for heating and cooling buildings in just six years. By using renewable heat from the earth they are saving tens of thousands of tonnes of CO2 per year compared with gas boilers and conventional air conditioning.
UK Charity Award finalists
Galvanising communities to adopt low-carbon lifestyle
A local Energy Agency runs the gamut of inspirational and practical support to communities, reaching households, businesses and local groups through tailored programmes.
Low carbon show-homes demonstrate how to green older houses
A network of pioneering owners of hard-to-treat, low-carbon homes shows how to reduce carbon emissions by 60%, inspiring more than 36,000 visitors.
UK Local Authority Award finalists
Insulation scheme blanketing metropolitan borough
Ward by ward, a local authority is offering to provide and install free cavity-wall and loft insulation to every home that can use it. So far the scheme has created 140 jobs and installed insulation in more than 21,000 households.
Boosting local renewable energy businesses
A county council scheme stimulating rural regeneration has created 55 jobs and safeguarded 16 more by supporting both supply and demand for renewable energy. So far it has led to 109 renewable energy installations, with a capacity of over 2 MW in SMEs, community organisations, and homes.
UK Schools Award finalists
Antarctic expedition inspires carbon-saving headteacher
The head of a 270-pupil primary school has worked with the whole school community to change behaviour and achieve sustainable carbon savings, including an overall reduction in electricity use of 48%.
Scottish school embraces sustainable energy
A 900-pupil secondary school has taken big steps to reduce energy use over the past 10 years, from auditing and changing regular building maintenance and upgrades, to installing a wind turbine and solar thermal system. Pupils enjoy cross-curricular learning on sustainable energy and lead campaigns at school and in the community.
click here for the full press release in PDF format
Thursday, 23 April 2009
Budget announcements on the environment receive mixed reactions
Yesterday's UK budget announcements from the Chancellor Alistair Darling include a number of environmental ingredients, but do not amount to a "green budget", according to many environmentalists. However, it is the first time a Chancellor has set a budget for carbon with a "legally binding" target.
The government will spend £1 billion on supporting low carbon businesses. They will aim for greenhouse gas emission cuts of 34 percent by 2020, short of the 42 percent target with respect to 1990 levels recommended by the government's advisory climate committee. NGO's such as Friends of the Earth, Christian Aid and the New Economics Foundation have criticised the target announcement as not bold enough to ensure the UK reaches the 80 percent cut in emissions needed by 2050.
There is a promise of £435 million for energy efficiency improvements including £100 million for local authorities to spend on better insulation. In addition the government has announced £5 billion is to be spent on renewables, particularly wind farms and solar PV, pronouncements welcomed by the BWEA and Solar Century, amongst others. Between 2011 and 2014, £525 million will be spent on offshore wind farm to power 3 million homes.
A few other measures are of note to local sustainable energy schemes such as Ashden Award winners in the UK: £45m to small-scale domestic renewables; £25m to community heating schemes and £65m in loans to public sector organisations for improving energy efficiency.
According to Simon Brammer, UK programme manager for the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy: "This is no green budget but it does represent some progress towards a more low carbon economy. We welcome the announcement of support for energy efficiency, for small scale domestic energy, community heating schemes and for renewable energy as a step in the right direction. We hope the support for green technology will help bring more green jobs and the boost the confidence of private investors enough to really scale up the success of many of our winners."
Read more:
- Richard Black analysis on the BBC
- Louise Gray in the Telegraph
- Terry Macalister in the Guardian
Sunday, 18 January 2009
State of the World 2009: Into a Warming World
The latest "State of the World" report from the Worldwatch Institute is now available, here's what they say about it:
It is New Year’s Day, 2101. Somehow, humanity survived the worst of global warming—the higher temperatures and sea levels and the more intense droughts and storms—and succeeded in stabilizing Earth’s climate.You can download chapters of the book for free here, and buy a full paper copy here. Click here to read the rest of this post.
What did humanity do in the twenty-first century, and especially in 2009 and the years immediately following, to snatch a threatened world from the jaws of climate change catastrophe? State of the World 2009 examines solutions that may help us avoid climate catastrophe and build a sustainable society.
