JUST ENERGY
a not-for-profit social enterprise working with low-income communities
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Location: South Africa
Salary: circa £42,000 net (c. £60,000 gross) depending on experience
Reports to: Just Energy Board Chair
Just Energy is a not-for-profit social enterprise that works with low-income communities to maximise community revenues from medium sized renewable energy businesses. Just Energy was founded and launched as an independent business by Oxfam GB and draws on the technical and financial collaboration of a diverse range of private sector, NGO and academic partners.
As energy prices rise and technology costs fall, renewable energy is becoming an increasingly viable option for meeting the rapidly rising energy demands in developing countries. These changes in energy markets provide an income generating, skills development and job creation opportunity for low-income communities if they can overcome a range of technical and financial barriers to their involvement.
Just Energy will jointly develop renewable energy projects with communities, helping to overcome these barriers by:
Just Energy projects will also increase the supply of clean energy for local and national consumption and will provide an investment opportunity in projects that have good social and financial returns. Just Energy renewable energy projects will range in size from approximately 25 - 80 MW and will generate income through sale of electricity to the local grid. They will initially focus on harnessing wind energy, and will expand to include other technologies such as solar and bio-mass as markets and technologies develop.
Click here for full details
Thursday, 2 July 2009
Vacancy with Just Energy
Job vacancy with Architype / Oxford Brookes Uni
We are posting this job advert on behalf of Architype, a UK Ashden Award winner
Sustainable Design Development Manager (KTP Associate)
Salary: £24,000 – £28,000 including bonuses, depending on qualifications and experience; full-time, temporary (2 years)
Play a part in an exciting partnership between a leading architecture practice and one of the UK’s foremost research institutes in sustainability.
Oxford Brookes University and Architype Ltd have established a two-year Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) which will monitor the post-occupancy performance of sustainable buildings, model the significant variables and create a system to feed the knowledge into new designs.
The KTP Associate will lead the project within Architype, based at their offices in central London and rural Herefordshire, and supervised by the Oxford Institute for Sustainable Development at the university.
This post will suit an architect/engineer with excellent knowledge of building practice and construction. Qualifications: a first degree (2:1 or above) in architecture or engineering; a higher degree (minimally taught Masters) related to sustainable design is desirable.
* Full details are at https://edm.brookes.ac.uk/hr/hr/vacancies.do (Ref: 294/16692/BC)
* Closing date: Monday 6 July 2009
* Please mention Get Sust! when you apply
* For more information on Oxford Brookes University and the Oxford Institute for Sustainable Development, see www.brookes.ac.uk/schools/be/oisd For information about Architype, see www.architype.co.uk For details of Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, see www.ktponline.org.uk
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
Ashden Awards blog from Jonathon Porritt
The Met Office is going to be publishing its detailed projections for the impacts of climate change on the UK today – in unprecedented geographical detail. It’s not going to be pleasant reading.Read the full blog here Click here to read the rest of this post.
So I’ve been cheering myself up by reminding myself, all over again, of the power of positive thinking. Just a week ago, the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy held their annual bash at the Royal Geographical Society, with the Prince of Wales handing out the Awards and giving a stirring speech.
Thursday, 18 June 2009
Arun to launch Renewable Advice Service
Arun District Council won an Ashden Award in 2008 for their work on energy efficiency and renewable energy:
Now, using some of the prize money they received, they are preparing to launch their Renewable Advice Service.
This will provide free and independent advice to local residents who ant to reduce their carbon footprint and fuel bills. Information will be given on what technology will be most cost-effective, taking into account the features and location of the resident's home. The advice will include solar hot water, solar PV, wood-fired boilers and stoves, heat pumps (air, ground and water sourced) and small-scale wind turbines.
The advice service will officially start with a launch event in the Littlehampton Civic Centre on Wednesday 1st July 2009 from 4.30-7.30pm. Read more about it here
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
Thursday, 28 May 2009
India's activists push their government to put a price on carbon
Harish Hande, of Ashden Award winner SELCO, is one of a coalition of Indian entrepreneurs, activists and academics campaigning for their government to take action on climate change, as reported by the New York Times:
In two days of talks with U.S. lawmakers and policy experts in Washington, D.C., the group said Indian society is starting a serious internal discussion about its role in addressing global warming.Read the full story here
"This is about recasting the debate," said Malini Mehra, founder of the Centre for Social Markets, a nonprofit based in India and the United Kingdom that promotes entrepreneurship and sustainable growth.
"The Indian government's agenda will not change until Indians want it to change," she told a U.N. Foundation forum. "I will not rest until we have a radically different position on the Indian government's side."
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Tuesday, 26 May 2009
Powering our way out of poverty
2007 Outstanding Achievement Award winner, Harish Hande of SELCO, has written an article on the BBC News website
As the world's leaders consider how to finance our battle against climate change, the financing of practical, affordable solutions for poor people in countries like my own, India, appears to be of little interest.Read the full story here Click here to read the rest of this post.
It is nearly 130 years since Thomas Edison gave us the electric bulb, yet more than two billion people on this planet still do not have the luxury of electricity.
Up to 50% of households in India still have no access to modern lighting. Millions of street vendors, whether in the hi-tech city of Bangalore, India, or Kampala, Uganda, still resort to kerosene or candles to sell their meagre wares.
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Putting the D into the CDM: Acquiring Carbon Finance for Development Projects
This post is to publicise a workshop that Gold Standard Project Developer CarbonAided, the Hedon Household Energy Network and Imperial College are holding on 15th June 2009
Later this year a landmark UN meeting will be held in Copenhagen to determine how the World will continue to combat global warming when the current regulatory period, under the Kyoto Protocol, ends in 2012. Many features of global carbon policy after 2012 have yet to be finalised, however policy makers in both the industrialised and developing world are emphasising that the Clean Development Mechanism will continue but must be improved to genuinely promote investment in projects that have real sustainable development benefits for the world’s poor.CarbonAided is helping Ashden Award winner SKG Sangha to access carbon finance to build bio-digesters to supply the cooking needs of 20,000 families in rural India
The sentiments of UN policy makers and existing EU climate regulations have created a significant growth in demand and premium prices for credits created by projects with real social benefits, such as Gold Standard projects. Both the voluntary and compliance carbon markets have seen a growth in carbon finance available for development projects, as buyers demonstrate a preference for credits created by projects with identifiable positive social impacts.
CarbonAided and The HEDON Household Energy Network a project of Eco Ltd and Ch4nge have been working with companies, NGOs, charities, project developers and policy makers over the past few years helping them to participate in carbon markets and to increase the number of development projects that are able to access carbon finance. We have found that there is lack of understanding of the potential for carbon finance. We have also discovered a number of myths surrounding the process of developing projects and obtaining finance from carbon credits to implement them.
We will draw from our expertise to deliver an intensive one day workshop that will enable entities thinking about participating in carbon projects with social benefits to understand:
- The project cycle for carbon credit based projects
- How carbon markets work
- Carbon regulations, voluntary carbon markets and regulatory issues after 2012
- Whether or not carbon markets represent a viable source of funding for their activities
- The different carbon accreditation standards and those that should be sought
- Choosing between CDM and voluntary carbon accreditation
- Choosing between programmatic and non-programmatic approaches
- How carbon funding can be accessed - the processes, timelines and costs involved
- The risks and hurdles that project developers will face and how these can be overcome
- Sources of technical assistance and upfront funding
- Companies, charities and NGOs that are interested to use carbon finance for their activities
- Low carbon technology providers that are looking to export their technologies to the developing world
- Sustainable investors
- Policy makers
Cost
Businesses: £740
Public sector and NGOs: £592
Students: £296
Developing country attendees: £148
The workshop will be held in London, UK, on 15th June. Spaces for this workshop will be limited to 30 so please indicate your interest in attending by completing the form as soon as possible. Please note that places will only be guaranteed on receipt of payment. Register your interest now and qualify for a 10% early bird DISCOUNT when it comes to booking your place!!!
Click here for more info
Click here to register your interest
Click here to read the rest of this post.
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, 7 May 2009
MD of Ecotricity appears on Rich List 2009
Dale Vince, Managing Director of Ecotricity is listed for the first time on the infamous Sunday Times Rich List 2009, in 657th position. As he hastens to add "I’ve not suddenly got an awful lot of money, this £85 Million is what the Sunday Times team reckons Ecotricity is worth".
Ecotricity were 2007 UK business winners of the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy for their role in helping boost the wind energy sector in the UK, particularly for their emphasis on community consultation.
Read Dale's comments on his blog
Wood Energy go big with biomass
Wood Energy Ltd based in Exeter, Devon, has installed large biomass boilers at two prestigious sites - the Royal Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh and the Devon County Hall in Exeter.
The John Hope Gateway, Royal Botanical Gardens Edinburgh (RBGE) new biodiversity and information centre, will open in summer 2009. The new building, set to be a shining example of sustainability, has many green features including a 200kW biomass boiler provided by Wood Energy Ltd.
Devon County Council is reducing its energy costs and carbon emissions at County Hall with a new biomass boiler installed by Wood Energy. The 840kW Binder wood chip boiler uses sustainable woodchip fuel supplied locally, rather than conventional non-renewable fossil fuels such as gas, oil, coal and electricity and will be one of the biggest boilers of its kind in the southwest. The boiler, which will reduce heating carbon emissions by 60% and save upwards of £20,000 a year, replaces the original 40 year old boilers which produced 269 tonnes of CO2 a year and cost over £55,000 to run. County Hall already has an energy efficiency rating of 'C' on scale of A to G (A being the best), which is above average for an older building. The new biomass boiler will improve the Council's energy efficiency even further, with a rating of B predicted.
"Everything about this investment makes good sense" said Cllr Brian Greenslade, Leader of Devon County Council. "It's good for the environment by significantly cutting our heating carbon emissions and good for Devon's economy by using a local suppliers. This is an integral part of Devon County Council's commitment to reducing its energy consumption, and to our goal of making Devon the greenest county."
John Wilding, Forestry Manager at Clinton Devon Estates agrees: "We are delighted that Devon County Council has chosen to switch to a wood-fuelled biomass boiler. Where it leads, many others will no doubt follow as there are many environmentally aware, commercial and public sector bodies who looking for green technology which is also practical, cost-effective and comes with a reliable ongoing source of sustainable fuel."
The wood chip boilers and “real time” graphical representations of the boiler used as display and educational material at both sites were supported by the Ashden Awards prize money won by Wood Energy Ltd in 2007.
Bangladeshi ventures aim to build solar PV industry
Stories appearing in the Bangladeshi media indicate that plans are afoot to create a capacity for solar panel manufacture in the country over coming years. Companies are vying with each other for a share of the action.
Two of the Ashden Award's previous award-winners - Grameen Shakti and Rahimafrooz - are key players in rolling out solar power in Bangladesh and are mentioned in the plans.
The Financial Express article "Bangladesh-US venture to build country's first solar plant" says the move by Star Group to build a solar plant comes as solar power makes inroads in a vast swathe of rural areas left untouched by the national electricity grid, achievements that Grameen Shakti has played a large part in, backed by soft-loan refinancing schemes by IDCOL.
In the article, the MD of Rahimafrooz, which sells batteries to the charities, said the plant would speed up the growth of solar systems in the country. He said Rahimafrooz is also pursuing its own plan to build a photovoltaic panel factory, as he sees Bangladesh emerging as a top solar-powered nation within a few years.
"Solar power systems are changing the face of rural Bangladesh. And it would be a billion dollar industry within a few years," he said.
The article in The Daily Star focuses on IDCOL's plan to establish solar plants, in collaboration with partners such as Grameen Shakti. They currently import panels from India and China.
More info:
Financial Express Bangladesh
Daily Star article
Daily Star opinion on sustainable energy
New study boosts hopes for offshore wind in SE England
A recent story in The Observer (26.4.09) reports a study by Atmos Consulting that shows wind speeds in the area of East Anglia and Essex are increasing, boosting the hopes of proponents of offshore wind farms along the coast and potentially making the economics more feasible.
According to the research wind speeds in these areas have been rising so much that wind farms site there could generate 50 percent more electricity than previously envisaged.
The data is based on NASA satellite images that shows wind speeds increased from 7.5 metres per second in 1990 to 8.5 metres in 2008. The images measure the size of tiny capillary waves on the ocean's surface, which indicate the wind's strength.
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
Wednesday, 22 April 2009
Visiting Fruits of the Nile in Uganda
This is a guest post from Adam Brett.
I recently returned from an interesting trip to Uganda with organic expert, Dr Julia Wright of Garden Organics to visit some of our projects. One of these is a small solar-drying fruit company called Fruits of the Nile, a 2008 Ashden Award winner. We are currently assisting them in their transition to Organic and Fair Trade certified production for all of their products. We are also exploring whether Fruits of the Nile can diversify to include solar-dried berry products in their repertoire.
Depending on weather conditions, Fruits of the Nile are hoping to export between two to four tonnes of chewy bananas this month and they continue to dry and export pineapples. We discussed the possibility of growing and drying berry products also. During the trip we saw and tasted both strawberry and Chinese gooseberry (also know as Physalis or “golden-berry”) which we think could be scaled up by Fruits of the Nile for little cost. Julia also thought the growing conditions in Uganda could be good for growing blueberries. We discovered that the drying ratios for berries are higher than expected: 4.5 kilos of golden berries yield 1 kilo dry weight, with the ratio only slightly lower for strawberries. This means farmers will need to grow less than they do currently for pineapple. It will also be easier to solar dry the berries than it is for other crops because they can be held for ripening after harvesting more easily.
We travelled to Western Uganda to meet the farmers we work with and see how they cultivate strawberries. I also wanted to show Julia the range of available growing conditions in Uganda. We found golden-berries growing wild in a number of banana plantations, and several farmers experimenting with strawberry cultivation for the local fresh market.
We agreed to go ahead with trial cultivation of berries in the Central region which has the best conditions for these crops – it is hot enough for drying and there are good cultivation conditions. We selected a possible family farm that we have worked with as a good potential site for initial trials.
We are encouraging Fruits of the Nile to chase up the organic certification, which is taking some time to process although they are at the very final stages. For the time-being the existing stocks of pineapple are “organic in conversion”, waiting on the final approval of organic certification and they can become organic as soon as the certificate arrives.
In the short term we have decided to prepare a berry cultivation manual for Fruits of the Nile and local farmers and review the cultivation requirements for growing berries before we begin. Despite the problems that the global recession is inevitably causing for these local farmers, like so many others, we found the staff to be positive and doing their best to adapt to the prevailing conditions.
Adam Brett is Managing Director of Fulwell Mill in Sunderland, UK. He sits on the judging panel for the Ashden Awards, but stood down from this during 2008, when Fruits of the Nile applied.
Friday, 17 April 2009
World Bank 2009 Global Development Marketplace
The World Bank's 2009 Global Development Marketplace is now accepting proposals on Climate Adaptation.
Visit their website at www.developmentmarketplace.org, available in English, French and Spanish.
The Development Marketplace is a competitive grant program administered by the World Bank. The 2009 global competition is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and additional DM partners. It aims to identify 20 to 25 innovative, early-stage projects addressing climate adaptation. The DM is a unique opportunity to turn your idea into reality; if selected your project could receive up to US$200,000 in grant funding for implementation over two years.
The competition focuses on three sub-themes:
1) Resilience of Indigenous Peoples' Communities to Climate Risks
2) Climate Risk Management with Multiple Benefits
3) Climate Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management
Who can apply? Non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, foundations, academia and development agencies based in the country of implementation may apply without additional partners. All other groups must partner with at least one organization; the type of partnership varies across types of applicants. Individuals cannot apply. Click here for more details on partnerships and eligibility criteria or check the guidelines, available in English, Spanish and French.
How to apply? All proposals must be submitted online. Proposals must be submitted through the DM online application form available on the DM website. Only proposals received before May 18, 2009 6 p.m. EST (22:00 GMT) will be considered.
How will the proposals be selected? Proposals will be selected through a rigorous selection process. Click here for information on the selection process and assessment criteria.
Questions? Please contact dminfo@worldbank.org
The application deadline is May 18, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. EST (22:00 GMT).
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
Costing the Earth: A Burning Solution
Dick Bradford, of Barnsley MBC (an Ashden Award winner), and Mike Pepler, Technical Manager at the Awards (and also a woodland manager) were both interviewed for the recent episode of Radio 4's Costing the Earth programme, "A Burning Solution", which talks about the use of biomass fuel.
It’s repeated on Thursday 16th April 2009 at 13:30 and you can listen online here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jm3l3
This is also in the news, as the Environment Agency’s recent “Biomass: Carbon sink or carbon sinner” report has been mentioned, although in the main BBC news it is reported with the headline “Biomass 'worse than fossil fuels'”, when in fact the report only said this was the case if nitrogen fertilisers were used to grow trees and/or the biomass was moved a long distance - neither of which Dick or Mike do in their work with wood fuel.
Monday, 6 April 2009
UK wind farm investment cut
Some concerning news out last week, reported in both The Times:
Britain’s ambition to become a global leader in renewable energy suffered a major setback last night when the world’s biggest investor in wind power said that it was slashing its investment programme.
The announcement comes less than two months after ministers backed a string of huge gas-fired power stations, prompting concern that the Government cannot fulfil its promise of a green energy revolution.
Iberdrola Renewables’ decision to cut its investment in Britain by more than 40 per cent, or £300 million — enough to build a wind farm powering 200,000 homes — is the latest obstacle to Gordon Brown’s target of generating 35 per cent of the country’s electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Lifting it to that level from the current 5 per cent would cost an estimated £100 billion. But wind energy investments have collapsed as funding dries up in the credit crunch and the price of oil, gas and coal has fallen. Delays obtaining access to the national grid and planning permission have compounded the industry’s woes.
and The Telegraph:
Click here to read the rest of this post.It came a day after Ed Miliband, the Climate Change Minister, angered rural campaigners by saying opposition to wind farms is as socially unacceptable as failing to stop at a zebra crossing.
His comments were made at the screening of a new climate change documentary, The Age Of Stupid, in London.
He said: "The Government needs to be saying, 'It is socially unacceptable to be against wind turbines in your area – like not wearing your seat belt or driving past a zebra crossing'.''
His comments came as a report by a coalition of countryside campaigners said the expansion of wind farms threatened some of Britain's most scenic countryside.
However, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds this week called for a vast increase in the number of wind farms in the UK after a study found far more could be built without damaging wildlife.
