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NEWSNewsletter for International Network for Sustainable Energy. No. 24, February 1999


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Sustainable Energy News No. 24, February 19992

Editorial

Sustainable Energy News

ISSN 0908 - 4134 Published by:

INFORSE Secretariat:P.O. Box 2059, DK-1013Copenhagen K, Denmark.Ph: +45-33-121307Fax:+45-33-121308E-mail: [email protected]: //www.inforse.dk/

International Network for Sus-tainable Energy (INFORSE)is a worldwide NGO networkformed at the Global Forum inRio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 1992.

Editorial AddressSustainable Energy NewsGl. Kirkevej 56, DK-8530Hjortshøj, Denmark.Ph: +45-86-227000Fax: +45-86-227096E-mail: [email protected]://www.inforse.dk/

Editors:Gunnar Boye OlesenJudit SzoleczkyMichael KvetnyLars Yde (technical editor)Niki Fowler (text advice)Mads Eskesen (layout)

Advisory Board:Stephen Karekezi, FWD, KenyaMasse Lo, ENDA, SenegalRaymond Myles, IndiaEmil Bedi, FAE, SlovakiaEmilio La Rovere, LIMA, BrazilRoque Pedace, Rejima, Argentina

Deadline for next issue: 15.04.99Next issue: May 1999

The newsletter is quarterly.Feel free to use the information,but please state the source.

Annual subscription rate:DKK 150 (approx. US$ 25).Plus bank cost at check : DKK 50(approx. US$ 10).The newsletter is free of charge

to NGOs as long as possible.

Sustainable Energy News issponsored by: Forum for Energyand Development, Denmark.

Photo on the front page:A splendid way to cook with asolar cooker on the top of ahouse during a terrible floodin 1998, in Bangladesh.See article on pages 16-17.

Photo by EG Solar, Germany.

Offshore Windmills in Denmark. Photo by Bonus A/S.

The international community will have energyat the top of its agenda when the UN Commis-sion for Sustainable Development meets for the9th time (CSD 9) in the Spring of 2001. Theprocess to prepare for this session is startingwithin a month (see next page) and will be opento NGOs.

The new focus on energy and sustainable de-velopment shows an increased understandingworldwide of the key role that energy plays inenvironmental as well as in developmentalquestions. While it was not possible to agreeon a special chapter on energy in Agenda 21at the Rio summit in ’92, this was possible 5years later at UNGASS* in ’97. The stage isnow set for new international activities to sup-port a sustainable energy development.

The challenge to NGOs is now to develop aproper agenda for energy and development.We must take into account the global inequali-ties in energy consumption, the problems ofclimate change and desertification, and theenergy problems of the poor.

The agenda must lead to a large-scale imple-

NewInternationalActivities forSustainableEnergy

Michael Kvetny Gunnar Boye Olesen

INFORSE Secretariat

* The UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS), in June, 1997, agreed upon a chapter on energy in the“Programme for further implementation of Agenda 21” that was adopted at the session.

mentation of renewable energy and energy ef-ficiency. It must address the South where sus-tainable energy solutions can help to meet ba-sic needs, as well as the North where they areneeded to solve global environmental prob-lems. And the old international structures withno efficient entity working for sustainable en-ergy must be changed. There is a need for aco-ordinated effort among UN organisations,multilateral development banks, and others todirect all energy-related activities towards sus-tainable development.

In INFORSE, we have decided to followclosely the preparations for CSD 9. We willwork to ensure that NGO input is incorporatedinto the process whenever possible. Further,we will contribute input based on a dialogueamong NGOs within our network as well asbetween INFORSE and other NGO networksworking for sustainable development. We in-vite all interested organisations to joinINFORSE in this effort. We hope to be repre-sented at most of the preparatory events forCSD9. We will follow up on these develop-ments in the next 10 issues of Sustainable En-ergy News.

No. 24, February 1999 Sustainable Energy News3

World/INFORSE

INFORSE atClimateConferenceCOP4The INFORSE Secretariat and severalmembers were present at the UN ClimateConvention fourth conference (COP4) inBuenos Aires, November ’98. The focusof INFORSE was primarily on:• The Clean Development Mechanism

(CDM). Major issues were ensuringthat CDM projects are truly additional,ensure the sustainability of CDMprojects, and the possibility of small-scale, NGO-type projects to benefitfrom the CDM.

• Large-scale wind-power penetration atthe global level.

INFORSE hosted two official side eventsat the conference. The first event focusedon NGO perspectives on the Clean De-velopment Mechanism. Representativesfrom a number of leading NGOs pre-sented their views on the CDM. The sec-ond event focused on large-scale imple-mentation of wind energy, and was basedon a study of the global wind-energy po-tential. The study was commissionedjointly by the Forum for Energy and De-velopment (FED) in Denmark andGreenpeace.

REJIMA from Buenos Aires offeredsupport as local organiser to the partici-pating INFORSE members.

Hans Bjerregaard,Chairman of Forumfor Energy andDevelopment (FED),Denmark at the windside event at theClimate Conferencein Buenos Aires,November 6, 1998.Photo by Søren Krohn.

More information: INFORSE Secretariat(see page 2 or back page)

ThoughtsAfter COP4By Roque Pedace (left)and Marcelo Alvarez (right),INFORSE Regional Coordinators

CDMIt became quite evident that there was a need of capacity-building in most devel-oping countries with regards to Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and ingeneral. It was discussed that this could be an INFORSE initiative, to be devel-oped with others. At the meetings organised by CAN (Climate Action Network),the “southern” input was minimal, and in most cases, the same imbalance occursat the national level, i.e., mitigation strategy development is done by the govern-ments with little input from of the civil society.

A very interesting discussion took place at the SEI (Stockholm EnvironmentalInstitute) workshop. The equity issue was critically addressed by Sunnita Narainfrom Center for Science and Environment (CSE), opposing CDM.

Large-Scale DevelopmentsIt became apparent that there are differences between countries that facilitate localinvolvement in renewable energy development with a proper regulatory frame-work and high rates for electricity sold to the grid and other countries that leavethese matters in the hands of their utilities. The approach cannot be the same, asMr. Johansson from UNDP explained. It is quite clear that the scenarios and rec-ommendations presented in the wind energy study commissioned by FED andGreenpeace need to be refined if they should form the basis for regional/countrycampaigns. (See in the issue no. 23 page no. 3) The Risø Laboratory in Denmarkcan be instrumental in this process.

Deregulation and regional integration seem to be a common feature that de-served international (The World Bank, UN agencies, etc.) attention at COP 4. SinceINFORSE as a network has already begun to play a role in this process with con-siderable impacts on renewable/efficiency penetration, it is in a better position toaddress the problem regionally.

Demonstration CentersDemonstration Centers could play a crucial role in the National Strategy for Cli-mate Change Mitigation. They should be a part of sustainable-energy strategyeverywhere. Climate Awareness Programs will be launched at a national level, incompliance to the Climate Change Convention (articles 6), which calls for studiesto be done with public participation. Other components intimately linked areclearinghouses for information retrieval, processing, and delivery.

Demonstration centres and clearinghouses are parts of diffusion networks, whichhelp strengthen institutions and build capacity within the sectors involved, includ-ing NGOs in a decentralised way. It contributes to market transparency and toopenness in decision-making processes, including relevant public policies and R&Dpriorities.

More information:Roque Pedace and Marcelo Alvarez, Mario Bravo 1029 piso 4 depto. A,1175 Buenos Aires, Argentina.Tel/fax: 541 963-0722,E-mail: [email protected], and [email protected].


World/INFORSE

INFORSE Coordinators’E-mail MeetingDuring the last week of January ’99 and continuing a few daysinto February, the INFORSE coordinators held a virtual meet-ing via e-mail. Major conclusions of the meeting are:• INFORSE will continue to follow 3 international processes,

i.e., CSD9 (see editorial), the UN Climate Change Conven-tion (UNCCC), and the UN Convention to Combat Deserti-fication (UNCCD).

• Along with these activities, the INFORSE secretariat will con-tinue its dialogue with multilateral donors to increase fundsfor NGOs’ sustainable-energy projects. This can include as-sistance to INFORSE members that are developing propos-als for funding.

• The media and environment initiative will be continued build-ing on the workshop that was held in Denmark in June of ’98.

• The South-South-North Fund will continue supporting de-velopment of sustainable energy projects in INFORSE mem-ber organisations, primarily in developing countries. Theguidelines for the fund are available from the secretariat uponrequest.

• Following the renewable-energy island-oriented activitiesof INFORSE, the secretariat is currently raising funds for aworld conference on renewable energy for smaller islands,to be held in Denmark in second half of ’99.

In 1997 INFORSE proposed a number of sustainable energyprojects to EXPO2000, the coming world exhibition inHannover. Of the 19 projects proposed by INFORSE five havebeen selected for EXPO2000 while two are still pending. Theseven projects are:• Promotion and Dissemination of Improved Water Mills for

Rural Applications in Nepal;• Sunstove Organisation, South Africa;• Dissemination of Solar Systems by Do-it-yourself groups in

Austria;• Sustainable Human Settlement on the Altiplano, Bolivia;• Large-scale Solar Heating Plant in Marstal, Denmark;• Improvement of rural production systems through electrifi-

cation, Senegal (pending); and• Tunoe Knob Offshore windturbine park, Denmark (pend-

ing).The selected projects will now be included in the EXPO2000catalogue, but still have to negotiate their physical presence atthe exhibition.

Further information: EXPO2000, 20510 Hannover, GermanyPh: +49-511 8408-0, fax: +49-511 8404-100,e-mail:[email protected], http://www.expo2000.deor INFORSE Secretariat (see page no. 2)

CSD9The process leading to the ninth meetingof the UN Commission on SustainableDevelopment that is dedicated to energy,CSD 9, will start before the seventh CSDmeeting, CSD 7, which is to be held inMay-June, 1999. The UNGASS revisionof Agenda 21 (in June’97) that dedicatedCSD 9 to energy also recommended theestablishment of an international group ofexperts to prepare for CSD 9. The expertgroup will be an open-ended group, opento NGOs.During CSD 9, the sectoral theme will be“Atmosphere and Energy,” with cross-sectoral themes “Information for deci-sion-making and participation” and “In-ternational co-operation for an enablingenvironment.” The Economic sector/ma-jor-group issues will be Energy and Trans-port. The agenda for discussions in theIntergovernmental group and at the CSD9 session will be paragraphs 42-56 of thereport of the UNGASS session entitled“Overall review and appraisal of the im-plementation of Agenda 21”. So far, thefollowing activities are scheduled withinthe official CSD9 process:

1999• Meeting of open-ended intergovern-

mental group of experts in conjunctionwith “inter-sessional” (preparatory)meeting of CSD (March);

• Meeting on global energy demand andsupply, with particular emphasis onelectricity (July);

• Ad-hoc Expert Group meeting on bar-riers to sustainable energy develop-ment in developing countries, with em-phasis on Africa;

• Ad-hoc Group meeting on South/Southco-operation in renewable energy de-velopment.

2000• Committee on New and Renewable

Sources of Energy and on Energy fordevelopment (February);

• Meeting of open-ended intergovern-mental group of experts in conjunctionwith “inter-sessional” meeting beforeCSD (March);

• Meeting on investment opportunitiesand constraints in the energy field(July).

2001• Meeting of open-ended intergovern-

mental group of experts in conjunctionwith “inter-sessional” meeting beforeCSD 9 (March);

• CSD 9 (May-June).

INFORSE at theDesertification

COP2The INFORSE Secretariat, ENDA, andseveral other INFORSE members partici-pated in the 2nd conference of the UNConvention to Combat Desertification(UNCCD) in Dakar, November ’98. Themain aim was to create awareness of therelationship between desertification andthe potential role of sustainable energy inthe drylands, as well as to increase con-tacts between INFORSE and the RIOD-network of NGOs involved in the com-bat of desertification.Two small meetings were held with par-ticipants primarily from INFORSE or-ganisations. At the meetings, some poten-tial projects were identified, and therewere suggestions for continued involve-ment in the UNCCD process.The participation in COP2 will be fol-lowed up by a number of activities, e.g.,development of sustainable energyprojects to combat desertification and or-ganisation of a NGO workshop on howto integrate sustainable energy into theCCD National Action Plans.

Further information: www.inforse.dk


EuropeP

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100,000 SolarRoofs in GermanyOn January 1, 1999, the new German”100,000 roofs” photovoltaic programstarted. The aim is to create a total en-ergy-generating capacity of 300 MWwithin six years. The costs of the programto the Federal budget is 1 billion DM. Itis currently the world’s largest programto introduce PV energy. The program wasinitiated by Dr. Hermann Scheer, mem-ber of the German Parliament and presi-dent of EUROSOLAR.More information: EUROSOLAR e.V. EuropeanAssociation for Solar Energy, Plittersdorfer Str.103, D-53173 Bonn, Germany.Ph: +49 22 8 / 36 23 73, fax +49 22 8 / 36 12 79,e-mail: [email protected],http://www.eurosolar.org/.

INFORSE-Europee-mail listINFORSE-Europe will increasingly usee-mail for communication within the net-work. All INFORSE-Europe organisa-tions will receive an e-mail with furtherinformation. Organisations that have notreceived such an e-mail by the end of Feb-ruary are kindly asked to send a note toINFORSE-Europe and include their cur-rent e-mail address. Send it to <[email protected]>.

Solar Conferencein Sofia in MayINFORSE-Europe organisations havebeen invited to the Pan-European Confer-ence on Solar Energy, May 25-27, 1999,in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is a conference un-der the auspices of UNESCO and withinthe framework of the World Solar Pro-gram. From INFORSE-Europe we willconsider to make an INFORSE-Europeevent in connection with this conference.

For more information on INFORSE participa-tion: INFORSE-Europe (see back page) orAcademic Youth Environmental Club, Sofia, att.Vladimir Dvoretzky, email:[email protected].

Environment &Health: London ´99The European ECO-Forum, is now pre-paring for NGO participation in the Pan-European Environment & Health minis-terial conference that is to be held in Lon-don, 16-18 June (London’99). The NGOapproaches to energy and climate issuesare being coordinated by Climate Net-work Europe as well as by the ECO-fo-rum coordinating board.Seen from a sustainable-energy perspec-tive, the most interesting parts of Lon-don’99 will be:1) A ministerial declaration stating thestrong need for action to prevent adversehealth effects from climate change. Thisdeclaration provides us with a lobbyingtool for much-needed domestic policiesand measures.2) A transport charter potentially leading,and that’s the interesting part, to a legallybinding transport convention, whichwould help to stem emissions from thisfastest growing GHG emissions sector.Frazer Goodwin of T&E (e-mail:[email protected]) is working on thisissue.INFORSE-Europe coordinated the ECO-Forum energy and climate activities at thePan-European Environmental Ministers’Conference in June ’98 in Århus, but willnot be directly involved in London99.INFORSE-Europe continues to followrelevant official Pan-European activities,e.g. the implementation of the EuropeanEnergy Efficiency Guidelines that wereagreed upon in Århus in ’98.More information:- Climate Network Europe Delia Villagrasa, 42rue de Taciturne, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium.Ph: +32-2-2310180, fax: +32-2-2305713,e-mail:[email protected],- ECO-Forum, Att. Gaudenz Silberschmidt,e-mail: [email protected]

K2R4The public participation period of theprocess for EBRD financing of the twoUkrainian nuclear reactors Khmelnitsky2 and Rivne4 (K2R4) ended on Decem-ber 15, ’98. Over 100 organisations andmany individuals protested against theplans. One of the protesting letters camefrom INFORSE-Europe. This letterstressed the environmental problems ofthe two projects, as well as the environ-mental and economical benefits of alter-natives with renewable energy.

The process in EBRD is now comingto an important point, with the decision

of the EBRDd i r e c t o r slikely to betaken inMarch. Itis quite im-portant thatc o n c e r n e dNGOs now usetheir influence to lobby nationally for astop of this loan, and for replacement ofthe plan with better proposals for Ukraine.

G7 pushed Ukraine into K2R4According to Greenpeace, the G7 coun-tries have pushed the Ukraine govern-ment to complete K2R4 instead of build-ing a new gas-fired power plant. This isproved by a confidential letter revealedby Greenpeace that was sent by UkranianPresident Leonid Kuchma to the BritishPrime Minister, Tony Blair. In this letterdated May 17th, 1998, President Kuchmawrites:”... the most difficult is the situation withcompleting the construction of two nu-clear reactors in Rivne and KhmelnitskyNPPs. The project to complete the con-struction of these power units was pro-posed by Western partners as an alterna-tive to the Ukrainian bid to build a steam-gas power plant nearby Slavutytch.”More information:- INFORSE-Europe (about letter fromINFORSE-Europe), e-mail: [email protected],address: see back page.- CEE Bankwatch Network, Kratka 26, Praha10, 1000 00, Czech Rep.Ph/fax:+420-2-781-6571,List by e-mail: [email protected],http://www.geo.ut.ee/bankwatch,http://www.ecn.cz/K2R4.

New Solar SchoolA number of European universities andinstitutions are co-operating in creating aschool with master-level courses in solarenergy engineering. At the European So-lar Engineering School (ESES) there willbe courses in active and passive solar ther-mal, photovoltaics, solar energy for tropi-cal climates, and utilization and manage-ment, each approximately one monthlong. A limited number of qualified stu-dents will be admitted to a one-year pro-gram that also includes supervised re-search activities.Tuition is free. For the courses in 1999,priority will be given to those applicationsarriving before 15 April.More information: Högskolan Dalarna, S-78188Borlänge, Ph: +46-23778707,fax: +46-23-778701, e-mail:[email protected],http://www.eses.org/ .


Africa

Power utilities around the world aregradually embracing solar energy andother renewable sources as viable alter-natives. Despite Africa’s substantial newand renewable energy resources, fewpower utilities in the region have ex-pressed interest in the application of re-newable-energy technologies. The sce-nario is changing, however, with initia-tives such as the solar electrification pro-gram of ESKOM in South Africa and the550KW wind power installation of KenyaPower and Lighting, Limited.

To focus attention on utility use ofrenewables, the International Solar En-ergy Society (ISES) recently launched the“Utility Initiative for Africa” with an Ini-tial Implementation Conference held atthe offices of the Development Bank ofSouthern Africa in Johannesburg, SouthAfrica on 26-27 March, 1998. The ob-jective of the conference was to bring to-gether utilities and the scientific and com-mercial communities to identify sustain-able energy alternatives in the Africanregion. A unique characteristic of the

Since 1992, the Health Technology De-velopment Centre (HTDC) within theUganda Ministry of Health has workedto achieve energy savings within the sec-tor. It started out with a base-line studythat found that 80-90% of the energy inthe health sector is used to heat water forcooking, washing, sanitary purposes, etc.The energy sources are firewood and elec-tricity. The traditional but inefficient“three-stone” fireplace was widely used.

Efficient StovesHTDC tested four types of institutionalstoves in the range of 40-200 ltr. The testconcluded that three of them used 50-65%less energy than a three-stone fireplace,when used for boiling water and cookinga traditional dish. The last saved a mea-gre 10%. Further, the stoves relieved thecooks from working in the smoky condi-tions around a normal fireplace. The pay-back periods for the three efficient stoveswere found to be 2-4 years with currentfirewood prices in Uganda.

A field test with these institutionalstoves at 10 hospitals showed that the

stoves in general worked well, with theonly problems being that the chimneyshad to be cleaned regularly, in particularwhen humid firewood was used. One hos-pital had problems with corrosion ofchimneys, while another had the problemthat the personnel tend to use the old fire-place to avoid having to chop the firewoodinto smaller pieces. A different kind ofproblem was that, at 4 of the 5 hospitalsthat had electric cookers, these were usedinstead of the efficient wood stoves. TheHTDC has documented that the use ofelectric cookers is an expensive solution:it costs 2.5 times as much to cook withelectricity as with efficient wood stoves.

Solar HeatingHTDC has tested 5 solar water heatersavailable on the Ugandan market. Theyall heated the water to above 50’C on asunny day, and three of them were able tomaintain the temperature at 48’C or moreduring the night for use the next morn-ing. Electrical water heaters are commonlyused at hospitals in Uganda. The pay-backperiods for these three solar heaters were1-3 years. The cheapest was a type devel-oped in Uganda and produced using lo-cal materials. The other two types, respec-tively were produced partly with importedmaterials, and simply imported. A fieldtest at three hospitals showed good results.Some types, however, needed adjustmentsbefore working satisfactorily, and the so-lar collectors have to be cleaned from timeto time to keep the performance high.

A number of other ways to save energyhave been tested, and are now recom-mended by HTDC for use in hospitals andhealth clinics in Uganda:• compact fluorescent lamps with pay-

back periods 10 months,• solar PV systems for use outside the

reach of the electric grid,• efficient cookstoves and solar energy

for sterilisation,• simple ways to save energy by the users.The energy-saving methods and recom-mendations are documented in a numberof publications under the common title“Energy Saving in Health Sector”.

Contact: Health Technology Develop-ment Centre (HTDC), End of 7th StreetIndustrial Area, P.O.Box 20014,Wabigalo, Kampala, Uganda.Ph +256-41341611, fax +256-4134 6714.

Uganda Employs SustainableEnergy for Health

Conference was the creation of a set ofresolutions forming a common denomi-nator for the actors cooperating in the ini-tiative in the future.

More information:ISES, Internatonal Solar Energy Society,Villa Tannaheim, Weisental strasse 50,79115 Freiburg, Germany.Ph: +49 -761-45906-0,fax: +49 -761-4590699,e-mail:[email protected],http:// www.ises.org/

ISES Utility Initiative for Africa

Photos: Three PV panel and a solar waterheater at Maanyi Health Unit, Uganda.

The photos are from the report:“Implementation of Renewable Energy

Technology in the Health Sector”.By C. Nsaba, Youssef Arfaoui (HTDC),

1998, Uganda.


Africa

With support from SIDA-Sarec, the So-lar Energy Research Program (* ) hasestablished a station for testing photo-voltaic systems and a laboratory for test-ing photovoltaic components. The labo-ratory is being upgraded to support test-ing of other solar-energy components.The laboratory is also mapping solar ra-diation. A good understanding of the be-haviour of solar energy resources is a pre-requisite for rational use of solar-energytechnologies. With this range of activi-ties, the Solar Energy Research Programis establishing the necessary capabilitiesto respond to energy policy problems andto formulate the requisite strategies.

Demonstration ProjectsBetween 1995 and 1997, the Solar En-ergy Research Program was contracted bythe Institute for Rural Development andthe Ministry for Coordination of Environ-mental Affairs to formulate and to imple-ment two demonstration projects on theuse of solar energy in rural areas. Cur

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The Photovoltaic Market Transformation Initiative (PMVTI) isa major new program designed to strengthen private-sector in-vestment in power generation from photovoltaic (PV) sourcesin Kenya, Morocco, and India. PMVTI was created to acceler-ate industry commercialization of PV technology, and to helpreduce greenhouse gases. The International Finance Corpora-tion (IFC), the private-sector funding wing of the World Bank,has made available a total of $25 million from the Global Envi-ronment Facility. These funds will be used to co-finance PVdevelopment in the private sector. About US$ 5 million hasbeen earmarked for each of two projects, one in Kenya and onein Morocco. The IFC has designated IT Power Ltd and ImpaxCapital Corporation Ltd as its External Management Team forthe 10-year duration of the projects’ program.

More information: Photovoltaic Market Transformation Initia-tive (PVMTI), c/o Impax Capital Corporation Limited,Broughton House 6-8 Sackville Street, London WIX 1DD, UK.Ph: +44-171-4341122, fax: +44-171-4371245 e-mail: [email protected].

Solar Projects in MozambiqueStation to Test PV Systems, Mapping Solar Radiation

rently, a UNESCO project to establish a“Demonstration Solar Village” is beingimplemented by the unit in collaborationwith other national institutions. Theproject is supported by the UNESCO re-gional office in South Africa and by thelocal UNESCO office in Maputo.

150 Rural Health CentersAnother project to electrify 150 ruralhealth centres is scheduled to start in 1999and will be funded by the Norwegian De-velopment Agency (NORAD). The unithas been given the responsibility of moni-toring some of the installations.

Action Plan for Rural EnergyThe Solar Energy Research Program, incollaboration with the Ministry of Min-eral Resources and Energy and other in-stitutions, is preparing a project on ruralenergy for Mozambique. The objectivesof the project are to compile the back-ground information on energy demand

Photovoltaic Market Transfor-mation Initiative - PVMTI

US$5 million each toco-finance developmentin Kenya and Morocco

Business Forum for Renew-able Energy in Africa

Harare, Zimbabwe,29-31 March 1999

ADEME, the French State Agency for Environment and En-ergy Management, along with UNESCO and other Europeanpartners in the framework of the European THERMIE, is or-ganizing a “Business Forum for Renewable Energy in Africa”in March 29-31, 1999 in Harare, Zimbabwe. THERMIE is thedemonstration component of the Research and TechnologicalDevelopment JOULE-THERMIE Program of the EuropeanCommunity in non-nuclear energy technologies. One of its ob-jectives is to promote cooperation in the field of renewable-energy technologies between the European Union and Africancountries. The Forum aims to be a place where European indus-trialists, NGOs, and investors will meet African partners in or-der to develop renewable-energy projects in Africa.

More information:- Benedicte Meyer, ADEME, 27, Rue Louis Vicat, 75 737 Paris,Cedex 15, France. Fax: +33-1-46420558,e-mail: [email protected] Zimbabwe Organizing Committee P.O. Box CY 595, Cause-way, Harare, Zimbabwe. Ph: +263-4-793236/792075/703320,fax:+263-4-703326.

and resources, to develop strategies andpolicies for promoting the use of high-quality energy technologies, and to pro-pose an action plan for rural energy sup-ply.

(* ) Solar Energy Research Program is aresearch unit based at the Department ofPhysics, Faculty of Sciences of the EduardoMondlane University, Mozambique. The unit wasestablished in 1991 with the support of theSwedish Agency Sida/SAREC, in a cooperativeagreement with the Eduardo MondlaneUniversity. The activities of the programinclude:• Testing and optimisation of solar energy sys-

tems and devices.• Development of capabilities for local manufac-

ture of solar energy systems.• Solar radiation studies.

• Energy policy studies.

More information:Dr. Boaventura C. Cuamba, Solar EnergyResearch Program, Department of Phys-ics, Faculty of Sciences, EduardoMondlane University, P.O. Box 257,Maputo, Mozambique.Ph: +258-1-493377,fax: +258-1-493377/ -493313,e-mail: [email protected] [email protected].


Asia

In a small village in Kerala, India, a groupof environmental and social activists hasrealized the dream of clean decentralizedpower with a 6-kW micro-hydroelectricfacility. The facility supplies power toPathanpara, a rural community of aboutsixty families who contributed the re-sources for the facility’s construction.Because of its size and remote location,the village had never been connected tothe national grid, which is itself chroni-cally short of power. In the view of Mr.K. Sahadevan, who helpedinitiate this project, thePathanpara accomplish-ment demonstrates the vi-ability of grassroots partici-pation as a means for sus-tainable development.

Low-impact Hydro-electric PowerSahadevan sees micro-hy-droelectric power, or“microhydel,” as an idealalternative to centralizedproduction of power fromlarge dams or power plants.He and a handful of localengineers and other activists formed agroup to promote and realize environmen-tally conscious, socially motivated pub-lic works. The group is based in Kannur(Cannanore). Members oppose most con-ventional hydroelectric, thermal, and nu-

clear capacity-building projects in Indiaon environmental and social grounds.These projects are detrimental to the ma-jority poor, whom they displace; theyhave a severe impact on fragile ecosys-tems; and they benefit only the minorityof consumers in cities.Unlike large-scale hydropower,microhydel serves the needs of rural ar-eas with minimal impact, requiring nolarge reservoirs and minimal construction.The group tested the technical feasibility

of the idea first with a 1.5-kW installa-tion at Asankavala (Kerala), leading to thecurrent installation at Pathanpara, whichis the group’s fourth micro-hydel under-taking in southern India.

Success in PathanparaThe installation consists of a catchmentpond, 300 meters of 4-inch (10-cm) di-ameter polyethylene pipe, a power house,and distribution lines to the village, abouta kilometer from the power house. Waterfrom two streams flows into the pond,then descends 70 vertical meters throughthe pipe to turn independent Pelton wheelson two generators, of 1500 and 4500watts’ capacity, respectively. The genera-tors are reversed electrical motors, deliv-ering a regulated supply of 240 volts to32 houses, 14 shops, and numerous streetlights in the village. The system is pro-vided with safeguards against too highvoltage, tripping, and ground faulting.The present configuration represents thefirst of three stages for the project. Laterstages will expand the capacity to 10 kW,then to 14 kW, suitable for powering smallindustrial units.

The real success of this project lies notin the power installation itself, but ratherin the means by which the project cameabout, namely, by the approval andthrough the help of its beneficiaries. Allland and labor required by the project, aswell as the cost of materials and electri-cal contracting (about Rs. 200 000, or US$5000), was supplied by the inhabitants ofPathanpara. Such a substantial investment(about a year’s income for the village)indicates the determination behind theproject. This kind of cooperative publiceffort, Sahadevan believes, can be a modelfor safe, sustainable and socially just de-velopment.

The Future ofPeople’s ParticipationThe Kerala state planningcommission (KSSP) alreadyrelies upon public participa-tion in its planning proce-dures. Participatory planningbegins with local initiativesfor development projects,which are submitted to theKSSP for approval. Accord-ing to a commissioner at theKannur district office, 40% ofKerala’s state developmentfunds are currently distrib-uted according to local initia-

tives. The next five-year plan calls forfully 50% of development funds to be al-located by the participatory mechanism.

This is promising for microhydel andother renewable energy initiatives inKerala, which are presently quite limited

MICROHYDROBrings Power

to RuralSouth India

Grassroot participation

By Mathew P. Davies, USA.By Mathew P. Davies, USA.


Asia

Photos by Mathew P. Davies, USA.

in scope. Although grassroots energy de-velopment may function as a catalyst,even its proponents consider it insufficientto bring about real change. Sahadevanstates, “Pathanpara and Asankavala areonly collective efforts to demonstrate thatenvironment-friendly power projects arepossible with people’s initiative. Theseisolated efforts can never be a permanentsolution to the power problem. What isneeded is a radical change in the powerpolicies, as well as implementation at thegovernment level.”

As for the Pathanpara installation,practical and technical problems remain.Chronic shortage of water limits the pro-duction of power to just four hours a dayin the dry season, and debris in the watercan rapidly degrade the Pelton wheels.Such obstacles, however, are compara-tively minor next to the enormity of In-dia’s power crisis. If renewable optionslike microhydel are to mitigate this crisissubstantially, they must ensure concertedpublic involvement, such as through par-ticipatory planning. Otherwise, a realchange in the character of government-sponsored development will be unlikely.

More information:- Mathew P. Davies, 4117C Arizona Ave.,Los Alamos NM 87544,USA.Ph: +1-505 661 4221,e-mail: [email protected] Mr. K. Sahaderan, Society for Eco-friendly Development, Karamel,Payyanur 670332, Kerala, India.Ph: +91-0489-502294.

Leverage to $5 Million LoanIn 1998, The Solar Electric Light Com-pany (SELCO) got a $750,000 loan fromthe International Finance Corporation(IFC) towards financing household solarelectric lighting systems in Vietnam. Thisis the first loan made by the IFC’s Smalland Medium Enterprise (SME) Programto finance consumer purchases of solarhome systems (SHS), and their secondsuch loan for solar rural electrification.The SME Program is funded by the Glo-bal Environment Facility (GEF). The loanis consistent with the GEF objective ofovercoming barriers to the implementa-tion of renewable-energy technologies.The IFC is a member of the World Bankgroup and is based in Washington, DC.The IFC’s loan will help SELCO-Vietnamto provide collateral on credit extendedby the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture toSELCO customers who wish to purchaseSHS over 3- and 4-year terms. The finan-cial leverage will provide up to $5 mil-lion in consumer loans in local currency.

11 Million Members of theWomen’s Union Set up aSolar NetworkSELCO-Vietnam is setting up a solar elec-tricity supply network in association withthe National Vietnam Women’s Union(VWU), whose 11 million members con-stitute a substantial market for solar elec-tricity. “The solar program will extendwireless power initially to 12,000 Viet-namese families,” said Shawn Luong,Managing Director of SELCO-Vietnam,which has raised $700,000 in equity capi-tal to launch its operations. This is the firstphase of a 10-year undertaking bySELCO-Vietnam and the VWU to elec-trify up to one million households withsolar home systems (SHS). SELCO andits predecessor the Solar Electric LightFund, along with the VWU, electrified340 families’s homes in a Mekong Deltapilot project launched in 1994. SELCO’ssecond shipment of 760 solar home sys

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PV to 1 Million VietnameseHouseholds in 10 years$ 750,000 International FinanceCorporation Loan to SELCO-VietnamBy Neville Williams, SELCO

tems has arrived in Ho Chi Minh City,where the components are currently be-ing “integrated” for installation nextmonth in Tra Vinh and Can Tho Prov-inces. Vietnam, with a population of 78million, has electrified less than half ofits rural population’s homes. Recently,power shortages have afflicted the cities,leaving little hope for millions of ruralfamilies yet to be reached by the electric-ity network.

SELCO/SELFThe Solar Electric Light Company is aphotovoltaic service and distribution com-pany founded in 1997. It has its headquar-ters near Washington DC, and operatesin India, Vietnam, China, and in SriLanka. New operation is under develop-ment in South Africa. The main aim ofthe company is to provide off-grid elec-tricity from PV systems to communitiesin developing countries. The Company isan outgrowth of the earlier work of theSolar Electric Light Fund (SELF), an in-ternational development organisation thatpioneered the use of PV home lightingsystems through rural electrification pi-lot projects in eleven countries. SELF re-ceived several international awards for itswork. Neville Williams, the president ofSELCO, is the founder and former chair-man of SELF.

More information:- Neville Williams, Solar Electric LightCompany, 35 Wisconsin Circle, Suite 510,Chevy Chase, MD 20815 USA.Ph: +1-301-657-1161,e-mail: [email protected],http://www.selco-intl.com.- SELCO-Vietnam, ph:+84-8-832-2547.- Pham Hoai Giang, Ms.Vietnam Women’s Union, 39 Hang ChuoiHanoi, Vietnam,Ph:+84 -4-8-257-225,fax:+84 -4-8-253-143,e-mail: [email protected].


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The US federal budget for the year 2000is being negotiated. The US president, BillClinton, and his administration have pro-posed that next year’s budget include aclimate-change tax package of $3.6 bil-lion over five years and a 34% increaseto $1.4 billion for the research, develop-ment, and deployment of clean energytechnologies and energy-efficient prac-

IPMVPThe International Performance Measure-ment & Verification Protocol (IPMVP)discusses procedures that, when imple-mented, allow building owners, energyservice companies (ESCOs), and finan-ciers of buildings’ energy efficiencyprojects to quantify energy-conservation-measure (ECM) performance and energysavings. The IPMVP provides an over-view of current best practice available toverify savings from traditionally andthird-party-financed energy- as well aswater-efficiency projects.

tices in the year 2000. The $3.6-billiontax package includes tax incentives forrenewable energy and for the purchase ofenergy-efficient homes, cars, and appli-ances.

Sixteen member groups of The Sus-tainable Energy Coalition argue that theproposed measures are not enough, andpropose a doubling of the climate-changetax package to at least $7 billion (over fiveyears). With the increasing evidence ofclimate change, and with the increasinggreenhouse-gas emissions of the USA(currently 10.7% above 1990 levels), theydo not believe that the proposed $3.6 -billion climate-change tax package is ad-equate. This new measure is not enoughto meet the US Administration’s own cli-mate-change goals. Among the organisa-tions in the Coalition are the American

USA Climate Change Fundsto Increase, But Not Enough

Standard on Its Way forRenewable’s PerformanceBy Arlene Thompson, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), USA.

Renewable-Energy Subcom-mittee Completed a DraftThe Renewable-Technology Subcommit-tee for the IPMVP has completed a draftsection of the IPMVP, addressing the spe-cial issues related to performance meas-urement of renewable energy systems.The document provides a tool for meas-uring project benefits, which is essentialfor realizing the promise of renewableenergy. Measurement and Verification(M&V) provides a framework for renew-able energy in performance-based con-tracting, financing, and emissions trading.

The co-chairs of the Subcommittee areDr. Andy Walker, NREL, and Dr. DavidMills, ISES. Subcommittee membershipincludes key players of the renewable-energy industry within the financial com-munity, governmental agencies, non-gov-ernmental organizations, private firms,and academia. Much attention has beendirected towards the voluntary, consen-sus-building process necessary for inter-national adoption of the IPMVP. Imple-mentation of a thorough baseline, meas-

urement, andverification procedureguarantees the reliability of energy-gen-eration estimates and other associatedbenefits. Actual M&V results of existingprojects based on the IPMVP can provesuccess and can provide developers, in-vestors, lenders, and consumers with moreconfidence in the value of future projects.One success can grow from another. Asinnovative renewable-energy financingincreases worldwide, so will the need forthe IPMVP and its internationally stand-ardized framework.

More information: Arlene Thompson,IPMVP Renewables Subcommittee Coor-dinator, National Renewable EnergyLaboratory, 1617 Cole Blvd., MS2723,Golden, Colorado 80401, USA.Ph: +1-303-3847450,fax: +1-303-3847411,e-mail: [email protected],http://www.ipmvp.org/.

Council for an Energy Efficient Economy(ACEEE) and the Natural Resources De-fence Council, both of which areINFORSE members.

More information:- US Federal Administration,http://www.whitehouse.gov/,- Sustainable Energy Coalition, 315 Cir-cle Avenue, #2; Takoma Park, MD 20912-4836, USA. Ph:+1-301-270-2258;fax: +1-301-891-2866,http://www.ecomall.com/activism/sec20.htm.

House in New Jersey. FIRST (Fully IntegratedResidential Solar Technology) Scheme.Photo by NREL, http://www.nrel.gov/data/pix

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The biogas, produced from the manureof 11,000 pigs, is being used to generateelectricity. The project is intended as apilot demonstration and education plantfor Lithuania and for the surroundingBaltic countries.

At the Rokai pig farm in Kaunas, Lithua-nia, the daily 60 m3 of manure from the11.000 pigs is converted into a more“ready to use” fertiliser by anaerobic di-gestion. Co-generation converts thebiogas into electricity and heat, which willreduce the farm’s expenses for energy sig-nificantly. The technology gives possibil-ity for producing surplus of electric en-ergy, which will be sold to the public grid.The system is based on the DanishFolkecenter’s “Farm Biogas Concept”,which means that the plant is scaled tothe amount of resource available on thefarm.

The biogas plant consists of 3 horizon-tal digesters in a parallel configuration,all fed by the same raw material: the ma-nure. This opens up unique possibilitiesfor gathering continuous information onlocal experiences with the plant. Differ-ent additives and operating conditions canbe tested, and the results can easily becompared.

FunctionEach 300-m3 digester receives 20m3 ma-nure per day in the 30m3 individual mix-ing tanks. Waste additives are added andmixed in the same tank. The manure ispumped into the digester at intervals dur-ing the 24 hours, for instance every 2hours. An equivalent volume of manureis displaced at the outlet end of the di-gester. The process is heated to a tempera-ture between 35oC and 50oC. Heating isdone by an integrated heat exchanger, andheat losses are minimised by 200-mmlayer of insulation covered by a weather-proof steel-plate coating. To keep the

manure homogeneous and to avoid for-mation of scum, the manure is mixed atintervals by a slowly rotating axial agi-tating system. The agitator also transportsthe sediments to the sand outlet, wherethey can be removed. The biogas exitsthrough the top of the digester at a lowpressure, sufficient to overcome the lossesin pipes and the counter-pressure from thefloating gas holder. The gas holder deliv-ers pressure enough to operate the gasburner and the co-gen-eration motor withoutany compressor toraise pressure. If thesystem pressure ex-ceeds 45 mbar, the gasis released from thedigester by a siphontrap.

FinanceThe project was initi-ated by the DanishFolkecenter for Re-newable Energy. Thetotal project cost is4.440.000 DKK (1USD ~ 6,50 DKK).The Danish Environ-mental ProtectionMinistry provides88% of the financialsupport, and the re-maining 12% comesfrom the AB VYCIAFarming Company,where the biogas plantis located. The projecthas been supported bythe Lithuanian Envi-ronmental ProtectionMinistry and EnergyAgency. The Lithua-nian Energy Institute,the Kaunas EnergyOffice, and the

Demonstration Biogas Plant,Kaunas, Lithuania

By Niels Ansø, Folkecenter for Renewable Energy in Denmark

Technical buildings (control room, show room,laboratory, boilers), Digesters at the biogasplant in Kaunas, Lithuania.

Technical data:Manure: 60 m3 pig manure / day.Waste, concentrated: ~ 3 t / day (depending on availability).Digester: 3 x 300 m3 horizontal steel digesters.Gas production: 1200 - 3600 m3/day.System pressure: 25 mbar, (max. 45 mbar by safety

siphon trap).Gas storage: 60m3.Co-generation: 1 x 75 kW, 1 x 110 kW.Boiler/burner: 1 x 300 kW gas burner and 1 x 300 kW

oil/gas burner.Sulphur cleaning: Aerobic external biological process.Control system: PC based control- and data acquisition

system (developed by Folkecenter).

Production data:Biogas production: 1,200 m3/day (* ).Electricity production: 2,400 kWhel/day.Electricity production: 700,000 kWhel/year.Heat production: 4,200 kWh heat/day.Heat production: 1,600,000 kW heat/year.

Farm Energy Consumption:Electricity: 3.700.000 kWhel /year (** )

(* ) From manure only.If concentrated wasteis added, the technol-ogy allows gasproduction of 3600m3/day.

(** ) 2.300.000 kWh isused for heating. Thiswill be replaced byheat and electricityfrom the biogas.

Lithuanian Academy of Agriculture alsoassisted during the project implementa-tion.

More information:- Niels Ansø, Folkecenter for RenewableEnergy, Kammergaardsvej 16, P.O. Box208, DK-7760 Hurup Thy, Denmark,Ph: +45-97-956600, fax:+45-97-956565e-mail: [email protected],http://www.folkecenter.dk/.- Alfredas Kontrimavicius or KazysCesnavicius, AB Vycia Farming Com-pany, Roku apyl, LT- 4311 Kauno raj,Lithuania.Ph: +370-7-745118/ +370-7- 545187.

Manure outlet, gas outlet.


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C.A.T. UKLittle History: C.A.T. -Centre for AlternativeTechnology - is one ofthe earliest centres, estab-lished during 1973 in a16-hectare abandonedslate quarry in the moun-tains of Mid Wales. Its

original aim was to create a new form ofsustainable rural community which wouldexperiment with “alternative” technolo-gies and ways of life, then disseminate theresults through writing, teaching, anddemonstration projects. Almost from thebeginning, however, it began to attract

growing num-bers of casual dayvisitors. The emphasis shifted to provid-ing a “good day out” for visitors, whowere mostly holidaymakers in the areacombined with a simple educational ap-proach to the whole range of ecologicallifestyle issues.Visitors: 75,000 people each year - in thesummer often more than 1,000 a day.High level of self-sufficiency: There is astand-alone electricity generating systemcomprising hydro, wind power, and a re-cently installed 13kW photovoltaic roof.Grid-linking allows surplus electricity tobe exported. Most of the space- and wa-ter heating is provided by a boiler burn-ing local forestry waste. Water for all pur-poses is supplied from a small rain-fedreservoir. Sewage and waste water aretreated on-site by aquatic plant systems,and all organic wastes are composted to

build up soil fertility. One of thewonders of the Centre is the ex-

tent to which a barren mountain ofslate waste has been transformed into anextraordinarily rich and diverse ecosys-tem containing many species of plants andanimals which have long disappearedfrom the surrounding landscape.Staff: The Centre is still based on theoriginal vision of a living and workingcommunity, run on cooperative principlesby a staff committed to education andchange.Courses: 40 courses are open to the pub-lic each year. Many of them are about re-newable energy.Publications/outreach: There are thriv-ing publications and consultancy depart-ments, a popular restaurant and shop.C.A.T. is also involved with a new localinitiative, the Dyfi Eco Valley Partner-ship, which aims to turn the whole areainto a model of renewable-energy devel-opment.Finance: C.A.T. depends for its financial

By Roger Kelly, (RK) UK

Contact: Roger Kelly, 13Maengwyn Street, MachynllethSY20 8EB, UK.Ph: +44 1654 703239,fax: +44 1654 702624,e-mail: [email protected].

Changing the world in the direction of more sustainable energy practices is a complex and demanding business. There are so manydifferent kinds of people who have to be influenced, from global decision-makers to individual householders, and there are somany different levels of information to be communicated, that a very wide range of techniques needs to be used. The growingnumbers of non-profit eco-demonstration centres around the world demonstrate efficiency and renewable energy at work with aneffectiveness that no amount of written or even multimedia material can match. This article looks at a small number of thesecentres, in Europe, from the perspective of someone who was the director of one of them - the C.A.T. in the UK - for 10 years.Each of the centres has its own unique character, but there are also many similarities, particularly in their underlying philosophies.Most, if not all, see energy issues as integral to an ecological approach to human society. They are also concerned with ecologi-cally benign building practices, biological food production, the water and waste cycles, and general resource management. Someare almost purely research organizations that demonstrate the results of their research with the buildings and energy installationsthey use. Others concentrate mostly on education, but use practical demonstration as an important teaching tool. Others again areopen on a daily basis to the visiting public and put their emphasis on communicating basic principles to as wide an audience aspossible. Some are concerned with changing the patterns of consumption in the North, others with helping to introduce appropri-ate technologies to the South. Some have existed for more than 25 years; others are very new.This brief tour around some of Europe’seco-centres is of necessity, very lim-ited. The descriptions are partly basedon my personal experience, partly ondescriptions provided by the centres them-selves or by others who have visited them.

Eco Demonstration Centers


ECO-Centers

Biogas plantdemonstration

at Artefact.Different phases of the

construction.Photo by Judit

Szoleczky

survival very much on earned income -from what visitors pay on entrance andwhat they spend in the shop and restau-rant, but also from residential courses,publications, and consultancy.

Contact:C.A.T. Centre for Alternative Technology,Machynlleth, Powys, Wales SY20 9AZ, UK.Ph: +44 1654 702400, fax: +44 1654 702782,e-mail: [email protected],http://www.cat.org.uk/.

The Small Earth, HollandLittle history: Although al-most contemporary with C.A.T.(founded in 1972) and with thesame underlying philosophy,‘The Small Earth’ Center has

many differences which result mainlyfrom its location. Far from being in a re-mote and mountainous rural area, it is onthe outskirts of the small town of Boxtelin the southern Netherlands, on an almostentirely flat site with good fertile soil.Gardens and Buildings: The gardens (al-though only 1.5 hectares) are the mostimportant part of the demonstration func-tion. The main building contains lecturerooms, kitchen, and offices. 3 demonstra-tion buildings (the Recycling House, thePyramid House, and the Eco-house) wereadded between 1973 and 1991. Then, in1995, a new building was initiated to pro-vide residential accommodation for stu-dents (22 beds) as well as a central recep-tion area, shop and café, offices, and stor-age. This building includes compostingtoilets, solar water heating, and a photo-voltaic roof to the central atrium whichsupplies about 30% of the building’s an-nual electricity needs.

Visitors: Around 15,000 people a year.Courses: There are about 20 courses eachyear mostly on ecologically sustainablegardening and whole-food cookery, butalso on sustainable building practices.Publications/outreach: The Center pub-lishes books about food production, build-ing, and sustainable lifestyles. It is heav-ily involved in the local Agenda-21 proc-ess. It has helped the development of a

sister centre in Kenya. It is twinned witha similar centre being implemented in aremote Hungarian village by Hungary’sEcological Institute for Sustainable De-velopment.Staff: As at C.A.T., the 18 staff work as acooperative with equal (but low) pay af-ter three years; a 32-hour week in normalfor full-time staff, but about 40% of staffwork a 24-hour week. There are also somevolunteer staff and graduate trainees.Unlike C.A.T., the Center’s houses noresident community.Finance: Income is divided almostequally among government grants, mainlyMinistry of Environment for education,donations, and earned income of the saleof vegetables, publications as well as fromcourses and visitors.

Contact: De Kleine Aarde, P. O. box 151, 5280AD Boxtel, Netherlands. Ph: +31 41-16 84921,fax:-1683407 http://www.pz.nl/kleineaarde/

Artefact, GermanyLittle history: Situated in the far northof Germany, virtually on the Danish bor-der, Artefact is a non-profit organisationwhich acts primarily as a training and edu-cation centre focused on technology, theenvironment, development and the “ThirdWorld”. The centre itself was opened tothe public in June, 1995 after a six-yearconstruction period, funded by the Gov-ernment of the State of Schleswig-Holstein, during which over 300 unem-ployed young people worked through jobcreation schemes and more than half ofthem subsequently found permanent jobs.Buildings: There is a seminar and con-ference centre with seminar rooms for up

to 50 people and accommoda-tions for up to 24, a cafeteria,and offices. These are builtpredominantly of earth andtimber with some fascinatingstructural forms, and there is adesign philosophy which spe-cifically aims to reduce the useof timber in building as a dem-onstration for the increasinglydeforested areas of the world.

Self-sufficiency: The whole Center wasdesigned to be self-sufficient in energy,generating electricity from wind and so-lar together with a biomass gasificationplant. Heating is provided by solar ther-mal, backed up by heat recovery from thegasifier and a vegetable oil-fired co-gen-eration system. The wind power systemexports to the grid but also runs irriga-tion pumps for the gardens. The rainwa-

ter is collected in underground tanks tobe used for flushing toilets and cleaningthe buildings. Wastewater is treated in areedbed system. There is also acomposting toilet.Courses: The Center has a number of itsown courses but it also designs trainingprograms, workshops, and conferences onrequest. The courses cover a wide rangeof appropriate technical subjects as wellas policy issues and educational curricu-lum planning. It has close links with atwo-year postgraduate course atFlensburg University called ARTES (Ap-propriate Rural Technologies and Exten-sion Skills) and the AT-Association,Bonn, which publishes a magazine, “Ap-propriate Technology Forum”.Finance: Having had its initial capital in-vestment funded from outside, Artefactnow has to be financially self-sufficient.It combines education work with a con-sultancy business.

Contact: Artefact e.V. - Centre for AppropriateTechnology and International DevelopmentCooperation, Bremsbergallee 35, D-24960Glücksburg, Germany. Ph: +49-46316116-0, fax:+49-46316116-28, e-mail: [email protected],http://www.artefact.de/.

Folkecenter, DenmarkLittle History: The Folkecenter for Re-newable Energy was established in 1983to develop renewable-energy technolo-gies that could be manufactured by smallor medium-sized businesses to supply lo-cal electricity needs. The emphasis, there-fore, has always been on hard researchaimed at the commercialisation of tech-nology. In this, it has been very success-ful, spearheading Denmark’s dominancein the wind-power industry and, more re-cently, developing a new biogas industryfor Denmark’s pig farms. The total areaof almost 10 hectares was originally afarm, sloping gently southward towardsSkibsted Fjord in the northern Jutland areaof Denmark.

Small Earth. Photo by R.K.


ECO-Centers

Setting up windmill at the Folkecenter. Photo by J. Kruse

Renewable Energy: The wind turbinetesting area has a dozen or so small andmedium-scale turbines which are con-stantly monitored and tested as they gen-erate electricity for on-site consumption.Most of the electricity demand is in factmet by a single 75-kW turbine, althoughthere is also an increasing contributionfrom photovoltaics mounted on existingand new buildings around the site. Otherenergy technologies which theFolkecenter has experimented with andhas demonstrations of include plant oil(mostly rape seed based) as a liquid trans-port fuel, hydrogen production, biogas,cogeneration, and solar water heating.

Buildings: Themain buildingshave been de-veloped aroundthe originalf a r m h o u s e .These containoffices, labora-

tories, a particularly fine library of refer-ence material, kitchen, dining room, andsleeping accommodations for staff andvolunteers. There is also a large engineer-ing workshop building nearby, and thiswhole area radiates a feeling of technicalprofessionalism. Almost more impressiveto the visitor, however, are some of theexperimental buildings - the Plus EnergyHouse with its passive solar technologyand mobile insulation, the Bio-dome withits aquatic plant treatment system, and thenew earth-sheltered Training Centre withits impressive conference hall, library, anddining room. This building also incorpo-rates a pioneering system of integratingPV cells into window glazing, with an ex-pected annual output of 2100kWh fromthe south-facing facade.Visitors: There are 10,000 visitors a year.Courses/education: There are interna-tional courses and cooperation projects.Technology applications developed bythe Center can be found in several coun-tries all over the world. A 3-6 month train-ing program is offered. Modest stipend

available for a number of trainees.Publications/outreach: There is an im-pressive list of 130 publications in Dan-ish and English. They are relating to allthe technologies with which research anddevelopment work has been done.Finance: Unusually among the eco-cen-tres described here, it is financed almostentirely by Danish central and local gov-ernment sources, partly with a fixed sub-sidy for core costs and partly with spe-cific project funding that must be openedto bids regularly.

Contact: Nordvestyjysk Folkecenter forVedvarende Energi, PO Box 208, 7760 HurupThy, Denmark. Ph: +45-97956600,fax: +45-97956565,e-mail: [email protected],http://www.folkecenter.dk/ (Danish/English).

Living Earth, FranceLittle history: In 1979, a non-profit Association was set up inParis to produce and disseminate in-formation about organic agricultureand horticulture, diet, health, andsustainable lifestyles, all of whichwere of interest to only a smallminority in France at the time.The centrepiece of their workwas the publication of a journalon organic gardening which gradu-ally expanded its readership. A longer-term dream was to have a demonstrationcentre for sustainable living, concentrat-ing on the techniques of ecologicallysound landscaping, and this was realisedin the early 1990s with the purchase of a20-hectare site in the beautiful Trièvesarea south of Grenoble in southeasternFrance. The basic funding was raised fromthe publishing activity and from manypublic bodies.Landscape: The essentially poor land,used previously only for hunting pur-poses, now has an astonishing range ofdisplays and habitats, from formal flowerand herb gardens to vegetable-growingareas, a composting display, bambooplantation, ponds, a reedbed sewage treat-ment system, and wildflower meadows.Buildings/energy: What is perhaps moresurprising, however, is that the buildingsand energy technologies are no less im-portant than the landscape. The first mainbuilding is passive solar, timber-framedwith earth block walls, having beautifulviews south over the sur- round-

ing area and housing the publishing busi-ness, administrative offices, and a shop.Close to this is the restaurant building, amasterpiece of vaulted earth brick con-struction, cool in summer, warm in win-ter, and a memorable space in which toeat in. The experience is enhanced, asyou would expect in France, by fine cook-ing, often using plant ingredients whichhave almost disappeared from culinaryuse. In 1998, a new display was inaugu-rated under the name “[néga]wattshouse”, showing how domestic energyconsumption could be cut by half, firstlyin the design of buildings through orien-tation, choice of materials, andbioclimatics, then through all the tech-niques of energy efficiency in use.

Publications/courses: The center’s pub-lishing is flourishing and producing an in-creasing range of books in French. Eachyear a number of one-day courses are alsorun, on subjects related to organic garden-ing and ecological building. The centre isgenerally open from May to October.

Contact: Terre Vivante, Domaine de Raud, BP20, 38711 Mens cedex, France. Ph: +33-4-76348080, fax: +33-4-76348402.

Tingvall’s Eco,SwedenLittle history: One of the most recent Eu-ropean eco-centres, Tingvall’s Eco isbased on an 80-hectare farm in theBohuslän district of southwestern Swe-den. The land has been a demonstrationand experimental farm owned by theSwedish Society for Rural and Agricul-tural Development since 1940. From1990, it has specifically concentrated onorganic milk production from a herd of55 dairy cattle. More recently, localdevelopment groups in the area got sup-port from the local authority to expandTingvall into a wide-ranging centre forecology and sustainability.

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Buildings/facilities: The design and func-tioning of the buildings were based onC.A.T.’s experience with its eco-cabinsand the principle of a self-contained build-ing ecosystem that can be managed andmonitored by the residents. The buildingsinclude composting toilets and a stand-alone energy system using wind, solar,and biofuels, the production and con-sumption of which are monitored on com-puters and meters within the buildings.There are a total of 48 beds. Self-cateringkitchens are provided, but full board isalso offered. The minimum requirementfor course participants is that they startthe day by stoking the wood stove andpreparing their own breakfast. The farmas a whole has also been laid out as anEco Park where the visitors can also ex-plore the mixture of pasture land, forest,valleys, and the organic gardens. An eco-shop, a café, activities for children, andguided tours are available.

Contact: Tingvalls Eko, 450 84 Bullaren,Sweden. Ph: +46-52540120, fax: +46-52540061,e-mail: [email protected],http://www.tingvalleko.hs-o.hush.se/ (in Swedish).

Eco-Garden, Hungary“Eco-Garden” is a 5,100 m2 park situatedon an island of the Kis-Duna river. It wasstarted in 1995 by the Nature Associationin Esztergom. The members of the Asso-ciation cleaned the place of illegal wastesand turned it into a showplace. The exhi-bition area is connected by footpaths toan organic garden, a windmill, a 12-m2

solar collector, a photovoltaic (PV) sys-tem, a composting toilet, and acomposting facility. Pupils and childrenfrom kindergartens very often visit thegarden. They get hands-on experiences inhow to restore the natural ecological sys-tem. In the summer, people can organizecamps with the aim of showing how toprotect the environment and nature.

Contact: Esztergomi KörnyezetkultúraEgyesület, (Nature Association in Esztergom),Széll Kálmán, Bajcsy Zsilinszky road 4. I.e.106,2500 Esztergom. Hungary.Ph/fax.: +36- 33-400-150,e-mail: [email protected],http://www.vjrktf.hu/ekoint/ekoku.htm (in Hungarian).

Energy andEnvironment Center,GermanyThe Center is a managed by an associa-tion that has been working for more than15 years in the areas of renewable energy,energy saving, ecologically sustainablebuilding. In 1981, the association boughta former vacation home for schools,which was rebuilt to model ideas in thesefields. The building’s fuel consumptionwas reduced by 70 % and the water con-sumption was reduced by 50 %. This wasdone by changing the heating system, in-stalling solar panels, and using well-wa-ter and rainwater. There are also an18,000-m2 reed-bed sewage system, anorganic vegetable garden, and an orchard.Staff: 24 members of permanent staffearn their living by teaching, organizingexhibitions, and consultancy. It is a self-managed, non-profit project.Courses: 70 courses are offered through-out the year. The guesthouse provides 30beds and whole-food catering. There is atravelling exhibition for hire on 300 m2

of open space, a shop with technical lit-erature, publication of books. Every firstSaturday in the month is an “Open DoorDay”. Guided tours are available.

Contact: Energie- und Umweltzentrum amDeister, Am Elmschenbruch, 3257 Springe,Eldagsen, Germany. Ph: +49-5044-975-0,fax: +49-5044-975-66,e-mail:[email protected],http://www.e-u-z.de/ (in German).

Eco-Park, SlovakiaEko-park is a non-profit organization es-tablished by three Slovak NGOs in 1996in the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava. Theplan is to build up a 10,000 m2 area as anopen-air exhibition for renewable-energytechnology. It will also exhibit most ofthese technologies available on the Slovakmarket. At the end of 1998, several de-velopments were completed, and there arefurther ambitious plans. Presently, thefollowing attracts the visitors attention: asmall (1 kW) hydro power plant con-nected to a hydraulic ram; a small wind-mill charging a set of batteries and sup-plying electricity to a TV set, radio, and afew lights; solar water collectors, and asolar cooker. There is a big collection of

videos, books, and magazines. Until now,Eko-park has been a Slovakian activity.There is, however, an idea to offer coop-eration for Hungarian and Austrian groupsor individuals, since the Park is situatedwithin 20 km from the borders of bothcountries.

Contact: Ekopark Bratislava, Opletalova 16,841 07, Bratislava, Slovakia. Ph: +421-6477-8807 or Foundation for Alternative Energy(FAE). Ph/fax: +421-7-63-836964.

Earth Center, UKA big and ambitious project, the EarthCentre, is being built in a depressedformer industrial area of northern Eng-land, on the site of an old coal mine be-tween the towns of Doncaster andRotherham. The Earth Centre, which isbudgeted to cost a total of over 150 mil-lion EUROs, sets out to use all the tech-niques of Disney and the other majorTheme Park operators to “promote theunderstanding of sustainable developmentand to help people become involved inthe process of achieving it in their ownlives and for the world”. It would be easyto be cynical about such a project if theperson behind it, Jonathon Smales, hadnot been general manager and an interna-tional trustee of Greenpeace before tak-ing this on. He has a genuine commitmentto the achievement of sustainability butbelieves a project of this size is necessaryto change the millions of people who donot yet take environmental issues seri-ously. Phase One is due to open this year,so if you are in England, make sure youvisit and decide for yourself.

Contact: Kilner’s Bridge Doncaster Road,Denaby Main DN12 4DY, UK.Ph: +44 1709 512000, Fax: +44-1709-512010,e-mail: [email protected].

1999 15


Finance

Innovation and SuccessInnovation transforms an obstacle into anopportunity. Imagine a program to over-come poverty: a bank that gives loans tothe poor for self-employment. Imagine abank for the poor that has achieved a 98%repayment rate, and that has now intro-duced innovative companies to increaseits clients’ income: Grameen Uddog (ru-ral initiative) to market the textiles theyweave; Grameen Telecom to provide themwith cell telephones; Grameen Shakti (ru-ral energy) to introduce solar, biogas, andwind energy. This is innovation at workin one of the poorest countries in theworld, Bangladesh.

Microcredit for the poorest:The Grameen BankThe Grameen Bank is the outcome ofan experimental program launched by auniversity in 1976 for rural landless peo-ple who were desperately in need of creditand to whom the banking system re-mained inaccessible. Grameen, workingat the village level with rural populations,revolutionized poverty alleviation effortsby offering very small loans to poor en-

trepreneurs, most of whom are women.These loans, initially on the order of $50to $100 US, allowed the entrepreneurs toacquire capital for crafts, food production,and animal husbandry. Members join theGrameen Bank in groups of five, agree-ing that if any member defaults on a loan,the others will not be able to receive loans.This peer support network has led to 98%loan recovery rates, far higher than thoseof most commercial banks. GrameenBank found that women, in particular,tend to use their profits to improve thequality of life of the family, which alsoimproves women’s status in the society.Thus, loans to women have been espe-cially productive.

Today Grameen lends ca. $ 30 milliona month to over 2 million borrowers,95% of them women. The Bank em-ploys 12,000 bank workers, who servethe poor in half the villages in ruralBangladesh. The Grameen model is so

successful that it is being replicatedin 58 countries worldwide.

Create Your Own Environ-ment - NO Need for CharityThe Grameen Bank was created in Bang-ladesh to serve the rural 85% of the 125million inhabitants, whose inability toprovide collateral barred them from ob-taining commercial bank loans. Money-lenders were taking advantage of this situ-ation to charge many of the landless poorinterest at the rate of 10% a day or morethan 3,000% a year. In spite of their po-tential to become self-employed, theseborrowers were helplessly trapped in debtand poverty. Muhammad Yunus, the pro-fessor of economics who later foundedGrameen, first gave loans of only a fewdollars from his own pocket, and wasamazed at the result. It took one enter-prising woman only a few months to es-tablish her own business making bamboochairs, to increase her income seven-fold,and to repay the loan. Yunus concludedthat the poor are credit-worthy! Theypossess both ideas and skill. They do notneed charity. Thus, the idea of a bank forthe poor in rural Bangladesh was born.

Financing Energy ServicesGrameen Shakti was also created toserve the poor, this time by bringing themelectricity and modern technology. De-spite the great demand, only 15% of thetotal population have access to electric-ity, with little chance that the grid will

The beginning of a microcredit program forpoor women in Nepal, NIRDHAN, areplication of the Grameen Bank model.The woman from the bank is discipliningthem. Since 1995, the program grew from500 to 3000 members - all women - in 3years and is now in the process of becom-ing chartered Bank.Photo by Nancy Wimmer.

The solar cooker offers a splendid way to cook on the top of a house - even during the terrible floodin 1998 in Bangladesh. This cooker was evaluated to be the best in a European comparative study of

cookers. (32 minutes to boil water in a 12 liter pot). There is no need for charity - microcredit forrenewables generates income. Photo by EG Solar, Germany.

By Nancy Wimmer

Micro Credit in BangladeshIntroducing Renewable EnergiesMicro Credit in BangladeshIntroducing Renewable EnergiesBy Nancy Wimmer


Finance

reach the rural areas in the near future.Bangladesh is behind in the developmentof renewable energy sources, offering lit-tle institutional or financial support.Grameen Shakti is a rural power companythat was established in 1996 in affiliationwith the Grameen Bank to promote andsupply renewable energy resources to therural households of Bangladesh.

In the process of bringing renewable-energy technologies to rural Bangladesh,Grameen Shakti has developed new waysof financing them. New employment, in-come generation opportunities, and ac-ceptance of new technology have arisenin the process.

To date, the best local approach hasbeen the Solar Home System (SHS),which has the following components: so-lar panel, battery, charge controller, DCLamp, and other DC applications.Grameen Shakti further develops local ex-pertise in selling, maintaining, and repair-ing renewable energy systems. Shakti-trained and -certified technicians can thenprovide on-site training and maintenance.

Grameen Shakti customers take loansto buy renewable-energy systems costingbetween US $ 300 and US $ 500. Thesecustomers then use their energy resourcesboth to increase their income and to im-prove their standard of living. Becausemost of Grameen’s borrowers are women,many of the microenterprises are keyedto work that women can do at home, e.g.,basket-making, weaving fishing nets,sewing. Loan can be given to a husbandof a Grameen Bank member also. Like itwas done to Mr. Manik helping him tooperate his repair shop for electrical ap-pliances. With the help of a solar system,he is using a DC soldering iron and solarlight in his shop, which enables him towork at night.

In summary:Solar Home System (SHS)Cost: $US 300-500Benefits:• Increased income; longer working and

selling hours.• Use of solar energy for electric motors,

refrigerators, lamps, telephones.• Improved standard of living and com-

munication in rural Bangladesh.

Business areas:• Repair of appliances.• Rental of lamps.• Provision of cell phones.• Many other crafts, e.g., basket-weav-

ing, sewing, fishing-net weaving.

Grameen Shakti had installed412 SHSs as of August, 1998with a capacity of 16.740 KWp.It has a plan to install 6000 sys-tems within the next 3 years.This will require opening 8more branch offices, making atotal of 20 Grameen Shakti of-fices in rural Bangladesh. Thereare also plans to open some spe-cial branches through whichGrameen Shakti can do researchon marketing policy. This net-work would allow Shakti tomove quickly to disseminateand commercialize any im-provement in the technology.

Microcredit - a Cata-lyst for Change.

The environment in which the GrameenBank was created supported no access tocredit for the poor in rural Bangladesh.Until Grameen Shakti was created, thatsame environment also failed to supportrural access to electricity and to renew-able energy. With the introduction of theBank and Shakti, the environment and thelives of the rural poor started to improve.

What we have learned from both en-terprises is that you have to create a newenvironment for new ideas and innova-tion to flourish. We have to create a newenvironment to remove the obstacles thatkeep poverty in place. Through the expe-rience of Grameen, we see the poor in anew light: they are good business part-ners, open to modern technology. Theycan and must be integrated into theeconomy. Microcredit creates not onlypurchasing power, but acceptance of newideas and technologies. Microcredit is a Woman with cell telephone. An example of

Grameen Telecom and Grameen Shakti.Photo by Nancy Wimmer.

catalyst for change. Our challenge is tocreate an environment that allows changeto take place; to create an environmentthat finances sustainable development.Sustainable development is everybody’sbusiness.

More information:- Nancy Wimmer, Resultate e.V., EMCS,European MicroCredit Support for thePoorest, Amselweg 7, 85591 Vaterstetten,Germany.Ph: + 49-810634147, fax: +49-81064771e-mail: [email protected] Grameen Bank, Mirpur-Two, Dhaka,1216 Bangladesh. Fax: +880-2-803559.

Nancy Wimmer studied Political Sci-ence and Law in the United States andreceived her Masters of Arts in Philoso-phy in Germany. She worked as a Sys-tems Analyst in the field of conceptualmodeling for German industry and diduniversity teaching before visiting the Grameen Bankin Bangladesh in 1990. She became National Directorof Resultate Germany to mobilize support formicrocredit and savings programs, later designed theproject European MicroCredit Support and studiedmicrocredit programs in Nepal, Peru, El Salvador, Hon-duras, India and Bangladesh . She has expanded herrole to promote the introduction of renewable energiesthrough microcredit and to advise business and indus-try of their role in integrating the poor into the economy.She is also Project Leader for Microcredit for Terra,One World Network, and designing innovative waysfor private enterprise to support the poor to start theirown businesses- particularly in India with GrameenBank Uttar Pradesh.


Publications:- Energy Solutions in Denmark,1998, 31 pages;

- Combined Heat and Power in Denmark,1998, 34 pages;

- Energy in Denmark 1998,brochure data, charts 14 pages;

- Straw for Energy Production,1998, 53 pages;

- Wood Chips for Energy Production,1993, 46 pages;

- Solar Energy Plan of Action 1998-2000,50 pages;

- Optimise Energy - Danish Solution,36 pages;

- Map of Denmark, Renewable Energy,in English, German, and Danish, 1996

- Energy 21, The Danish Government’sAction Plan for Energy, 1996, 80 pages;

- Renewable Energy Islands in Europe,Case studies, 1998, 53 pages.

Published by the Ministry for Environ-ment and Energy, Danish Energy Agency.Contact:-Danish Energy Agency, 44 Amaliegade,1256 Copenhagen K, Denmark.Ph: +4533926700, fax: +45-33114743,http://www.ens.dk.-The Energy Information Office,Energioplysningen, Teknikerbyen 45,2830, Virum, Denmark.Ph: +45-70218010, fax: 70-218011,e-mail: [email protected],http://www.energioplysningen.dk/.

Renewable Energy Applications, PVWind and Small HydroProceedings of the International Work-shop December, 1996.Organised by NAM S&T, and APCTT.25 presentation of case studies andoverviews mainly from India. 15 Coun-try report , mainly from Asia.1997, 444 pages.Contact: K.N.Johry, NAM S&T, Centrefor Science & Technology of the Non-Aligned & other Developing Countries,India Habitat Centre, Zone-6, 2nd floor,Lodi Road, New Delhi 110003, India.Ph: +91 -11-4644974/-4645134,fax: +91-11-4644973,e-mail:[email protected].

Climate Change and Employment inthe European UnionBy Christine Lottje, CNE.Contact: Climate Network Europe(CNE), 42 rue de Taciturne, 1000Bruxelles, Belgium. Ph: +32 -2-2310180,fax: +32 -2-2305713,e-mail: [email protected],http://www.climatenetwork.org/.

Periodicals:

New EnergyMagazineNo. 1. December1998, 60 pages.Country reportsand world over-view.Wind WEB siteson page 56.

Contact: The German Wind Energy As-sociation, Herenteichstr 1, D-49074Osnabrück Germany.Ph: +49-541-35060-0,fax: +49-54135060-30,e-mail: [email protected],http://www.wind-energie.de/.

Pico HydroNewNo. 2 in April 1998.Newsletter of thenew world-widePico Hydro net-work.Free to developingcountries.

Contact: Micro Hydro Centre, Depart-ment of Electrical and Electronic Engi-neering, The Nottingham Trent Univer-sity, Burton Street, Nottingham, NG14BU, UK. Ph: +44-115-9418418,fax: +44-115-9486567, e-mail:[email protected].

Climate NotesContributions to Climate Change: AreConventional Metrics Misleading theDebate? October 1998, 16 pages.Contact: 1709 New York Avenue NW,Washington DC 20006, USA.Ph: +1-202-6622554,fax: +1-202-6380036,http://www.wri.org/wri/climate.

CD-ROMS:Wind Energy, Biogas, Solar EnergyALTERNER Project.3 CD ROM withsound, graphsand text.The CDs aim togive informa-tion to every-one who is inter-ested in informationabout renewable energy, whether they arepotential purchaser, interest groups orschool pupils.

Contact: The Danish Technological In-stitute, Teknologiparken, 8000 Aarhus C,Denmark. Ph: +45-89-438943,fax: +45-89-438543, http://www.dti.dk.

Windpower in English, German, DanishWind energy de-sign, Computingwind turbineoutput, tech-nology, design,research anddevelopment,environment andeconomics, mod-ern wind turbine history.

Contact: Danish Windpower Industries,Vester Voldgade 106, 1552 CopenhagenV, Denmark, Ph: +45 -33730330,fax: +45 -33730333,e-mail: [email protected],http://www.Windpower.dk/.

Humanity Development Library 2.01230 publica-tions, includingmany copies ofS u s t a i n a b l eEnergy News.

Contact: Oosterveldlaan 196, B-2610Antwerp, Belgium. Ph: +32-3-4480554,fax: +32-3-4497574,e-mail: [email protected],[email protected], http://oneworld.org/globalprojects/humcdrom.

Software Design Programs:Several design programs are listed withlinks on the web site:http://www.eren.doe.gov/buildings/tools_directory/index.cgi.


EVENTSMarch 1-5, 1999European Union Wind Energy Confer-ence & Exhibition, Nice, FranceOrganised by EWEA.Info: WIP, Sylvensteinerstrasse 2, 81369,München, Germany. Ph: +49-89-720-1235, fax:+49-89-720-1291, http://www.wip.tnet.de/.

March 4-5, 1999World Sustainable Energy Day, WelsAustriaRenewable Energy & Energy Efficiencyfor the EU, English, German, French,Slovak/Czech interpretation.Info: O.Ö. Energiesparverband, Landstrasse 45,4020 Linz, Austria. Ph: +43-732-6584-4386,fax: +43-732-6584-4383,e-mail:[email protected], http://www.esv.or.at/esv/

March 15-16, 1999EU-India Renewable Energy BusinessDevelopment Forum, New Delhi, IndiaOrganised by WIP, UK Chamber of Com-merce, TERI.Info: WIP, Sylvensteinerstr. 2, 81369, München,Germany. Ph: +49-89-720-1235, fax: +49-89-720-1277, e-mail: [email protected],http://www.wip.tnet.de/.

March 29-31, 1999Business Forum for Renewable Energyin Africa in Harare, Zimbabwe.Benedicte Meyer, ADEME, 27, Rue Louis, Vicat75 737 Paris, Cedex 15, France. Fax: +33-1-46420558, e-mail:[email protected] article on page 7 in this issue.

April 11-14, 1999Renewable and Advanced Energy Sys-tems for the 21st Century, Hawaii, USAInfo: Stanley Kleis, ASME Solar Division ,Department of Mechanical Engineering,University of Houston, TX 77204-4792, USA.Ph: +1-713-7434536, fax: +1-713-7434503,e-mail: [email protected].

April 12-14, 1999Int’l Course on the Implementation ofWind Energy, Petten, The NetherlandsInfo: J. Dekker, ECN, Energy ResearchFoundation, PO Box 1, 1755 ZG Petten, TheNetherlands. Ph: +31-224-564278, fax: +31-224-563214, e-mail: [email protected],http://www.ecn.edu/8ewind/.

May 15-30, 19992000 Walk for Nuclear DisarmamentThe walk is from the UN Int’l Court ofJustice in the Hague to the NATO head-quarters in Brussels.Info: For Mother Earth International,Lange Steenstraat 16-d, 9000 Gent, Belgium.Ph/fax: +32-9-2338439,e-mail:[email protected],http://www.motherearth.org/.

May 25-27, 1999PanEuropean Solar Forum, Businessand Investment, Sofia BulgariaINFORSE-Europe Meeting?Info: Ministry of Energy and Fuel Bulgaria andthe UNESCO World Solar Commission, att.Boris Berkovski, Division of Engineering andTechnology, 1 rue Miollis, 75732 Paris cedex15, France. Ph: +33-1-45683901, fax: +33-1-45685821, e-mail: [email protected]. http://wwwunesco.org/general/eng/programmes/science/wssp/ or http://www.worldsolar.org.See article on page no. 5.

May 25-27, 1999SUSTAIN ’99, Amsterdam, HollandThe World Sustainable Energy TradeFair: Renewable Energy, Waste-to-En-ergy, Sustainable TransportInfo: European Marketing Ltd. PO Box 259,Bromley, BRI IZR, UK. Ph: +44-181-2898989,fax: +44-181-2898484, e-mail:[email protected], http://www.emml.com.

May 31- June 6, 1999Business and Investment for RenewableEnergy in Russia, Moscow, RussiaInfo: Intersolarcenter, 2, 1st, Veshniakovskyproezd, Moscow 109456, Russia. Ph: +7-095-171-9670, fax: +7-095-171-9670, e-mail:[email protected].

June 8-11, 1999WREC ’99 Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaWorld Renewable Energy CongressInfo: Secretariat, 3rd Floor, 78 Jalan SS 22/21,Damansara Jaya, 47400 Petaling Jaya,Selangor, Malaysia. Ph: +60-3-7172612/13, fax:+60-3-7172616, e-mail:[email protected].

June 12-16, 1999Solar’99 Growing the Market, Main,USAInfo: American Solar Energy Society (ASES),2400 Central Avenue, Suite G-1 Boulder, CO80301, USA. Ph: +1-303-4433130, fax: +1-303-4433212, e-mail: [email protected].

June 15-18, 1999ACEEE Summer Study, SaratogaSprings NY, USAInfo: American Council for an Energy-EfficientEconomy (ACEEE), 1001 Connecticut Avenue,NW Suite 801, Washington DC 20036, USA. Ph:+1-202-429-8873, fax: 1-202-4292248, e-mail:[email protected], http://aceee.org/.

June 16-18, 1999Pan-European Environment & Healthministerial conference, LondonSee article on page 5

June 20-23, 1999Windpower ́ 99 AWEA, Vermont, USAInfo: American Wind Energy Association(AWEA), 122 C Street, NW, 4th Floor, Washing-ton DC, 20001, USA.Ph: +1-202-383-2500, fax: + 1-202-383-2505,e-mail: [email protected].

June 21-24, 1999International Conference on Wind En-ergy, Copenhagen, DenmarkInfo: Danish Maritime Institute, Hjortekarsvej99, 2800 Lyngby, Denmark. Ph: +45-45-879325,fax: +45-45-879333, e-mail:[email protected].

July 4-9, 1999ISES Solar World Conference, Jerusa-lem, IsraelPO Box 50006, Tel Aviv 61500, Israel.Ph: +972-3-514-0000, fax: +972-3-514-0077,e-mail:[email protected]//tx.technion.ac.il/~meryzse/ises99.html.

July 12-23, 1999SUN Summer Study Energy PolicyInfo: Central European University, Budapestc/o SUN CEU, Nádor u. 9, Budapest, 1051Hungary. Ph: +36-1-3273069/-3273811, fax.:+36-1-327-3124, e-mail: [email protected],http://www.ceu.hu/.See article in issue no. 23 on page no. 12.

August 11-14, 1999North Sun’99, Edmonton, Canada8th Int. Conf. Solar Energy in High Lati-tudes and the 25th Conf. of SESCI.Info: The Solar Energy Society of CanadaSESCI,116 Lisgar str., Suite 702, Ottawa, Ont.K2P 0C2, Canada. Ph: +1-613-2344151,fax:+1-613-2342988,e-mail: [email protected],http://www.solarenergysociety.ca.

September 22-26, 1999Husum Wind ’99, Husum, GermanyInfo: Osterwungweg 2, 25813, Husum Germany.Ph: +49-841-8355-0, fax: +49-4841-8355-55,e-mail:[email protected].

September 25 - October 3, 1999PLEA 1999, Brisbane Australia16th International Conference on Passiveand Low Energy ArchitectureSymposium, workshops, tours.Info: Sally Brown, The University of Queens-land, Brisbane, 4072 Australia.Ph: +61-7-33656360, +61-7-33657099,e-mail: [email protected].

October 17-26, 1999World Solar Challenge. Adelaide, SA,AustraliaElectric and Solar Vehicle Conference.Info: PO Box 8178, Station Arcade, Adelaide SA5000, Ph: +61-8-83873877, fax: +61-8-83226290, e-mail: [email protected],http://www.wsc.org.au/.

November 2-5, 1999Environment China ’99, Guangzhou,ChinaInfo: Stefanie Niebuhr, Gima Exhibitions &Conferences, Heidenkampsweg 51, 20097Hamburg, Germany. Ph:+49-40-235-24341,fax: +49-40-235-24403.

ContentsEditorial p.2- New International Activities for

Sustainable Energy

World/INFORSE p.3-4- INFORSE at Climate Conference- Thoughts after COP4- CSD9- INFORSE at the Desertification

Convention COP2- INFORSE Coordinators Meeting- EXPO 2000

Europe p. 5- 100,000 PV roofs in Germany- Environment & Health: London- K2R4- New Solar School

Africa p. 6-7- Uganda Employs Sustainable

Energy for Health- ISES Utility Initiative for Africa- Solar Projects in Mozambique- PV Market Initiative- Business Forum for RE

Asia p. 8-9- Microhydro Brings power to

Rural South India- PV to 1 Million Vietnamese

Americas p. 10- USA Climate Change Funds to

Increase, But not Enough- Standard on its way for

Renewable’s Performance

Contact List Europe - 12 pages

Technical p.11- Demonstration Biogas Plant,

Kaunas, Lithuania

Eco-Demo Centers p. 12-15

Finance p. 16-17- Micro Credit in Bangladesh

Introducing Renewable Energy

Publications p.18

Events p. 19

Co-ordinatorsAfrica, EasternFWD - Foundation for WoodstoveDisseminationP.O. Box 30979, Nairobi, Kenya.Ph: +254-2-566 032 or 571 467Fax: +254-2-740 524 or 561 464E-mail: [email protected],[email protected]. Stephen Karekezi, Timothy Ranja

Africa, WesternENDA-Energie54 rue Carnot, B.P. 3370, Dakar, Senegal.Ph: +221-8-225 983 or 222 496Fax: +221-8-217 595 or 235 157E-mail: [email protected]. Youba Sokona, Masse Lo, Secou Sarr

Eastern Asia & PacificAppropriate Technology Association143/171-2 Pinklao Nakornchaisri, Bang-Plad,Bangkok 10700, Thailand.Ph: +66-2-516 5362Fax: +66-2-434 3253E-mail: [email protected]. Chanchai Limpiyakorn

Asia, SouthINSEDA - Integrated SustainableEnergy & Ecological DevelopmentAssociation3rd floor, St. Soldier Tower, Vikas Puri,New Delhi 110018, India.Ph: +91-11-551 0344 or 552 6521Fax: +91-11-552 9646E-mail: [email protected]. Raymond Myles

EuropeOVE - Danish Organisation forRenewable Energy - EuropeGl. Kirkevej 56, 8530 Hjortshøj, Denmark.Ph: +45-8622 7000Fax: +45-8622 7096E-mail: [email protected]. Gunnar Boye Olesen

FAE - Foundation for AlternativeEnergyP.O. Box 35, 85007 Bratislava, Slovakia.Ph/fax: +421-7-63-836 964E-mail: [email protected]. Emil Bedi

Latin America/BrasilLIMA - Laboratório Interdisciplinarde Meio AmbienteCP 68565 Rio de Janeiro, 21945-970 Brasil.Ph/fax: +55-21-560 8995 or 290 6626E-mail: [email protected]. Emilio Lebre La Rovere

Latin America/ArgentinaREJIMAMario Bravo 1029 piso 4 depto.A,1175 Buenos Aires, Argentina.Ph/fax: +541-963-0722E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]. Roque Pedace, Marcelo Alvarez

INFORSE Secretariat:PO Box 2059, 1013, Copenhagen K, Denmark.Ph: +45-3312 1307, fax: +45-3312 1308E-mail: [email protected]://www.inforse.dk

INFORSE in BriefInternational Network for SustainableEnergy (INFORSE) is a world-wide net-work of 157 NGOs formed at the GlobalForum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992.

INFORSE’s common goal is toachieve long-term sustainable energy de-velopment and phase out of nuclear andfossil energy consumption.

INFORSE is open to membership forindependent organisations. Membershipis free of charge.

The member organisations and the re-gional coordinator(s) organise INFORSEmeetings and initiatives including work-shops, campaigns, and projects.

INFORSE lobbies for and developprojects to promote sustainable energysolutions. All activities seek to protect the

environment and to achieve developmentbased on decentralised approaches.

INFORSE participated in several UNevents and their parallel NGO Forums in-cluding: Climate Convention (UNCCC)Conferences, Conferences of the Conven-tion to Combat Dersertification (UN-CCD), follow-up of the Rio Conference(UNGASS and CSD), World Conferenceon Women’95, the World Summit for So-cial Development ’95, UNESCO WorldSolar Summit’96, UNESCO Conferenceon Adult Education ’97. INFORSE hasConsultative Status to the UN.

INFORSE publishes this quarterlynewsletter “Sustainable Energy News”and the annual “World-wide SustainableEnergy Contact List”.

Please feel free to contact us.

Eco-Centers Micro Credit - INFORSE

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