Energypedia News
New Finance and Funding Portal Live!
We are pleased to introduce the new Financing and Funding Portal, your gateway to information on the funding and financing possibilities that are available to bridge gaps in the financial sphere for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.
We invite you to browse the portal and appreciate your feedback as well as contributions to the growing portal.
Fundraising & Public Relations Internship Position
Energypedia is currently looking for a dynamic and driven intern for Fundraising and Public Relations activities. The internship is for a duration of 2-4 months in Eschborn, Germany.
Interested candidates can send their resumes to robert.heine@energypedia.info.
Energy Sector News
Sustainable Energy Project Support Call on Pico and Micro Hydro Power in Southern and South East Asia
Starting this year, WISIONS initiative is introducing a new structure to Sustainable Energy Project Support (SEPS), its supporting scheme. From 2013 onwards, SEPS calls will target specific regions and specific technologies. This will align SEPS with the WISIONS regional partnerships and networks. As a result of this change, instead of one annual global call, SEPS will now launch 2 to 3 regional and technology-specific calls per year. In addition to supporting technical project implementation, SEPS also supports knowledge exchanges within the target region.
The first SEPS call in 2013 focuses on the region of Southern Asia and South East Asia and on pico and micro hydro power (P/MHP) technologies.
The deadline for submission of applications is 30th September 2013, p.m. GMT.
- Find more information on the application process, background and criteria here: SEPS Energy Projects
Alliance for Rural Electrification Launches Energy Storage Campaign
The Alliance for Rural Electrification (ARE) has launched the Energy Storage Campaign. This initiative aims to inform decision makers in developing countries and emerging markets on the added value of using storage technologies in off-grid renewable energy solutions and as grid backup for rural electrification.
The campaign is based on the paper Using Batteries to Ensure Clean, Reliable and Affordable Universal Electricity Access .This guide paper includes information and recommendations for decision makers, applications of the different types of battery technologies, as well as successful case studies from India, Bangladesh, Jordan, Peru and Mozambique.
Three main benefits of energy storage are mentioned:
- Energy Storage can be used for grid backup and off-grid systems and can play two major roles: short-term and/or long-term management.
- A vital part of energy storage is based on different chemical battery families. Their specific features are based on versatile technologies that can be designed to play a wide range of roles perfectly fitting local conditions.
- By proper design and maintenance, the system’s performance can be improved and this also leads to economic savings over its lifetime, which puts higher upfront costs for energy storage technologies into perspective.
- ARE Press Release
New Energy Publications
Effectiveness of Mini-Grids and Barriers to their Wider Deployment
The Asian Development Bank's (ADB) Energy for All Partnership has published a study that examines the effectiveness of and barriers to mini-grid deployment.
The report suggests that mini-grid deployment must be rethought with regards to scale and deployed as clusters, in order to achieve a scale of supply, demand and activity which can positively impact on their aggregate economic feasibility.
It concludes that a viable, replicable and scalable model for mini-grid deployment must bring together both public and private finance, offer tailored technical solutions to community conditions, and successfully aggregate customers to take advantage of economies of scale for supply, operation and maintenance and long-term sustainability of the systems, among other findings.
Biomass Potential in Africa
A new report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the German Biomass Center (DBFZ) highlights the disparate results of science assessing biomass potential in Africa.
The study on Biomass Potential in Africa has compiled recent studies assessing bioenergy potential for the continent, compared methodologies, benchmarked results and identified the key parameters for these assessments. The report highlights the need to develop standard methods to provide meaningful estimates of the African bioenergy potential.
The study represents a first step to bring clarity to decision makers about the information available, which has to be expanded in order to make use of the continent’s considerable bioenergy resources in a sustainable manner.
Indonesia - Toward Universal Access to Clean Cooking
In its new report “Indonesia – Toward Universal Access to Clean Cooking”, the World Bank brings to attention its findings on the efforts to foster change towards cleaner cooking methods in Indonesia.
Indonesia’s household cooking fuels have undergone a dramatic shift in recent years, largely due to the governments successful Kerosene-to-Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Conversion Program. However, in poorer rural areas the impact has been limited and still about 40 percent of the population (about 25 million households) uses traditional biomass for cooking. This results in 165,000 premature deaths each year. Switching to LPG, electricity, and other modern fuels would be the most effective way to achieve clean cooking solutions. However, these fuels are expensive, requiring costly stoves and delivery infrastructure that are beyond reach for most rural households.
The report presents an overview of household cooking fuels in Indonesia, policy changes and other factor that influence fuel choices as well as identifying gaps in institutional strengthening that future intervention program can fill. It concludes with recommendations for implementation strategy, including an innovative financing approach and the next steps in assisting Indonesia to move forward toward universal access to clean cooking solutions by 2030.
Transforming Household Energy Practices among Charcoal Users in Lusaka, Zambia
The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) has published a working paper titled ‘Transforming Household Energy Practices among Charcoal Users in Lusaka, Zambia: A User-Centered Approach'. The paper examines the Zambian household charcoal-use practices, capacities to change, and needs and wants of users that could facilitate or prevent such change.
Household charcoal use in in Sub-Saharan Africa is environmentally unsustainable and a major health risk. The paper finds that although respondents are culturally attached to traditional cooking methods, they do recognize the economic and health related shortcomings of the method but were economically unable to use electric cooking, the only other option most were aware of.
SEI poses three options to reduce charcoal use in Lusaka:
- Designing efficient cook stoves physically resembling stoves that are already in use locally.
- Introducing inexpensive solar water heating devices to lower demand for charcoal to heat water.
- Restructuring electricity prices to offer lower prices to the poor.
On the supply side, the study finds that local stove makers cannot afford to invest time or capital in designing more efficient cooking alternatives for their customers.
International Off-grid Renewable Energy Conference 2012: Key Findings and Recommendations
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has published key findings and recommendations on the International Off-grid Renewable Energy Conference (IOREC) held in Accra, Ghana, on 1-2 November 2012.
The report presents the key findings and recommendations that emerged from the roundtable discussions during IOREC. Some recommendations include:
- Off-grid renewable energy systems, stand-alone and min-grids should be integrated into the mainstream rural electrification strategies. There is a need to shift deployment approaches from the prevalent project-by-project approach, to one that focuses on the creation of sustainable environment that facilitates large scale deployment.
- Facilitative regulatory and institutional frameworks which are currently lacking need to be in place along with enabling policies and sustainable sources of finance for such projects.
- Link to Report
- Press Release
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Template:Wl-publish: 2013-08-29 11:23:32 +0200
