This third issue follows two special issues which dealt with biomass energy: international bioenergy trade and biofuels for transport. Six of the 10 articles and short articles in the current issue also deal with biomass energy.

The other 3 articles report the results of three experimental studies, in potentially important areas: improved charcoal-making, biomass residues for tobacco-curing in Thailand, and high- rate anaerobic treatment of industrial waste water in Tamil Nadu, India.

IEI would also like to invite you to subscribe to the journal Energy for Sustainable Development (ESD), which is unique among energy journals for its focus on efficient energy production and use in developing countries.

Energy use in transport has been growing at a faster pace than in other areas, a trend that is likely to continue, both in industrial and in developing countries. Transport is also responsible for a major share of air pollution and for a very large share of premature death and injuries through traffic accidents. While some countries have made significant progress in reducing air pollution and traffic accidents, others are lagging far behind, and all can do much more. Transport infrastructure involves large investments, as well as land requirements. While the diversity of problems associated with transport is large, so also is the range of options available to resolve these problems: from narrowly-focused solutions such as vehicle fuel efficiency and switching to renewable fuels, to promoting public transport and inter-modal shifts in freight traffic, changing urban design to reduce the need for transport, etc.

Past articles in Energy for Sustainable Development have focused only on some energy aspects of transport. We believe that the issues involved in sustainable transport are often interrelated.

We therefore invite all interested authors to submit abstracts or full papers in any area relevant to sustainable transport by the end of January 2007, preferably sooner. The special issue will be published in June 2007.

Abstracts or full papers should be e-mailed to the Technical Editor, Gautam S. Dutt, at gdutt@fibertel.com.ar.

For those submitting full papers, please click here for authors' guidelines.

With more aggressive policies for reducing power waste at both the production and the consumption level and promoting new renewable energy sources, Brazil could cut by 38 % the projected power generation growth by 2020 (equal to a saving of 293 TWh, avoidance of 74.6 GW of installed capacity and a saving of US$ 15 billion). In turn, this would create up to 8 million new jobs and stabilize Brazil's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to 2004 levels by 2020.

These are the main conclusions of the report "A sustainable electricity blueprint for Brazil", whose main objective is to provoke discussions among policymakers and society on alternative, cost- effective scenarios for wider introduction of energy efficiency measures and renewable energy sources in the Brazilian power sector.

The report was commissioned to the Latin American regional office of the International Energy Initiative (REI-LA) by the WWF-Brazil as part of the WWF- International's global campaign PowerSwitch!.

The full report in Portuguese can be downloaded from the WWF-Brazil's website.

The I Workshop Energy-Efficient Lighting in Latin America: discussing strategies, took place in Brazil in November 27 – 28, 2006. It was the first one held in Latin America as part of the activities of the Efficient Lighting Initiative – ELI.

Its main objective was to elaborate a plan of action for an efficient dissemination of lighting-efficiency standards and technologies in countries or regions of Latin-America.

Representatives from public and private companies, certification laboratories, distribution utilities and their association, lamp manufacturers and their association and ministries from several Latin American countries were present at the workshop.

Soon the conclusions and the proceedings will be available at ELI website.

The ELI is an international program funded by the GEF (Global Environmental Facility). The program seeks to promote energy-efficient lighting on a global scale, through means such as providing a transparent and simple mechanism for certifying the quality and efficiency of lighting products sold worldwide.

The workshop, commissioned by the ELI and held in the city of Campinas (São Paulo State - Brazil), was organized by the Latin American office of the International Energy Initiative – IEI and by the Interdisciplinary Energy Planning Group of the University of Campinas – NIPE/UNICAMP . The event was sponsored by ELI and CPFL (a Brazilian electricity distribution utility).

The Regional Energy Iinitiative - Asia, IEI, was invited to participate in a collaborative research project on Asian environmental policy, with special reference to innovation, transformation, and challenges. While the other contributors worked on a range of topics to which environmental issues pertain (e.g. urban infrastructure development, water governance and catchment management, etc.), REI-Asia have studied the growing electricity sector and its environmental impacts. REI-Asia have focused on environmental policies in China and India, the continent’s largest and arguably most dynamic countries.

REI-Asia's analytical framework consists of identification of environmental policies and regulations affecting electricity generation, assessment of problems faced when implementing these policies and regulations, and finally recommendations for surmounting the barriers encountered. REI-Asia have noted that environmental issues in the electricity sector have been addressed both directly, through laws and governmental orders, and indirectly, through policies on alternative technologies and efficiency improvement. However, successful environmental regulation has been hampered by the compelling need for energy in these large developing countries, and the consequent rapid increase in electricity generation. Solutions to these problems therefore lie in combinations of cleaner and more efficient generation, appropriate control equipment, and more efficient end-use devices. Among factors which facilitate effective adoption of these solutions are state prioritisation, fiscal and financial incentives, appropriate technological choices, institutional involvement, integrated planning, public participation and international commitments.

For the manuscript submitted to the Journal of Environment & Development, please, Click here. The abstract of the published article, Environmental Reform in the Electricity Sector: China and India, Journal of Environment & Development (A Review of International Policy), Volume 15, Number 2, June 2006, pp.158-183, is available here.

IEI has launched the Global Clean Cooking Fuels Initiative (GCCFI) to bring about a worldwide shift to clean fluid fuels for cooking and heating by 2020. In relation to this, it is interesting to note the work and ambitions of the HEDON Cooking and Carbon Special Interest Group (CarbonSIG). The latter was established on September 4, 2006, and connects those engaged with greenhouse gas emission reduction, carbon sequestration, and climate adaptation in relation to the household energy sector.

In addition to causing indoor air pollution, representing a severe threat to health and being inefficient, the traditional burning of biomass and coal for household use results in net carbon emissions to the atmosphere. However, a number of factors under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) make it virtually impossible for household energy-related projects to receive funding via the mechanism.

As a response to this, CarbonSIG has made a campaign to enable stove projects becoming eligible for climate funding in the future. The group is also running a project that seeks to provide an assessment of the opportunities for carbon trading to support Improved Cooking Stoves (ICS) programmes. There are a number of technical, institutional and information barriers to overcome in order for these programmes to be eligible for CDM investments.

Read more about HEDON and the CarbonSIG.

Kenya hosted the second meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP/MOP 2), in conjunction with the twelfth session of the Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention (COP 12), in Nairobi from 6 to 17 November 2006.

The Kyoto Protocol obliges rich countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. The two weeks of talks of some 190 countries were, amongst others, meant to set out next steps to work out a stronger pact beyond 2012, when the current Kyoto commitment period ends.

Decisions and other actions taken by COP 12 and COP/MOP 2 are available in the Conference's website.

This section provides news and information about relevant initiatives regarding the progress of sustainable energy efforts from the developing world. IEI is currently establishing a network of contact persons for dissemination of relevant sustainable energy news. This is a great opportunity to make projects from various parts of the world known. Please let us know if you are interested in being such a contact person. We will be happy to acknowledge names of all contributors in the newsletter.

Developing the Market for Improved Woodstoves in Uganda
From Joseph Arineitwe at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda

In Uganda, much of the cooking is done by burning wood or charcoal in traditional stoves or fireplaces, exposing women and children to harmful gases and smoke. The link between indoor air pollution and acute respiratory infections (ARI) is well documented. ARI is recognized as a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in Uganda, especially among young children, and Uganda’s under-5 mortality rate ranks in the bottom quartile worldwide.

According to the Ugandan Ministry of Energy, poverty will continue to make biomass the primary source of household energy for the foreseeable future. Despite Uganda’s overwhelming dependence on biomass fuels, it has one of the least developed stove markets in East Africa.

In response to this, the Urban Community Development Association (UCODEA) began to experiment with developing an efficient wood stove to meet domestic needs. Out of five initial designs, the roc ket stove proved to be the most promising. UCODEA’s design criteria require the stove to be efficient, affordable to local families, reliable with low maintenance requirements, reproducible, safe, portable and able to cook local foods. According to Joseph Arineitwe from Makerere University in Kampala, preliminary tests on these wood stoves have shown a 60% fuel saving and emission reductions. Together, UCODEA, Aprovecho, and the Center for Entrepreneurship in International Health and Development (CEIHD) have decided to join forces to adapt, develop, and disseminate the rocket stove in Kampala and beyond. Read more

Renewable energy project for the Galapagos Islands
From Carlos Jacomé UNDP Consultant Ministry of Energy and Mines, Ecuador

Financially supported by the Global Environmental Facility, the Ecuadorian Government has started the project Ecuador: Renewable Energy for Electricity Generation – Technical Assistance for Renewable Electrification of the Galapagos Islands. The project, being implemented by the UNDP, Ecuador Country Office, and executed by the Ministry of Energy, aims at removing barriers to the development and utilization of non-conventional technologies for electricity generation, initially in Galapagos Islands but eventually in the country as a whole. The project activities have been designed on the basis of findings and conclusions of prior GEF activity meant to identify barriers that hamper the deployment of renewable energy technologies in the islands.

The project should be thought as a laboratory for testing alternative options of hybrid wind/PV/diesel systems, assessing different arrangements concerning both joint-ventures associations and power purchase agreements, and evaluating diverse operation and maintenance schemes.

The project will be carried out on each of the four Galapagos' inhabited islands of Floreana, Isabela, San Cristobal and Santa Cruz. In all cases, the existing diesel generators will undergo a rehabilitation process and will operate in a hybrid mode to meet any eventually shortfall in electricity generation resulting from unfavorable solar/wind conditions.

More details can be found in the following links:

http://www.menergia.gov.ec/secciones/electrific acion/dereeProyectos.html
http://www.elecgalapagos.com.ec/
http://www.galapagoswind.org/

Ericsson's Biofuel-powered cellular network
From Carmen Armstrong, Regional Manager of the REEEP Secretariat for Southern Africa

Ericsson has developed a "green" macro base station powered completely by biomass. The base station is targeted at rural areas in developing countries that have no access to the main electrical grid, making it more a practical project than an environmental one.

Read more

Contac Persons List

Carlos Jàcome, UNDP Consultant for the Ministry of Energy and Mines (Equador)
Carmen Armstrong, Regional Manager of the REEEP Secretariat for Southern Africa (South Africa)
Dr. M.A. Rashid Sarkar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Bangladesh)
John Ledger, Sustainable Energy Society of Southern Africa (South Africa)
Joseph Arineitwe Ndemere, Makarere University (Uganda)
Lu Zeng'an (China)
Lucy M. Khalema Redeby, Khalema Redeby Consultancy Services (Lesotho)
Pham Hoang Luong, Institute of Heat Engineering and Refrigeration, Department of Thermal Energy Equipment, Hanoi University of Technology (Vietnam)
Prof. Dieter Holm, ISES Africa (South Africa)
Prof. Sugathapala, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Moratuwa (Sri Lanka)
Sibusiso Mimi, REEEP Secretariat for Southern Africa (South Africa)
Solomon Quansah, Ghana Solar Energy Society - GHASES (Ghana)
Stephen Karekezi, Director of the AFREPREN and IEI's board member (Kenya)