The IEI's Regional Energy Initiative in India (IEI-Asia) is currently involved in promoting the use of solar-powered street lighting devices.
The innovation goes beyond conventional solar-powered street-lamps: the system uses newly-designed fixtures consisting of light emitting diodes (LEDs).
While the use of solar energy results in direct electricity savings, the LED-based devices are also more energy eficient than the conventional fluorescent lamps, as they are more efficacious (in terms of luminous output per unit of energy): a 27 W fixture emits as much light as a 40 W fluorescent tube. Further, the relatively long durability of LEDs, as compared with the fluorescent options (tubular and compact), reduces the cost and the effort of replacement.
Ten LED-based solar-powered street-posts have been installed on a roadway at a new residential colony (in Mysore, Karnataka). Battery back-up has been provided for 12 hours per day, more than sufficient for dusk-to-dawn illumination. Installation is taking place for street-lighting at a new residential colony in Karnataka state.
In addition to energy conservation, peak hour shortages will be reduced.
Promotion of solar energy is the first of eight missions being developed by the Indian Government in its National Action Plan for Climate Change (NAPCC). This plan focuses on the development and use of new technologies, and their implementation through appropriate institutional mechanisms.

The Latin American Regional Office of the International Energy Initiative (IEI-LA) is taking part of the project Electricity Governance Initiative (EGI) in Brazil, sponsored by the World Resources Institute.
The results of the Brazilian EGI study was presented in May to its Executive Committee at the Ministry of the Civil House, under the Brazilian Presidency of Republic. The final EGI assessment will be released soon. The Newsletter you let you know.
Aiming to identify weaknesses in policy and regulatory processes in Brazil's power sector, the Electricity Governance Initiative (EGI) is a unique collaboration of civil society, policymakers, regulators, and other electricity sector actors to assess policy and regulation using a common framework to define "good governance". Assessments have been completed in Thailand, India, Indonesia and the Philippines.
The research and analysis is based on the EGI indicator toolkit. The Indicator Toolkit presents a framework to assess and promote good governance in the electricity sector. The indicators address four basic elements of good governance: public participation, transparency, accountability and capacity, and the extent to which they are practiced in electricity policy and regulation.
The Brazilian leading consumer advocacy group, the Institute for Consumer Defense (IDEC), is leading this effort in partnership with the IEI's Latin American office and other civil society groups (Centro Clima, WWF-Brazil and the Brazilian Network of Civil Society Organizations for Renewable Energy - RENOVE).
The EGI is a joint undertaking of the World Resources Institute (WRI) and Prayas Energy Group (India). EGI is a partnership for sustainable development registered with the UN Commission on Sustainable Development.

Brazil faces a big challenge for the next decades to seek for solutions to meet the increasing energy services requirements and at the same time meet the criteria of cost-effectiveness, security of supply, public health, universal access and environmental sustainability. To meet these criteria significative R&D efforts should be immediately initiated to meet the energy demand predicted to 2030-2050.
The IEI's Latin American office (IEI-LA) is carring out a three-month prospective study aiming to explore suitable low-carbon energy technologies to Brazil in order to subsidize the R&D policy decision-making of the Brazilian government. The project is based on the formulation of a multicriteria analysis to rank those low-carbon technologies that are more suitable to play a role in the next decades as a strategy of climate change mitigation.
This project is commissioned by the Center for Strategic Studies and Management Science, Technology and Innovation (CGEE), an entity supervised by Brazil's Ministry of Science and Technology.

IEI's Asian Regional Initiative in Bangalore has designed a field project for demonstrating energy conservation practices towards sustainable agriculture. The objective is to improve the efficiency and sustainability of agriculture in densely-populated regions, integrating benefits for farmers, the utilities, and the environment. The project focuses on energy-efficiency in using the main agricultural inputs -- water and fertilizer. Irrigation efficiency is to be improved by replacing the existing pumping devices with more efficient pumps and introducing efficient application (through sprinkler and drip systems). Simultaneously, longer-term soil improvement will be brought about through natural means (composting, crop-rotation, etc.). Demonstration will take place at small farms growing fruits and vegetables in our home state of Karnataka (in south-west India).
The project model is rare, as it applies Integrated Resource Planning to the agricultural sector, promoting (economic and environmental) least-cost options for bridging the gap between the supply and demand for agricultural inputs. It is also innovative in its integrative approach - combining efficiency of energy, water and soil use, and juxtaposing the interests of farmers, utilities and the environment. The main financial support for the implementation is being obtained from the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, as this is one of the projects they have selected for their 5th round of Sustainable Energy Project Support.

Electric utilities in Brazil are investing about 80 million dollars annually in low-income energy efficiency programs, about half of their compulsory investments in end-use programs under current regulation. Since 2007 the regulator has enforced the need to provide evaluation plans for the programs delivered.
The IEI Latin American office participated in one of these programs by designing and deploying a Measurement and Verification Plan to assess the impacts of a lighting replacement program in a Brazilian slum. Feedbacks from the evaluations performed allow the improvement in the design of new programs for low-income households.
This experience was used as an example for the paper "Measurement and verification of low income energy efficiency programs in Brazil: Methodological challenges", published at the eceee 2009 Summer Study (1-6 June 2009)
This paper presents the measurement and verification (M&V) methodology that has been developed to accommodate the characteristics of lighting and refrigerator programs that have been introduced in the Brazilian urban and peri-urban slums.

Two prominent awards were won by cooking fuel initiatives in 2009. It highlights even further the increasing importance that this crucial and concerning subject is gaining over the years. With this growing recognition of this pressing development-hindering problem, it is hopefully expected that cooking fuels and technologies reaches the top list of the international agenda.
The 2009 Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy, considered as the world's leading green energy prize, granted the Energy Champion prize to Aprovecho Research Center (USA), based in Oregon, and Shengzhou Stove Manufacturer (China). The program produces portable, cheap and efficient fuel-wood stoves in high volume production for global distribution. 60,000 stoves have been sold since 2008, with production capacity now at 50,000 stoves per month.
The Globe Sustainability Research Award 2009 was awarded to the Indian research institute NARI (Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute) for its project on development of a low grade ethanol filled cylinder, which provides energy to produce high quality light output in a lantern, as well as clean fuel for cooking systems.
It is worth mentioning that there are over 3 billion people relying on coal and traditional biomass, such as fuelwood, charcoal, agricultural waste and animal dung, to meet their energy needs for cooking. For this reason these people are subject to health burdens and childhood mortality as recognized by the WHO (World Health Organization) and several other studies.

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.

Nitrogen Dioxide Emissions Worsen Asthma Symptoms In Young Children
From Raffaella Bellanca, HEDON Household Energy Network Johns Hopkins scientists report that high levels of nitrogen dioxide from stoves can be added to the list of indoor pollutants that aggravate asthma symptoms in young preschoolers in the US. More.

Gaia Association Conducts indoor air pollution studies in Ethiopia
From Raffaella Bellanca, HEDON Household Energy Network For the last two years Gaia Association has been collecting indoor air pollution (IAP) data under the guidance CEIHD in in homes in Addis Ababa and refugee camps throughout Ethiopia. The reports can be read here.

Drop In Energy Investment Will Keep 1.6 Billion People Without Electricity
From Clair Marrey, HEDON Household Energy Network Across the board energy investment will decline severly in 2009, as the recession takes its toll. In the short term it doesn't matter as energy demand is slumping. In the coming years, though, the IEA says it "will have far-reaching and, depending on how governments respond, potentially grave effects on energy security, climate change & energy poverty". More.

New ESMAP reports discuss rural energy in Bangladesh, productive uses of electricity and improving indoor air in rural Bangladesh
From Clair Marrey, HEDON Household Energy Network Making benefits of modern energy services available in rural areas can promote decentralized development and growth & help rural residents become more productive, according to a new report released by the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP). The report "Restoring Balance: Bangladesh's Rural Energy Realities", identifies ways to improve the living standard in rural Bangladesh through better and more efficient use of energy, while creating an environment conducive to growth and poverty reduction. Download the report here.

Leonardo ENERGY Language Chapters
From Hans De Keulenaer, Leonardo ENERGY Four language chapters are at disposal: French, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish. These chapters offer part of Leonardo ENERGY's content in local languages. In addition, they provide local news and organize targeted activities. Managed by the European Copper Institute and its European network of 11 offices, Leonardo ENERGY is a website that delivers a range of virtual libraries relating to electrical energy. Incorporating the award winning Leonardo Power Quality Initiative, Leonardo ENERGY addresses a broad range of electricity & energy related topics. For each of these, Leonardo ENERGY provides its users with continuously updated articles, application notes, briefing papers, interactive training and information exchange and access to the world's experts on electrical energy and related topics. More.

Contact 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)
Donna Skordili, HEDON Household Energy Network
Dr. M.A. Rashid Sarkar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Bangladesh)
Dr. Jessie C. Elauria, University of the Philippines Los Baños
Fernando Martins Torres, Petrobras University
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)
Martin Obermaier, Energy Planning Program - COPPE - Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
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)
Raffaella Bellanca, HEDON Household Energy Network
Solomon Quansah, Ghana Solar Energy Society - GHASES (Ghana)
Stephen Karekezi, Director of the AFREPREN and IEI's board member (Kenya)