This month, IEI releases its 2003- 2004 Activities Report, describing the main projects, training and advocacy efforts implemented globally and regionally. The report also brings the IEI's newest multi-year, global project Global Clean Cooking Fuel Initiative (GCCFI) which has the objective of accelerating global universal access and phasing out of direct use of solid fuels for cooking and heating.

The last issue of Energy for Sustainable Development brings articles which assess the impact of reforms on the poor in the developing regions and determine what approaches are more successful in safeguarding their access to electricity.

The newsletter also brings activities carried out by IEI's Regional Energy Initiative offices (REIs), such as (1) a study made by REI-Asia that estimates the costs per unit of electricity from the existing and proposed nuclear power plants in India and compares them with other electricity generation plants, such as coal-based thermal; (2) a paper prepared by a master's student supported by REI - Africa in the University of Cape Town which explores the electricity consumption of households using pre-paid metering; (3) a technical evaluation of electricity consumption of Brazilian television sets in standby mode in order to support the Brazilian energy efficiency law in introducing minimum energy efficiency standards for electrical appliances; and lastly (4) an overview of the second annual meeting held in Brazil between REI-Latin America and its partners of the Fredskorpset exchange project Sustainable Energy Solutions in North and South.

The REI-Latin American office is participating in the organization of an important regional event that will help to identify opportunities for collaboration in energy R&D activities between Brazil and South American countries.

José Goldemberg

IEI has released its activities report for 2003 and 2004. It brings the main activities carried out globally and regionally/locally with funding provided by the Dutch Foreign Ministry, the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (USA). In addition to this core IEI support, the REI offices also receive a modest level of project-specific sponsorship from other sources.

The recently released special issue of Energy for Sustainable Development on power sector reform and its impact on the poor comprises articles prepared by institutions in the Global Network on Energy for Sustainable Development (GNESD), from which Stephen Karekezi, a board member of IEI, takes part of the steering committee. The GNESD, created in 2000 at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), promotes sustainable development through policies and solutions that expand the poor's access to sound energy services. The articles are based on a study undertaken by GNESD's ''Energy Access'' Working Group, which has been assessing the impact of reforms on the poor in the developing regions and determining what approaches are more successful in safeguarding their access to energy.

An estimation of the costs per unit of electricity from the existing and proposed nuclear (pressurised heavy water reactor) power plants in India has been made for the purpose of comparison with other (such as coal-based thermal) electricity generation plants. While such costs have been estimated earlier, the need for newer analysis has arisen because of the proposals to build more reactors. An additional reason for the renewed study is that the proposed capital costs of nuclear plants and those actually incurred for the construction (including the overruns due to delays and other problems) are not available to the public, so that comparisons are not possible. A paper entitled "The Economics of Nuclear Power from Indian Heavy Water Reactors" has been prepared for publication.

The paper Household Consumption of Electricity: An estimation of the price and income elasticity for pre-paid users in South Africa was prepared by a master's student supported by REI - Africa at the University of Cape Town.

This paper explores the electricity consumption of households using pre-paid metering technology. A cross sectional analysis is used based on a comprehensive set of household information, which not only details household characteristics, expenditure and income; but also the electricity price facing a household. Although a wide range of determinants of electricity demand are analyzed, particular attention is paid to estimates of income and price elasticity of demand. The price elastic demand can be explained by the apparent strong substitutability of electricity with other household fuels. This suggests that any change in the price of electricity is likely to have a large impact on the electricity consumption of pre-paid users. Estimates of price and income elasticity, such as the ones presented in this paper are crucial as they begin to allow policy makers to understand the relationship between price and consumption in the context of this new way to tariff household consumers in South Africa.

The overall objective of this project is to support the Brazilian energy efficiency law in analyzing technical aspects to introduce minimum limits of energy efficiency for domestic electrical appliances. In particular, the project's objectives are: technical evaluation of Brazilian televisions regarding the electricity consumption on standby mode.

The main finding of the study shows that there is a big standby power discrepancy between different analogical television brands sold in the Brazilian market, ranging from 1,78W to 8,1W (metered in laboratory), and international energy efficiency standards, such as Energy-Star and Eco-Label, which recommend standby power levels less than 1W.

In addition, besides the importance of evaluating the standby power consumption for television sets, the results also show the need to evaluate its consumption in on mode.

From 11/11/2004 to 14/11/2004, the project partners of the Fredskorpset exhange project Sustainable Energy Solutions in North and South met in Brazil for their second annual meeting. The partners include the host International Energy Initiative (through its REI-LA), Sweco Grøner AS from Norway, and TaTEDO from Tanzania. Apart from the evaluation of the partnership, the meeting involved various other activities such as technical and cultural visits in São Paulo and in the nearby regions of Campinas, the city where the Latin American IEI's office is situated.

The meeting concluded that the first exchange was successful and highly contributed to achieving Fredskorpset's objectives such as creation of contacts and cooperation among individuals and organizations based on solidarity, equality and reciprocity; reciprocal learning and promotion of a greater participation of developing countries in international cooperation. It also met the partners' objectives of laying the foundation for a long-term cooperation, building staff capacity, cultural understanding and organizational development.

The event has the objective of discussing a possible research agenda in energy topics that can be undertaken cooperatively between Brazil and South American partners. Researchers, energy companies and governmental officials will participate in the event.

This event is largely sponsored by the Brazilian Science and Research Council's PROSUL program. This program has the purpose of promoting technical and scientific cooperation between Brazil and other South American countries.

The REI-LA office is reponsible for the organization of the event together with the Centre for Energy Planning Studies at the University of Campinas

email: iei-la@iei-la.org

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