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How to Solve Clean Cooking for 4 Billion People: The Disruptive Potential of the ‘Impact Flywheel’
Roughly 4 billion people lack access to clean cooking technology. This leads to almost four million annual deaths, particularly among women and girls, and costs the global economy approximately $2.4 trillion each year. But though these challenges have persisted despite many high-profile efforts to address them, Ben Jeffreys of ATEC* International argues that clean cooking is uniquely solvable with the right technology and business models. He discusses how the flywheel model could unlock the disruptive potential of clean cooking technologies to create sustainable change.
- Categories
- Energy, Telecommunications
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Clean Cooking is Heading for Failure: Why the Sector Needs a Real Strategy – Not Just a List of Ideas
Almost 4 billion people across 71 countries are impacted by inefficient, dirty cooking fuels. Yet as Phil LaRocco at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs points out, progress toward addressing this long-standing global crisis has stalled. He argues that the "Systems Strategy" proposed by the influential NGO the Clean Cooking Alliance and the global consulting firm Dalberg is not enough to change the sector’s current trajectory. Instead, he urges clean cooking stakeholders to embrace a coherent, ecosystem-wide strategy, outlining three potential alternative approaches.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment
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Scaling Biodigesters: How Appropriate Financing Can Help This Undervalued Technology Deliver Social and Environmental Impact
Biodigesters break down organic material to produce biogas for cooking and heating, along with fertilizer. But though these applications are extremely useful for farming households, uptake remains limited: In Africa alone, the technology could be adopted by almost 33 million households, but market penetration is less than 1% of that. Tanya Kothari of the Catalysing Agriculture by Scaling Energy Ecosystems program shares a recent study from the Shell Foundation exploring the impact biodigesters can make, while identifying the kinds of financing that could support growth in the market.
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- Agriculture, Energy
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Delivering Babies in the Dark: How Solar Systems Can Enhance Health Service Delivery in Rural Medical Facilities
The healthcare systems of vulnerable communities across the globe are being hindered by a lack of electricity, but solar technology can offer solutions, say Tokozile N. Ngwenya and John Keane at SolarAid and Hannah Blair and Siena Hacker at CLASP. They explain how the Efficiency for Access Coalition has partnered with SolarAid to equip rural health facilities in Malawi and Zambia with solar systems, and explore what needs to happen to scale these approaches.
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- Energy, Health Care
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A Cutting Edge Solution to a Global Problem: Why PAYGO Electromagnetic Induction Stoves Will Become the Leading Clean Cooking Technology by 2030
Half of the global population lacks access to clean, modern cooking services, costing the world’s economy approximately $2.4 trillion each year due to the adverse impact of open-fire cooking on health, climate and gender equality. Lachlan Harris, lead engineer at ATEC*, explains why electromagnetic induction stoves are the best option to address this issue. He explores the advantages of this technology in terms of energy efficiency, safety and scalability — and discusses how a pay-as-you-go model can help solve the affordability challenge.
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Scaling the Last-Mile Distribution Industry With Data-Driven Lending
Low-income consumers in emerging markets rely heavily on last-mile distributors (LMDs) for access to life-changing products, from smartphones to solar home systems. But as Erin Junio at Angaza explains, despite the critical role they play in the sale and distribution of these products, LMDs struggle to access the funding they need to scale. She explores the funding challenges these businesses face — and how data-driven innovations in lending are emerging to close this financing gap.
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10 Key Lessons for Solar Enterprises: Insights From SELCO’s 26 Years Doing Business in India
SELCO, a pioneering off-grid solar company based in India, just celebrated its 26th anniversary. Christine Eibs Singer at Sustainable Energy for All and Richenda Van Leeuwen at ANDE, both former board members at SELCO, share 10 lessons from the company's decades of experience in the sector, which may be helpful to other impact investors and social entrepreneurs working in off-grid energy.
- Categories
- Energy, Investing, Social Enterprise
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India Needs Over $900 Billion in Climate Finance by 2030: This Roadmap Can Mobilize Private Sector Investment
India is committed to lowering its greenhouse gas emissions, but its goals under the Paris Agreement are not ambitious enough. Simmi Sareen at GreenFunder and Shravan Shankar at the BIG Green Collaborative argue that the country must focus on increasing energy storage and efficiency, decreasing agriculture and manufacturing emissions, and adapting to a more hostile climate. They explore how innovative and scalable technology can address these priorities by 2030 — and how strengthening India’s climate financing structures can help generate the $100 billion in yearly private investment this will require.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Investing
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