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Clean vs. ‘Clean Enough’: How the Clean Cooking Industry Can Overcome its Struggles to Scale
Access to clean cookstoves and fuels has only increased by 0.5% per year, well below all global development goals. To turn this trajectory around, Jessica Alderman at Envirofit International argues that the industry needs to resolve a high-stakes debate: Should it focus only on the cleanest solutions that have the greatest health and environmental impacts? Or should it fund and promote technologies that have lesser impacts - but that are more affordable and likelier to reach the people who need them most?
- Categories
- Energy, Health Care, Technology
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Smart Gas Cooking Seeks to Break African Cities’ Dirty Charcoal Habit
So far, efforts to introduce cleaner stoves that burn less fuel have been led mainly by aid agencies working in rural parts of Africa and Asia - and have had limited success. But a new push by businesses targeting urban areas aims to shift the dial.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Africa Is Awash In Sunshine – Energy That Will Help Empower The Continent
“Africa is not burdened with telecom lines and as a result, it went straight to mobile communications,” says Chris Kemper, chief executive of Palmetto, a clean energy and social-impact company, in a talk with this writer. “The same thing can be said for clean energy and clean technology.”
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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‘The Marketmakers’ – How Rural Bangladesh Became a Model for Solar Enterprise
It took just a decade for more than 15 million villagers to gain access to the benefits of solar home systems in Bangladesh. How did this happen? Nancy Wimmer explains the process in her new book, "The Marketmakers — Solar for the Hinterland of Bangladesh." While Bangladesh's success would be difficult to replicate in other countries, Wimmer is convinced it is not solely determined by a country or product. Rather, she says it stems from a market-oriented approach carried out by rural entrepreneurs, as well as the leadership and resources to see it through.
- Categories
- Energy, Entrepreneurship
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To Electrify Myanmar, Build The Grid From The Outside In
In the context of the 21st century, we can’t end poverty without ending energy poverty.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Press Release: UNDP and IRENA Join Forces to Advance Low-Carbon Energy Transition
Under the cooperation, the organizations will explore joint initiatives aimed at accelerating the implementation of the Agenda 2030, and stimulating renewable energy investments in developing countries.
- Categories
- Energy
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Bringing Biogas to Billions: Why PAYGO Could be the Key to Scaling the Industry
Small scale biogas digesters (biodigesters) convert animal manure into biogas for clean cooking and high-quality organic fertilizer. The technology is hardly new – in fact, it's been around for 150 years. But for farmers to benefit on a mass scale, companies will need to lean on new technology and innovative business models, writes Ben Jeffreys, CEO of ATEC* Biodigesters International. That means learning the lessons of the off-grid solar industry and devising new pay-as-you-go models to enable the inclusion of low-income customers.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy
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Fintech and Cleantech… an Odd Couple or a Perfect Marriage?
Startups focused on non-emitting-generation resources were once lauded as the next big cash cow, but the sector’s hype quickly got away from reality.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Finance, Technology
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