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South Africa’s Energy Schizophrenia: Why Hasn’t the Country Achieved Affordable Power for the Poor?
There are vast extremes between the energy rich and poor in South Africa, despite the country's great potential to make energy universally available. A new report by Impact Amplifier examines the reasons behind the discrepancies and describes five energy access business models for low-income communities: biogas, solar home systems, mini/micro grids, solar kiosks and solar appliances.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment
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Solar provider and telco team up to offer affordable smartphone in Rwanda
Mobisol, a German provider of smart high quality solar solutions, and MTN, Rwanda’s leading mobile telecommunications company, have joined hands to offer customers a high performance Tecno smart phone to be purchased on an attractive and affordable instalment payment scheme.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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A Tale of Two Islands: Solar Helps Indian Resort Shine
The author, Simmi Sareen, visited an island chain in the Indian Ocean. One island, Kadmat, has a solar plant that provides all the comforts travelers have come to expect. Another, Thinnakara, runs on undependable diesel power. Solar is the key that has enabled Kadmat's tourism-based economy to hum, Sareen says, and Thinnakara's could, too, if it would transition from diesel.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment
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Social Business Roundup: Biblical Impact Investing, Salt from Solar in Kenya and Invoices of Inclusion
In this week's social business roundup: “Biblically responsible investing” is offering another path to the predominately secular space of SRI, one of Kenya's largest solar projects could be a model for rural power and how one company's approach to the tedious process of invoicing customers could lead to more financial inclusion in the Philippines.
- Categories
- Energy, Health Care, Investing
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Still Helping Nonprofits Finance Solar Power Systems, But With A Simpler Funding Model
When readers last encountered CollectiveSun three years ago, the San Diego-based social enterprise had recently launched. Its mission: to help small nonprofits finance solar projects. Since that time, the goal hasn’t changed, but the financing model has.
- Categories
- Energy, Impact Assessment
- Tags
- social enterprise, solar
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In race to clean energy, emerging nations seize bigger role – World Bank
LONDON, Feb 15 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A range of developing countries have emerged as leaders in a global race to switch to sustainable energy by 2030, by boosting their policies to help improve people's access to reliable, affordable and clean power, the World Bank said on Wednesday.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Social Business Roundup: Scrutinizing a $30M Cookstove Study, the Limits of Silicon Valley and TV from the Sun
A $30 million study looking into using liquified petroleum gas in clean cookstoves has some 'stovers' heated up, why apps won't stop pandemics and why the time may be right for solar TV. It's all in our weekly roundup of social business news.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Health Care, Impact Assessment, Technology
- Tags
- solar
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East Africa’s clean energy boom
Africa is very much in the firing line when it comes to climate change so the recently adopted Paris Agreement – where developed and developing countries alike are required to limit their carbon emissions to keep the global temperature increase to below two degrees celsius – is positive news, although the devil is still in the detail.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- renewable energy, solar