Headline, June19, 2013

'''ENERGY POOR AND HOPES :

 IN BLACK AND WHITE'''

Gyanesh Pandey, an Electrical Engineer, knew that only a paradigm shift and pinnovation could work, and this is how he co-founded and proceeded: Husk Power Systems, began using second-world-war-era diesel generators fitted with biomass gassfiers that can use rice husks, which are otherwise left to rot, as a feedstock

Wires are strung on cheap, easy to repair bamboo poles to provide power to around 600 families for each generator. Husk had established, to begin with, five mini-grids in Bihar, India's poorest state, where rice is a staple crop. By 2010, it hoped to extend its coverage to 50 mini-grids. Consumers pay door-to-door collectors upfront for power, and Husk collects a 30% government subsidy for construction costs. Its pilot plants were profitable within six months, so its model was for sure, sustainable.

Emergency BioEnergy takes this approach a step farther. Its aim is to provide many entrepreneurial opportunities around energy production, said Iqbal Quadir, the Firm's founder, who was also director of the Legatum Centre for Development & Entrepreneurship at MIT. So, a cattle farmer in Bangladesh might, for example, operate a one-kilowatt generator in his hut, powered by methane from cow manure stored in his basement.

He can then cell surplus electricity to his neighbours and use the waste heat from the generator to run a refreigerator to chill milk. This preserves milk that otherwise may be spoilt, offers new source of income to the farmer   -selling power and other services, such as charging mobile phones or running an Internet Kiosk-  and provides power to others in the village.

Another project in India, aims to convert women from gathering wood, which denudes forests, to using canisters of liquefied petroleum gas, LPG. India's four state-owned regional power companies, including Baharat Petroleum Corporation, set to build a National Network of thousands of LPG powered community kitchens. Local entrepreneurs will then provide the LPG and charge villagers to use the kitchen in 15 minute increments.

Harish Hande, managing director of Selco Solar, a social entereprise in India that promotes the adoption of new energy technologies, says the important thing is not so much to deliver energy to the poor, but to provide new ways to generate income. Some years ago, Mr Hande started an incubation lab in rural Karnataka, in southern India, to bring together local customers and engineering interns from MIT, Stanford and Imperial College, London.

Therefore, even when technology and models are available, the logistics of rolling them out can be daunting. The two big challenges are providing the upfront investment for energy schemes, and building and maintaining the necessary distribution systems to enable them to reach sufficient scale. At the moment, most schemes are funded by Angel investors, foundations and social venture capital funds.

There is a vigorous debate about whether the private sector on its own can make these models work as technology improves, or whether non-proft groups are needed to fill the gaps in funding and distribution. Microfinance Institutions may seem the natural financial partners to help the poor pay for energy systems, since they are the only organisations with millions and millions of poor-customers. but teething problems are formidable and success stories are few, says Patrick Maloney of the Lemelson Foundation, which invests in clean clean-energy technologies for the poor. 

Much can be accomplished and in a very reasonable time base, if the Microfinance Institutions sincerely and professionally support clean-energy technologies and build a network for energy schemes. And then Distribution is also a problem, particularly in Africa and South Asia, where the majority of the Energy Poor Live. Infrastructure and supply chains are poor or non existent, particularly in rural areas.

But Social Enterprises are innovating in this area, too. Solar Aid, a non-profit group, specialises in setting up microfranchises to identify and train entrepreneurs. But some hurdles to bottom-up energy projects are more easily addressed, in particular, high import duties on clean-energy products in many developing countries, notably in Africa, hamper their adoption by the poor. Ethiopia, for example, imposes a 100% duty on imports of solar products, while Malawi charges a 47.5% tax on LED lighting systems.

Such taxes are almost always defended on the basis that only the rich can afford fancy technology. But then the same was said about mobile phones only a decade ago.......and look where we are NOW!

With respectful dedication to Mian Mohammed Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Good Night & God Bless!

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless