The Charcoal Project » Carbon Offsets

Webinar: All about new carbon finance methodology for cookstoves 27/9/11

Jean Kim Chaix — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 17:22:13 +0000

Are you interested in learning more technical details on how to access carbon finance for your cookstove project? Have you heard about The Gold Standard (GS) Foundation’s new methodology for cookstove projects, and want to learn more about it?

If so, register today for the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air (PCIA) webinar entitled "Innovations in Version 3 of the Gold Standard Methodology" on September 27, 2011.

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The journey to sustainable solid biomass fuel production & consumption begins June 15th

Jean Kim Chaix — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 18:40:28 +0000

On June 15th, representatives from new energy companies, climate finance, governments, development agencies, multi-lateral banks, and NGOs will meet in Arusha, Tanzania, to begin discussions on a blueprint that will make woodfuels, charcoal, and other solid biomass fuels a truly renewable energy choice for developing countries.

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Of Pretty Women, the cleanness of clean cookstoves, and the sysiphian pursuit of financial promises

Jean Kim Chaix — Thu, 12 May 2011 15:09:29 +0000

When it comes to "clean cookstoves," to paraphrase a former US president, "it depends what your definition of the word "clean" is...

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A perspective on Carbon Markets for Wood Energy Projects

Jean Kim Chaix — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 22:23:41 +0000

Last month at the PCIA conference in Peru we had a chance to learn about the very interesting work GIZ (the German Development Agency) is doing on sustainable and renewable solid biomass initiatives in developing countries. The representatives we met (Marlis, Lisa, and Verena) were kind enough to share valuable information, like this paper on Carbon Markets for Wood Energy Projects. This one pager is of value for all those who are considering incorporating carbon-finance components into their wood-for-energy projects. Here are some of the highlights we picked out: * In most least developed countries wood is currently used on … Continue reading →

Mega-million $ partnership to kickstart clean cookstove deployment in Nigeria

Jean Kim Chaix — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 18:47:48 +0000

Hi, folks, we received the following communication from Simon Bishop of Shell Foundation: Good morning Shell Foundation is pleased to announce today a new cross-sector partnership that aims to tackle Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) at scale in Nigeria. The partnership between ourselves, Envirofit International (a global clean cookstoves business) and C-Quest Capital (a US-base carbon finance business) aims to deliver two million improved cook-stoves to Nigerian households over the next seven years. It will do this by using carbon credits to make cookstoves more affordable in Nigeria. Clean cookstoves are the most viable solution to IAP – the toxic smoke that … Continue reading →

Financing the clean cookstove revolution the green way

Jean Kim Chaix — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 16:10:35 +0000

Financing the large-scale deployment of clean cookstoves A Q&A with Evan Haigler of Impact Carbon In late September 2010, several dozen men and women from around the world crammed into a small room at the United Nation’s Foundation’s headquarters in midtown New York to discuss how to deliver 100 million cookstoves by 2020 to the homes of the 3 billion people worldwide who lack access to clean safe energy. The challenge had been laid down a few days earlier by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she announced the creation of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, a $50 million … Continue reading →

IPCC to feature role of Black Carbon in next report

Jean Kim Chaix — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 17:10:09 +0000

Speaking Tuesday at a briefing on Capitol Hill, EPA officials said that “black carbon” (BC), an important factor in global warming and major by-product of solid biomass fuel and dirty diesel emissions, would figure prominently in a International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report due out next year. BC emissions can also seriously affect the health of residents in households that depend on burning wood, charcoal, animal dung, and agricultural residues for home cooking and heating. Another scientific paper due out early next year is likely to cast much needed light on the role of BC on global warming. The … Continue reading →

PAPER: Under ideal conditions, burning biomass is GHG neutral.

Jean Kim Chaix — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 16:50:05 +0000

“If biomass is harvested in a sustainable way so that its long-term stocks are not depleted, and (it is) burned under ideal combustion conditions, it is effectively GHG (Greenhouse Gas) neutral.” from “Greenhouse Gas Implications of Household Energy Technology in Kenya.” American Chemical Society/Environmental Science & Technology. (2003) Authors: Rob Bailis, Majid Ezzati, and Daniel M. Kammen. The statement above would be music to the ears of solid biomass booster the world over were it not for one tiny, almost insignificant word: ideal. The lead-in to the full statement goes: “Under optimal conditions, biomass combustion results almost entirely in the … Continue reading →

Kyoto CO2 trade may end if no climate deal-UN study

Jean Kim Chaix — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 20:40:38 +0000

LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - The Kyoto Protocol's clean development mechanism (CDM) may end from 2013 unless the world can agree and put into force a new round of carbon emissions targets before then, a U.N. paper has said.

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So, you wanna deploy cookstoves to every corner of the world? McKinsey & Co. has one word for you: networks

Jean Kim Chaix — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:33:31 +0000

In a meeting this week with the folks from Acumen Fund, we were asked what was holding up the large-scale deployment of improved cookstove worldwide?

The truth is there is no simple answer. Take your pick: low levels of capital investments, tariff barriers, lack of incentive policies, fluctuation price of oil, poor social marketing, instability in the carbon credit market, absence of standards, etc.

Looking for solutions, the folks at McKinsey and Co. think stakeholders would do well to focus on networking and sharing resources.

Listen to the Harvard Business Review and they'll tell you the US needs to spend more time investing in social entrepreneurs in the developing world and less playing the role of incubator.

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