As the world's population looks set to grow to nearly 9 billion by 2040 from 7 billion now, and the number of middle-class consumers increases by 3 billion over the next 20 years, the demand for resources will rise exponentially.

The charcoal industry can generate employment and local income in both rural and urban areas.

-- Dr. Emmanuel Chidumayo, Zambia.

Now there’s a new offering, with a difference. It’s Stoveman, a four-part video series documenting the efforts of two young men who are part of a “low profit” business aimed at providing efficient rocket stoves to poor households in struggling places.

(taken from Andy Revkin, Dot Earth. The New York Times)

The positive experience from these two projects concerning the apparently clear benefits of delivering household water treatment and household energy interventions in an integrated way has important implications for future programs. Specifically, the key strategic question is whether integrated delivery should be the norm, rather than, as at present, the exception and only seen in a few innovative projects.