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Haiti

Relieving Haiti’s homefuel crisis through ethanol

Most people in the United States, Europe, or Brazil think of ethanol as a heavily subsidized corn- or sugar-based liquid biofuel that is often mixed with gasoline to power so-called “flex-fuel” vehicles.

But for the 3 billion people who depend on wood, charcoal, or animal dung for their household cooking or heating, ethanol means … … Well, ummm, actually, the word “ethanol” probably doesn’t mean all that much.

One plucky non-profit is hoping to change this by making locally and sustainably produced ethanol an attractive homefuel alternative to solid biomass fuels for the world’s 3 billion energy poor

Relieving Haiti’s homefuel crisis through ethanol Read More »

Haiti RFP stove announcement: Quick wins environmental health project with community benefits

We’ve received the following announcement: Dear Improved Stoves Working Group, In the framework of the Environmental Health Protection and Management platform, we would like to let you know that IOM (International Organization for Migration, not to be confused with Institute of Medicine of the National Academies) has funding available for quick wins environmental health project

Haiti RFP stove announcement: Quick wins environmental health project with community benefits Read More »

A Man, a Stove, a Mission

Nathaniel Mulcahy’s speaks with the urgency and precision of someone on a mission and with little time.

Although he has patiently and politely dedicated the better part of an hour to our conversation, I know that the moment he hangs up he will be off to complete a million tasks on his to-do list.

Mulcahy has good reasons to be in a hurry. The first one is that he cheated death seven years ago following a really bad accident, so he’s a man on his second chance.

The second reason, which is linked to the first, is that he is determined to bring energy-efficient cookstoves to the world’s 2.4 billion people who sit at the bottom of the world’s energy ladder. They are the poorest of the poor who lack access to modern fuels and must make do with wood, charcoal, and animal dung to meet their everyday energy needs.

A Man, a Stove, a Mission Read More »

Can Haiti be the new Katrina?

What will it take?

What will it take to tip the scale in favor of a global crash program to swap out three-stones-and-a-pot for energy-efficient stoves, kilns, and sustainable alternative biofuels?

Will Haiti be to bioenergy what Katrina was to climate change?

How long before Al Gore, Angelina, or Bono take on bionergy as the next big inconvenient truth? The Charcoal Project’s intelligence services tell us there is already a film in the works.  Will Bono embrace the rocket stove onstage to his fan’s delight?

Perhaps it will be the lure of a multi-billion dollar global market in carbon offsets from stoves, kilns, and briquettes programs that will do the trick. Or maybe it will be the on-the-ground realities of  implementing REDD that will undo the Gordian knot.

And the point is…?

Actually, there are four points and they boil down to this:

Can Haiti be the new Katrina? Read More »

Haiti bioenergy relief initiative: connecting projects and funders

Following last week’s disaster, there’s a good chance that the number of people in Haiti depending on wood and charcoal for their every day needs has sky-rocketed from about 70% to close to 100%. The Charcoal Project is helping by connecting energy-efficient stove/kiln producers and sustainable biomass briquettes makers with potential government, multilateral, and NGO funders. The Charcoal Project will help by collecting information and matching funders with projects that are capable of delivering immediate solutions to Haiti’s urgent bioenergy needs.

Haiti bioenergy relief initiative: connecting projects and funders Read More »

Haiti’s environment

The border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic (D.R.) is more than just a political boundary.

It also reflects the large amount of deforestation that has occurred on the Haitian side of the border.

One can easily see from satellite imagery the lush forests still thriving on the D.R. side of the border, which is in sharp contrast to the Haitian side of the border.

Haiti’s environment Read More »

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