Smart Villages

TR15: Can Smart Villages help to stem biodiversity loss?

Technical Reports /

Biodiversity is important at various levels, including the economic, social and environmental. It is critically important for rural communities through the provision of ecosystem services, including energy access, a link that is often overlooked. The concept of ‘Smart Villages’ is that modern energy access in the form of sustainable renewable energy can contribute as a catalyst for development—education, health, food security, environment, productive …

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[:en]Webinar: Reaping the benefits of energy access: Gender, policy, and practice[:]

Webinars /

[:en] In this webinar, we’ll be joined by several speakers who will speak about their experience with gender & energy policy and practice in the context of rural development. We’ll be guided by questions such as – what must still be done at the policy level to ensure that women and girls have access to …

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Oorja: Turning farm waste into energy in Uttar Pradesh

Energy Entrepreneurs /

Interview with Amit Saraogi, Co-founder and CEO, Oorja Location: Delhi, India “We will be able to strengthen local economic development, increasing demand for our solution and bringing jobs into the local economy” Amit Saraogi spent part of his childhood in Uttar Pradesh, playing amidst the rice fields where his family harvested rice paddy to be processed in their …

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Smart Villages announces Nafa Naana as the Winner of the 2017 Off-grid Energy Challenge for West Africa

Press Releases /

Smart Villages is pleased to announce Nafa Naana as the winner of the Off-grid Energy Challenge for West Africa.  Nafa Naana is a social business that improves access to clean and efficient energy solutions through a microfranchised distribution network and microfinance services in Burkina Faso. Nafa Naana develops marketing and financial solutions to strengthen distribution …

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New study in Energy Policy: Indigenous community preferences for electricity services: Evidence from a choice experiment in Sarawak, Malaysia

External content /

In this new publication, two members of the Smart Villages team along with Malaysian experts from Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia explore the question of whether communities prefer a community-based model or a utility-based model. The researchers found that the most value was placed on the operator-model underpinning the …

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[:en]Webinar: A breath of fresh air: What’s next for clean cookstoves?[:]

Webinars /

[:en] Clean cookstoves have made great strides in recent years, helping to solve the huge challenge of indoor air pollution, the fourth biggest health risk in the developing world. This is an urgent task: 1.9 million people die each year around the world from exposure to smoke from cooking, and 3 billion people are using …

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WR36: Off-grid energy for rural development in Latin America and the Caribbean

Workshop Reports /

The Smart Villages Initiative organised a workshop in Panama City on 2-3 May 2017, bringingtogether significant actors in rural electrification in Latin America to discuss challenges and opportunities in rural electrification, with the aim of jointly developing recommendations to policymakers. Key topics for discussion included the role of the government versus the private sector in rural electrification, innovative options for financing such …

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BR28: Off-grid Energy for Rural Development in Latin America and the Caribbean – Policy Recommendations

Policy Briefs /

The Smart Villages Initiative organised a workshop in Panama City on 2-3 May 2017 to discuss the challenges of, and opportunities for, rural electrification in Latin America. The workshop was the conclusion of the Smart Villages Initiative’s engagement activities in the region and brought together significant actors in rural electrification with the aim of jointly developing recommendations to …

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Sunlabob: Pioneering rural electrification in southeast Asia

Energy Entrepreneurs /

Mid-90s, Lao People’s Democratic Republic. As a German electrical engineer who has recently moved to one of the poorest countries in the world, Andy Schroeter sees the potential that can be had for energy access in remote areas. At the time, Laos has an electrification rate of 30%. “Aside from cities in the Mekong Valley,” …

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Svati Bhogle, social entrepreneur and founder, Sustaintech

Energy Entrepreneurs /

Svati Bhogle, social entrepreneur and founder, Sustaintech Location: Bangalore, India “Grow, but don’t spread yourselves too thin.” How long do you blend tea leaves with milk? Should you brew the tea for a shorter few minutes after that, or turn the gas off? When Svati Bhogle, a chemical engineer by training, went from one of …

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Press release: Providing a robust enabling environment investment essential if ambitious ECOWAS clean energy mini-grid targets to be met

Press Releases /

African Energy Week workshop identifies other barriers and opportunities for achieving 2030 access targets in high-impact region Abidjan: With a high percentage of the West African population living in remote rural areas, clean energy-powered mini-grids (CMEGs) have been identified as an essential tool for achieving universal energy access. An ambitious target of building 128,000 in …

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WR35: Energy access in Nicaragua: the nexus between financial mechanisms and energy policies

Workshop Reports /

The Smart Villages Initiative, jointly with the Academy of Sciences of Nicaragua (ACN) and the University of Central America (UCA), organised a national workshop in Matagalpa, Nicaragua on 27-28 April 2017 in order to explore the major challenges to, and opportunities for, achieving electricity access for rural and isolated communities to support productive processes and …

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The link between access to energy, financial mechanisms, and energy policies in Nicaragua

Workshops /

The Smart Villages Initiative, together with the Central American University (UCA) and the Nicaraguan Academy of Sciences (ACN), held the local workshop “The link between access to energy, financial mechanisms, and energy policies in Nicaragua”. The event took place from 27 to 28 April 2017 at the Selva Negra Resort Hotel in the mountainous area …

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BR27: Energy access in Nicaragua – financial mechanisms and energy policies

Policy Briefs /

Nicaragua’s energy sector is facing one of the most important challenges of its history in terms energy infrastructure development and electricity access. As a result of substantial investments in grid extension and strengthening of distribution and transmission systems, official figures indicate that electrification rates increased from 47 percent in 2002 to 80 percent in 2014. …

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East Africa Energy Innovation Challenge 2017

Competitions /

The third annual East Africa Energy Innovation Challenge took place in summer 2017.  With the application and screening process fully handed over the CDI for a sustainable continuation of the programme, the Cambridge Development Initiative (https://cambridgedevelopment.wordpress.com/) (CDI) selected 11 individuals out of over 200 applicants for the programme. The eleven aspiring entrepreneurs developed ideas for …

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TR13: Education and the electrification of rural schools

Technical Reports /

The Smart Villages Initiative aims to provide policy-makers, donors, and development agencies concerned with rural energy access with new insights on the real barriers to energy access in villages in developing countries and how they can be overcome. This report aims to give an overview of the links between electricity access and education through a review of the literature in this area. It …

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TR12: Electrification of health clinics in rural areas

Technical Reports /

This report provides an overview of the status of, and challenges facing, the electrification of health clinics in rural areas in the developing world. In addition, it considers the opportunities provided by telemedicine and the barriers to this, along with some examples of innovation and work in this field. The content of this report has been drawn from a review of the …

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