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Apr 28 2017
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. …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/policy-brief-nicaragua/
Apr 13 2017
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/technical-report-13/
Apr 12 2017
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/technical-report-12/
Mar 30 2017
The Smart Villages Initiative, in collaboration with the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) and the European Union Energy Initiative Partnership Dialogue Facility (EUEI PDF), held a workshop titled ‘High-level workshop on energy access in West Africa’ in March 2017. The inceptive workshop served as a kick-off event to a wider capacity-building engagement on CEMGs in the ECOWAS region and provided …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/workshop-report-ivory-coast/
Mar 29 2017
A high percentage of the West African population lives in remote rural areas without access to modern energy services. Clean energy mini-grids (CEMGs) have been identified as essential to helping achieve universal electricity access in the region and they feature as important parts of national targets and renewable energy action plans for all ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) countries. It is estimated that mini-grids …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/policy-brief-ivory-coast/
Mar 21 2017
Integrated ministerial strategy and micro-grid financing are other key issues identified by first global study of rural off-grid communities Bangkok: Delegates to the Smart Villages Initiative Closing Workshop for South and Southeast Asia in Bangkok March 7-9 agreed that a bottom-up approach involving villagers themselves is essential to catalyse energy access and spread its resultant …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/bottom-inclusive-approach-evidence-productive-uses-crucial-smart-village-success-south-southeast-asia-concludes-final-workshop/
Mar 16 2017
The Smart Villages Initiative concluded its regional engagement in South and Southeast Asia with a workshop in Bangkok, Thailand, in March 2017. The workshop was jointly organised with the Global Young Academy (GYA), the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), and the National Science Museum (NSM) of Thailand. From 7 to 9 March 2017, the workshop brought together 43 key stakeholders representing …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/workshop-report-thailand/
Mar 15 2017
The Smart Villages Initiative concluded its regional engagement in South and Southeast Asia with a workshop in Bangkok, Thailand, in March 2017. The workshop was jointly organised with the Global Young Academy (GYA), the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), and the National Science Museum (NSM) of Thailand. From 7 to 9 March 2017, the workshop brought together 43 key stakeholders representing …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/policy-brief-thailand/
Mar 11 2017
Access to reliable, affordable and clean energy is a cornerstone of sustainable development. Despite this 1.2 billion people continue to have no access to electricity and a further 3 billion are energy poor. Often cited reasons for the lack of progress include the technological and financial difficulties associated with bringing electricity to rural areas due …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/technical-report-11/
Feb 28 2017
As the world moves towards 2030, the deadline of the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Initiative, it is important to review the achievements of the past few years and readjust our path to meet the goal. For this reason, Practical Action together with the Smart Villages Initiative held a one-day regional workshop on rural energy …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/workshop-report-togo/
Feb 27 2017
As the world moves towards 2030, the deadline for achieving the targets of the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Initiative, it is important to review the achievements of the past years and readjust our path to meet the goal. For this reason, Practical Action together with the Smart Villages Initiative held a one-day regional workshop …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/policy-brief-togo/
Feb 10 2017
The vast majority of the rural development literature focuses on relatively homogenous ethnolinguistic communities based in periurban and middle-rural areas. This literature has borne much fruit and there is now a general consensus among academics, practitioners and policy makers on the broad parameters of what is required to catalyse rural development in these areas, though …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/technical-report-10/
Feb 02 2017
This report focuses on mini-grids that generate a substantial portion of electricity using renewable energy sources. The IEA (2011) estimates that mini-grids are the best solution for providing electricity to 45% of the rural population without access to electricity. Mini-grids can utilise locally available energy sources such as wind, solar, biomass, and hydro. Using locally available renewable energy sources has the advantage of low …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/business-models-mini-grids/
Jan 30 2017
Leading experts from across Latin America and the Caribbean were brought together for a work-shop in Quito, Ecuador, on 30 January 2017 to discuss the challenges and opportunities of building resilience to natural disasters of villages in the region, with a particular concern for the contribution of energy services. Key points made in the presentations …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/sustainable-energy-resources-for-risk-management-and-resilience-of-communities-in-latin-america-and-the-caribbean/
Jan 30 2017
The resilience of rural communities to natural disasters and other shocks is an important issue for rural villages; hard-won development gains can all too readily be lost through natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, droughts, and floods. This is particular so for countries in Latin America and the Caribbean which are at risk from a …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/policy-brief-ecuador/
Jan 25 2017
In Haiti and other islands in the Caribbean, the need is not just for energy access. Communities and villages need to be more resilient to natural disasters and other socioeconomic shocks such as internal conflict, fuel price fluctuations etc. Off-grid energy and innovative use of energy to provide decentralized services such as healthcare and education …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/workshop-report-haiti/
Jan 14 2017
Rural areas that are not connected to an electricity grid are nevertheless seeking to increase their use of electricity to support services such as healthcare, education, and entertainment, and for productive uses to increase incomes. Such increases in electricity use in rural communities—“ climbing the energy ladder”—require a step-change in electricity provision to currently off-grid households. The supply of electricity through centralised generation and …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/future-direct-current-electrical-systems-off-grid-environment/
Jan 11 2017
The concept of the “smart village”, as developed by the Smart Villages Initiative, is that modern energy access acts as a catalyst for development—education, health, food security, productive enterprise, environment, and participatory democracy—which in turn supports further improvements in energy access. In the global context, energy access can provide a much needed driver for sustainable economic growth and development for …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/technical-report-energy-agriculture-smart-villages-india/
Dec 16 2016
This sixth media workshop of the Smart Villages project took place in November 2016 in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. This followed the main regional workshop reported on separately, but to which the journalists were also invited. The general theme of rural development, resilience, and recovery as renewable energy dividends seemed particularly newsworthy in view of …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/workshop-report-dom-republic-media/
Dec 14 2016
The Smart Villages Initiative together with the National Academy of Sciences of the Dominican Republic held a workshop on 16-18 November 2016 in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, to discuss the challenges to, and opportunities for, the provision of clean energy services to rural communities in Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico. The workshop explored the …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/policy-brief-dominican-republic/