Although Latin America has experienced a successful decade of reduction in poverty and inequality, it continues to be the most unequal region in the world1. The persistence of high levels of social injustice is not accidental: its profound structural causes are rooted in unfair political, economic and social institutional frameworks, which have been shaped throughout …
Energy and ICT for educational inclusion in Latin America Read More »
Achieving energy access for everyone requires more and better targeted investment, but what role does climate finance play in filling the funding gaps? This paper examines data on the major climate funds to assess what share of international public finance goes toward energy access and compares this to overall finance needs for the sector. It …
Unlocking climate finance for decentralised energy access Read More »
There are 65.3 million forcibly displaced people and 21.3 million refugees, hosted across the world (UNHCR). “Few forcibly displaced people” have access to modern energy. Out of 8.7 million refugees and displaced people in camps, only 11% have access to “reliable energy sources for lighting” (Chatham House, 2015). However, forcibly displaced people and refugees are …
Energy for Displaced Communities: How could Smart Villages help? Read More »
It is hard to talk about development in off-grid villages without talking about energy. Health, education, food security, productive enterprise and environmental well-being, as well as participatory democracy, can all be achieved if good policies are in place, but they depend not only on access to energy but on the provision of information. Sustainable and …
Energy policies for off-grid villages in Tanzania Read More »
Interview with Paras Loomba, Founder Global Himalayan Expedition Location: Himalayas “My focus? Their livelihoods” Paras Loomba, son of an Army officer, is the Founder of the Villagers at Lankarchey brok (GHE). After a successful International Antarctica Expedition in 2012, led by Robert Swan, OBE, Paras quit his corporate job to work in the field of renewable …
In the Himalayas, an entrepreneur brings energy–and trekkers–to remote villages Read More »
If energy poverty and access is such a pressing social problem, why do we need to involve governments in addressing it at all? In other words, why won’t the market devise solutions and innovative business models for expanding access to modern energy services? Or, why don’t major institutions like the United Nations or the World …
In 2007, I was invited by a colleague to teach a global technology course to Princeton students at the Mpala Research Centre in Kenya. This is a wildlife research centre located in the Laikipia district of Kenya, which has a population of about 250,000 people in a land area about twice the size of Israel. …
Electricity first made its appearance in the region in 1894, when two prominent local Selangor-based Malayan entrepreneurs, Loke Yew and Thamboosamy Pillay, started to use electric pumps for tin mining. By the mid-1920s, several small generating plants had been established using a variety of fuels including low-grade coal, local wood, charcoal and bunker oil. A …
This report summarises the findings of a workshop on Smart Villages and Resilience to Natural Disasters. Co-hosted by the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, and the Smart Villages Initiative, the workshop brought together two communities of researchers and practitioners focusing on energy access and natural disasters to promote active discussion around key issues …
WR18: Smart Villages and resilience to natural disasters Read More »
In smart villages, energy access together with other key components of infrastructure can accelerate the development of education and healthcare services, provision of clean water and sanitation, availability of nutritious food, and the establishment of productive enterprises. Underpinned by technological advances, such developments provide substantial improvements in well-being and life opportunities, and a choice between …
BR13: Smart Villages and resilience to natural disasters Read More »
[:en]Co-authored by a science journalist and an energy researcher, WGSI’s OpenAccess Energy Brief is an engaging overview of energy access issues that identifies challenges, knowledge gaps and opportunities. This version incorporates feedback collected by our advisory group who met in October 2015 to evaluate version 1 of the Brief and Summit goals. This version of …
[:en]Smart Villages is pleased to announce the launch of the second annual Smart Villages Energy Innovation Challenge. Building on last year’s success, this year’s competition challenges aspiring young East African entrepreneurs to come up with an idea for a social business powered by off-grid energy. Social businesses deliver positive social impacts to the end user …
[:en]The Smart Villages Initiative together with its local partner, Kopernik, held a workshop on Bunaken Island, Sulawesi in Indonesia, in November 2015 to discuss off-grid energy systems in remote island communities in Southeast Asia. The workshop focused on the barriers and circumstances of rural energy access that are unique to small island communities, drawing inspiration …
While South American countries have made significant progress in energy access, tens of millions of people (more than 30 million, according to conservative estimates) do not have access, particularly in remote areas. From 24-26 January 2016, experts from across the region gathered to discuss the challenges and opportunities for energy access. The forum “Sustainable energy …
This report summarises the findings of the Smart Villages Initiative’s workshop on business and financial models held in Cambridge in January 2016. The workshop brought together 36 participants from academia, the private sector, NGOs, and the public sector to share their perspectives and experiences concerning business and financial models for home-based electricity services and decentralised …
The ‘forward look’ workshop on potential breakthroughs in the use of energy in off-grid villages” was held in Churchill College, University of Cambridge on 18 December 2015. An introduction to the workshop’s aims and to the Smart Villages Initiative was followed by an introduction to the concept of “distributed manufacturing” for rural villages and accounts …
WR14: Potential breakthroughs in productive use of energy in off-grid villages Read More »
Despite substantial progress on achieving universal electricity access in the region, almost half the population in Southeast Asia continues to rely primarily on biomass to meet their cooking needs. On 2 December 2015, the Smart Villages Initiative together with GERES, Myanmar organised a regional workshop in Yangon, Myanmar to gather lessons about the sustainable dissemination …
WR13: Sustainable dissemination of improved cookstoves – lessons from Southeast Asia Read More »
More than one billion people in the world still do not have electricity: over three billion cook on dirty, inefficient and harmful stoves, and four million people die prematurely each year as a result. The UN’s Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) initiative aims to achieve universal access to modern energy services by 2030. Widespread recognition …
WR12: South Asia Dialogue with Media Professionals Read More »
The Smart Villages Initiative, supported by the Rural Support Programmes Network, Pakistan organised a workshop in Islamabad, Pakistan on 6 October 2015 to consider Pakistan’s experience of developing enabling frameworks for the dissemination of micro-grids. This briefing note for policymakers and other stakeholders summarises key points emerging from the workshop.
10 Questions to Ask about Distributed Generation, a collaboration between WRI, WWF and Prayas (Energy Group), is part of the 10 Questions to Ask Series and provides a framework for stakeholder engagement around the common questions and challenges that arise in the context of planning for and implementing DG option to address electricity access gaps. …
10 questions to ask about distributed generation Read More »