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. The Smart …
WR6: Southeast Asia Media Dialogue: Seoul Workshop Report Read More »
The Smart Villages Initiative held its second major international workshop in Kuching, then capital city of Sarawak, Malaysia in January 2015. The workshop was the outcome of a collaboration between the Smart Villages Initiative, Akademi Sains Malaysia (the Malaysian Academy of Sciences) and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS). It brought together a diverse group of around …
BR6: Findings from the Kuching Smart Villages Workshop Read More »
What are the characteristic features of a smart village? How might progression towards a smart village model improve lives in those communities? This brief provides a vision for improving the lives of rural villagers based on the smart villages concept (a rural analogue to smart cities). It also explores two prototypical case studies in Malaysia …
Whilst gender inequality is not something that can be solved purely by energy access, with the Smart Villages Initiative’s integrated vision for energy in rural villages, we can aim towards a coordinated and effective approach to gender in rural development more broadly and have a positive effect on the fight against gender inequality. This report …
TR3: Smart Villages – the gender and energy context Read More »
This policy brief summarises key gender issues associated with rural energy access for development and establishing smart villages. It draws on a more detailed technical report (Welland, 2015) which identifies the reports and papers on which this review has been based.
Nepal’s energy situation reflects its challenging terrain (over 75% mountainous) and very low income levels (UNDP, 2013). About 25% of Nepal’s 26.5 million people live below the poverty line, which varies by region but averaged 19,261 NPR per year (or about USD 0.75 per day) in FY 2010/2011 (Central Bureau of Satistics, 2012). The nation …
Energy for off-grid villages in Nepal and the role of mini-grids Read More »
This paper uses Practical Action’s experiences with micro-hydro schemes to connect global nexus debates to the experiences of and solutions for remote off-grid communities and smallholder farmers. Through examples in Peru, Nepal, and Zimbabwe we exemplify the need for an integrated approach to energy, water, and food security. We show that decentralized energy provision has …
The energy–water–food nexus at decentralized scales Read More »
There is a growing interest in how to deliver energy services to people on a low income, not just for household use but to earn a living: the so-called ‘productive uses’ of energy. One sector that deserves particular attention is smallholder agriculture. Expanding access to modern energy services and equipment for farmers could help address …
Growing power: Exploring energy needs in smallholder agriculture Read More »
The Smart Villages Initiative, working with its local partner Practical Action Consulting South Asia, held a workshop in Kathmandu, Nepal on 10th April 2015. The aim of the workshop was to learn lessons from Nepal’s experience of micro/mini-hydroelectric schemes for off-grid rural communities and associated initiatives to stimulate productive enterprises which could be shared with …
WR5: Smart Villages in Nepal: Kathmandu Workshop Report Read More »
The Smart Villages Initiative together with its local partner, Practical Action Consulting South Asia, held a workshop in Kathmandu on 10th April 2015 to consider off-grid energy systems in Nepal. The workshop focused on Nepal’s substantial experience of micro/mini-hydro schemes, and on initiatives to stimulate productive enterprises enabled by the availability of sustainable electricity supplies. …
BR3: Findings from the Nepal Smart Villages Workshop Read More »
Approximately 360 million people in India lack adequate access to grid-electricity and another 20 million households receive less than four hours of electricity per day. To help close this gap, the Government of India has set a target of generating 100 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2022. But while grid connectivity is expected to improve …
Universal electricity access – one of the targets of the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative for 2030 – will remain unachievable unless countries adopt a market-based approach to off-grid renewable energy deployment. This report highlights key findings and recommendations of the Second International Off-grid Renewable Energy Conference (IOREC 2014), organised by the International Renewable …
Accelerating off-grid renewable energy (IOREC 2014: Key Findings and Recommendations) Read More »
This ‘State of Play’ ‘technical report provides a review of the literature relating to the issues around provision of electricity to off-grid villages in 2015. It summarises key challenges associated with the provision of electricity to off-grid villages, and views set out in the literature on the opportunities and required framework conditions to address those …
TR2: Electricity for off-grid villages – an overview Read More »
Innovation competitions for new technologies and business models are one tool used by policy makers in a range of contexts and countries to help businesses in new fields overcome practical barriers blocking progress between successful pilots and commercialisation. This brief note discusses competitions relevant to African off-grid energy and how they could be designed and …
BR2: The role of innovation competitions for off-grid energy in Africa Read More »
Summary This report summarises the information presented at, and conclusions arising from, the second major international workshop of the Smart Villages Initiative. The workshop took place in Kuching, the capital city of Sarawak, Malaysia, on the campus of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), and marked the beginning of a 12-month programme of engagement by the Smart …
WR4: Kuching Workshop Report on Smart Villages in Southeast Asia Read More »
This infographic summarises the requirement for and the challenges to energy access across the ASEAN region (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore , Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar (Burma) and Vietnam). The ASEAN region is now the engine of the global economy. Its spectacular growth over the past two decades has lifted hundreds of millions of people out …
Two billion people rely on wood and charcoal for their daily energy needs. But supply chains are often environmentally unsustainable, and poor actors rarely capture enough value from trade in these products. This briefing discusses two innovative cases in the governance of biomass markets, which enhance the inclusion of informal actors. The first shows how …
Informality and market governance in wood and charcoal value chains Read More »
This note provides a summary of the workshop’s findings and recommendations for policy makers. A more detailed report of the workshop, together with copies of the presentations made at the workshop can be found here. Key points 1.3 billion people worldwide have no access to electricity. 3 billion people are still cooking with dangerous and inefficient stoves. Policy …
BR1: Findings from the Arusha Smart Villages workshop Read More »
