Lessons from project implementation on cook stoves and rural electrification, the Practical Action Experience Abstract Summary

Transcription

1 Lessons from project implementation on cook stoves and rural electrification, the Practical Action Experience By; Dr. Teodoro Sanchez Energy Technology and Policy Advisor Practical Action Rugby 2008 Abstract The SCORE project was launched in 2007 with the objective of producing a combined clean biomass cook stove incorporating a thermoacoustic engine which converts some of the heat into electricity. This project is implemented by a consortium of 4 British Universities, Nottingham University, Manchester University, Queen Marry University College, City University of London, and the NGO Practical Action, and will have 5 year duration ( ). This paper includes review of previous experience of Practical Action and other partners in the field of energy access for cooking and electricity, and it is part of the background papers to support the design and implementation of the SCORE project. Summary The last statistics show that there are more than 1.6 Billion people without access to electricity and nearly 3 Billion cook with solid fuels (mainly biomass, with some using coal), and the share of biomass is much higher for the poorest countries. The IEA (International Energy Agency) predicts that despite the efforts of the governments on providing electricity to their people by 2030 there will still be 1.4 Billion inhabitants in the world without access to this basic service. Therefore the challenge on energy access for the poor seems huge. During the last three decades there have been important efforts on the promotion of electricity access through promotion of small decentralised energy technologies, changes in electricity regulations among others. There has also been a great effort on the dissemination of efficient cook stoves and at less extent the promotion of LPG and other liquid or gas fuels. The experience on promotion of efficient cook stoves technologies of more than 3 decades shows that their acceptance has been on the whole very low worldwide, though with some notable success stories, such as in China, Kenya and Sri Lanka. Existing literature also shows that the energy requirements on cooking and electricity for the poor are very small, that the poor generally choose the cheapest solution, and most cases they are often excluded from the subsidy programmes promoted by governments. The findings from Practical Action s experience on promoting cooking technologies are that good participation of the communities in early decision making can enhance greatly the acceptance of cooking. In addition, a clear vision regarding the market makes difference of the acceptance of these systems, such as the cases of the Jico and Upesi stove in Kenya, the Anagi stove in Sri Lanka, and LPG stoves in the Sudan. The success on the promotion of small scale electricity generation systems (the most important energy sources for rural areas) has also been variable. This experience agrees that the key to success has been mainly due to social, cultural, commercial as well as technological factors.

2 Therefore a new design of stove (such as the case of SCORE stove) is expected to take into consideration both the social and cultural issues as well as the technical and market issues. These include: Understanding of the needs of the people and the most technical, social and cultural requirements that make a cook stove acceptable by people. Community involvement in stove development and design. This ensures that the technology is appropriate for local manufacture, local cooking practices and for cost. Local manufacture (including training of artisans and quality assurance) Local markets development, promotion and commercialisation Cost must be affordable to the target community, but also be sufficient to cover production and sales costs.

3 1.0 Energy choice and quantities Existing information shows that the most urgent energy needs for the poor are cooking, lighting, energy for specific information and communications devises, such as radios, TVs and mobiles phones and mechanical power, say for milling or grinding. Urban/rural energy access and choices The strategy used by the poor to cope with their energy needs is generally to get the cheapest possible available options; however that strategy does not always work for the poorest. In many cases they are deprived of using the lowest cost energy options because they do not have money for the upfront investment. For example many poor families are excluded from using LPG or Kerosene because they cannot afford to pay for the cookers needed 1. Many urban poor families may not get access to electricity because they cannot pay the connection cost. Rural people without access to electricity are deprived of taking advantage of subsidised tariffs because the service has not yet been extended to their area (subsidies to electricity in rural areas is a common practice in developing countries). People in rural areas generally cook with solid biomass, wood, dung and agricultural residues; which are commonly collected free of cost 2, though can take considerable time to collect. In urban areas, despite poverty, they mostly cook with purchased fuels (wood, charcoal, kerosene and/or LPG) because their opportunities to access to free of cost fuel is little or nil; urban people in extreme poverty in many cases combine urban residues such as cardboard residues of building construction and others with some liquid and/or gas fuels. It is common for poor families to use a combination of cooking fuels to suit both cost of fuel and convenience. For example urban households may use kerosene or LPG for boiling water for tea, but wood or charcoal for cooking meals. In rural areas without access to electricity, people use a range of energy sources for lighting, including kerosene lampas, wax candles, dray and wet batteries; dry batteries are mainly for torches and small radios while wet batteries are mostly used for lighting and small radios and/or black and white TVs. Other energy needs are attended through a range of options, such as manpower, animal power, small water wheels; solar radiation and wind to heat and dry clothing, agricultural products and others. Literature shows that the energy requirements of the poor are very limited; they typically require energy for specific tasks on food preparation, lighting and very small productive uses. In an internal research document on Energy Access for the Poor, Practical Action shows evince that the amount fuels required to displace solid fuels is modest; an equivalent to 35kg of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) per person per year is enough to provide three meals. It also shows that rural families require averages ranging from 30 to 50kWh per month to cope with all their electricity needs (lighting, radios, TVs and small requirements for business and services); which is about 72 to 120 kwh per capita per year (compared to per capita consumption in the USA of around 12,000kWh, of in the European Union of 6,000kWh). 1 A study carried out by Practical Action in Al Fasher (Sudan), showed for example that people keep using wood and charcoal despite is costs about 3 times more than LPG, just because they are unable to purchase the gas-cookers. 2 the balance of these products will depend on their environment in their surroundings, those surrounded by forests mainly use wood, while those living in totally deforest areas they survive using agricultural residues, in poor rural areas with low forestation may use dang

4 Access to electricity Statistics show that in urban areas the electrification coverage is much higher than in rural areas, hence urban poor despite their poverty are more likely to use electricity for lighting purposes. Cost is the main constrain on use of electricity. In fact there are many examples where people are connected to electricity but can not afford to pay the bill and soon after they are disconnected from electricity services. Similar situations happens in rural areas with electricity supply, where after short time of connection, people may find difficulties to cope with paying the bill and therefore go back to candles or kerosene for lighting. Literature shows that many governments in developing countries have made attempts to extend the grid to rural areas close to towns peri-urban areas and in some cases to rural areas. Rural electrification programmes have often engaged utilities on the provision of electricity services, incurring on high investment costs as well as high running costs, hence investing large amounts of money on subsidies. It is also found that in many cases, despite those efforts, the poor still get expensive electricity because utilities always find out ways of making profit by stretching the bills of the poor users; for example in Nicaragua in the early 2000s, in many rural areas recently connected to the grid, it was found that more than 80% of the bill came from the fix costs applied by the utility 3. More successful rural electrification schemes 4, such as in Costa Rica, Thailand and Tunisia, have a dedicate rural electrification agency, have used cost reducing electricity distribution technologies, and have engaged communities in the planning and delivery of the electricity services In addition, these initiatives have developed electrification alongside rural development strategies, therefore building end-uses for education, health and economic development, and therefore improving the viability of the electricity provision. The energy ladder Literature also shows that there is an increasing consumption of liquid and gas fuels in a number of developing countries, which is usually related to the increasing urbanization and economic progress. In urban areas traditional solid fuels (wood and charcoal) are sold along side modern fuels such as LPG and kerosene. As urban incomes rise, household fuel preferences move to the modern fuels. This switching from a lower to a higher quality energy source as incomes rise is called the progress in the energy ladder. Examples of energy switching with economic development are: Korea where their cooking is now based on liquid fuels; China where there has been a rapid growth on household electricity consumption, four fold in one decade (from 1980 to 1990), and in the same period natural gas has also increased its use from 1.2 to 4.6 million TOE. According to WEC 5, the household electricity has increased for all the continents, with more emphasis in those regions or developing countries with higher growth rates (China, India, Mexico, Brazil and others). 3 These facts were found in 2001 during a visit of the author to recently electrified rural and peri-urban communities through grid extension. 4 Barnes, D. (ed), The Challenge of Rural Electrification: strategies for developing countries, RFF and ESMAP, Washington D.C.,

5 2.0 Cook stoves, failures and success of past projects Reasons for introducing improved cookstove programmes Cook stoves projects have been an important subject for development and cooperation since 1970s 6. Hundreds if not thousands of projects have been developed in the world by countless institutions (NGOs and government institutions). The main arguments justifying cook stoves projects have varied with time: i) frequent scarcity of biomass fuels, hence high impact on the poorest who do not have the power to purchase fuels, and spend a lot of their time and effort on collection of fuel (drudgery), especially for women and children; ii) deforestation due the high consumption of wood fuel and charcoal, primarily because of the low efficiency of the cook stoves; iii) and more recently the impact of the smoke on people s health affecting primarily to children and women; important organisations like WHO (the World Health Organisation) argues that the most important impact of open fire cook stoves (among them the traditional three stone) is the respiratory illnesses and death for women and children in developing countries; on their printable fact sheet No 292 June , they state: The use of polluting fuels thus poses a major burden on the health of poor families in developing countries. The dependence on such fuels is both a cause and a result of poverty as poor households often do not have the resources to obtain cleaner, more efficient fuels and appliances. Reliance on simple household fuels and appliances can compromise health and thus hold back economic development, creating a vicious cycle of poverty. The first and third arguments above remain valid reasons for stoves programmes, while the second has become somewhat controversial. There is now substantial evidence that cooking in rural areas is not a major cause of deforestation, instead it shows that the main cause for deforestation is the need of land for agriculture (every year thousands of hectares of land are cleared out to start agriculture). Charcoal production for urban areas, however, has been a source of illegal cutting of forests in a number of African countries, and in other parts of the world. Successes and failures The existing information on past cook stoves projects reveal that the number of failure projects is overwhelmingly large comparing with the number successes. Annex 1 presents the outcomes of a recent experts e-conference which discussed success and failure of cookstove programmes. The e-conference highlighted the following aspects of successful stoves programmes: Low cost is critical Social and cultural issues are critical for the deployment of efficient and cleaner cook stoves. Important obstacles remain such as the little willingness of the governments to promote and to provide mechanisms to access to cleaner fuels and devises for cooking, There is lack of awareness of the users about the dangerous effects of air pollution

6 The access to LPG is generally appreciated, it gives status and pride to families, but it is generally used for quick cooking. Smoke is of low importance for most people, in fact smoke affects not only to the poor, however people are not urged to change to cleaner cooking, because in most cases they haven t considered so important. Good combustion of the fuels and efficiency of use are important factors There have, however, been some notable success stories, which provide useful experience for new stoves programmes. The most successful stoves programme has been in China, where more than million improved stoves have been introduced. The success in China has been attributed to stove designs suited to user s needs, targeted national promotion schemes and effective local implementation, including setting up commercial rural energy companies. Other successes include the promotion of the GTZ Lorena-rocket stove in Uganda which has managed to disseminate about 200,000 units, and the rocket stove itself which is being promoted in quite a few countries, mainly in Africa. Also there was considerable success the Anagi stove in Sri Lanka and the Kenyan Jico and Upesi stove, as discussed in the next section. A study by the World Bank 9 in 1994 found that stoves programme are most successful when there is economic benefit: for example in urban areas when the saving in fuel costs pays back to the cost of the stove, or in rural areas a more efficient stove can reduce the time spent collecting fuel, therefore provide extra time for child care and productive activities. However, stoves programmes will not be successful if they are: difficult to install and maintain, less convenient and adaptable to local preferences than traditional stoves. In addition, it is important that the stove takes into account local producers and consumers. Table 1 summarises success and failure factors for stoves programmes in the World Bank study. Table 1: Possible reasons for success or failure of stoves programmes Reasons for success Programmes targets regions where traditional fuel and stove are purchased or fuel is hard to collect Markets surveys are undertaken to assess potential market for improved stoves Stoves are designed according to consumer preferences including testing under actual use Stoves are designed with assistance from local artisans Local or scrap materials are used in production of the stove making it relatively inexpensive Reasons for failure Programme targets region where fuel or stove are not purchased or fuel is easy to collect Outside "experts" determine that improved stoves are required Stove is designed as a technical package in the laboratory ignoring customers' preferences Local artisans are told or even contracted to build stoves according to specifications Imported materials are used in the production of the stove making it expensive Barnes, D. et al, What makes people cook with improved stoves? A comparative international review of stoves programmes, World Bank technical papers, No.42 Energy Series, 1994.

7 The production of the stoves respond to market conditions, low cost, easy to use, versatile Stoves or critical component are mass produced Similar to traditional stove The stove is easy to light and accepts different sized wood The production of the stove by artisans or manufacturers do not respond to the capacity to pay and are not easy to use Critical stove components are custom built Dissimilar to traditional stove The stove is difficult to light and requires the use of small pieces of wood Power output of stove can be adjusted Power output cannot be easily controlled The stove saves fuel, time and effort Donor or government support extended over at least five years and designed to build local institutions and develop local expertise Monitoring and evaluation criteria and responsibilities chosen during planning stages according to specific goals of project Short time consumer payback, one to six months The stove does not live up to promised economy or convenience under real cooking conditions Major achievements expected in less that three years, all analysis, planning and management done by outsiders Monitoring and evaluation needs are not planned and budgeted or criteria are taken uncritically from other projects or not explicitly addressed Consumer payback time to long, more than one year 3.0 Practical Action experience 3.1 Cooks stoves Motivation for Practical Action stoves programmes Practical Action has been working in the field of cook stoves since early 1980s. The focus of the activities has changed over time, however the purpose has been kept the same, contribute to alleviate poverty and wealth of the most disadvantaged groups. Motivation for Practical Action stove projects have included: Reducing drudgery and supporting poverty alleviation: During the 1980s and early 1990s, the main focus of the activities related to energy for cooking, aimed at contributing to poverty alleviation, by saving time and the drudgery of women and children through the promotion of efficient cook stove technologies to reduce the quantity of fuel needed by the families. It was believed that efficient cook stoves could save wood fuel and free-up their time so that they could use that free time for productive activities. Typical projects of this kind included activities on design, pilot testing, dissemination, training and technology transfer to users, small scale producers and NGOs in targeted countries. The introduction of the Anagi stove in Sri Lanka is typical of this type of programme.

8 Forest conservation: Practical Action stove programmes have been developed during a period of increased global concern about deforestation. In addition, in areas where considerable deforestation has taken place (often due to clearance for agricultural land or logging for timber), it becomes increasingly difficult for communities to collect fuel. Therefore forest conservation has been an important consideration in stoves programmes. This was a significant issue for the Upesi stove programme in West Kenya. Health and indoor air pollution (AIP): From late 1990s to mid 2000s the main focus of Practical Action activities has been to tackle smoke contamination in the kitchen, the main purpose being alleviate women and children from exposure to smoke and respiratory illnesses (an important cause of death of children in the world).the concept of efficient stoves have also remained over this time. The designs of appropriate stoves have considered the avoidance of particulates; CO and other toxic emissions in smoke inside the living environment (avoid Indoor Air Pollution). Therefore the projects considered the introduction of smoke hoods, efficient cook stoves, switching to cleaner cooking fuels such as LPG and kerosene, better indoor ventilation. Among other activities developed in parallel have been those related to approaches, participatory planning and implementation, and also cross-cutting issues such as gender. Practical Action carried out substantial smoke programmes in Kenya, Sudan and Nepal. Improving energy access for poor people: Presently, Practical Action concern regarding cooking technologies is part of a programme on energy access for the poor, including fuels for cooking and electricity. In the field of fuels for cooking, Practical Action agrees with conclusions of Energy Agencies, such as the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the World Energy Council (WEC), who believe that biomass will remain the fuel for cooking in rural areas for the foreseeable future. Under this understanding, the issues considered are energy efficiency with improved cook stoves; forest management, forestation and reforestation; as well as cleaner cooking stoves, introducing smoke hoods and improving indoor ventilation; and also considers important switching to liquid and gas fuels. The strategy to tackle energy access requires more than technology. It requires policies and strategies to facilitate energy access for the poor for cooking as well as for other urgent needs as electricity for lighting and energy for improving a range of basic services (supply of drinking water, education, health, communications and others). Practical Action Successful Stoves Programmes Although many of the early projects achieved little replication, there have been few successful programmes, including the ANAGI stove in Sri Lanka, and the Upesi and Jiko stoves in Kenya. The programme on LPG stoves in Sudan also proved successful as part of the smoke programme to reduce IAP. The common features of these stoves programmes are that have been developed with thinking on their commercialisation from an early stage, therefore there has been an important focus on the issues of market, replication, mass production, low cost, efficiency and others. Each model was developed through a pilot project, including a design and development phase, technology transfer, local production and commercialisation. Each project arrived at a simple, small size, efficient models, which can be mass produced locally and commercialised.

9 Upesi and Jiko stoves, Kenya Practical Action has been involved in the successful development and promotion of two models of stove in Kenya: the Kenyan Ceramic Jiko (KCJ) charcoal stove for urban households and the Upesi improved wood stove for rural households. Jiko Ceramic Stove 10 The Kenya Ceramic Jiko is an improved charcoal burning stove developed and designed by aid groups such as UNICEF and CARE-Kenya in 1982 and marketed by the Kenya Energy and Environment Organisation (KENGO), energy NGO, with support from the Kenya Ministry of Energy. Practical Action has also contributed in the dissemination of this successful model through its office in Nairobi Kenya during the 1990s. It consists of a metal casing with a ceramic lining that helps to direct 25 to 40 percent of the heat from a fire to a cooking pot (traditional stoves are less than 15% efficient). Initial improved cookstoves faced a number of hurdles which hindered rapid dissemination. The problems included brief field testing and a mismatch between the design and the cooking needs of the communities. In particular, the stove s opening or pot stand did not match the size of typical pots in the target communities. There were also problems with heat loss in the initial designs. To assist in improving designs, Fig 1.0 the Jico-ceramic groups of women involved in community health and environment protection issues played a crucial role in the evolution of the stove designs. They suggested some changes, including the hourglass shape of the current Jiko, for stability, which is vital where vigorous stirring of food is required, which is the case in most Eastern and Southern African countries. Marketing efforts included the use of mass media, market demonstration and trade fair exhibitions. Local public institutions such as schools, churches and small businesses also acted as marketing points for the stoves as users. The production of the stove itself is done by local small scale entrepreneurs, with metal claddings being made by small scale enterprises or individual artisans, whilst the insulating clay liner is often made by women groups, whose members are mainly potters. This setting ensures that existing skills in the communities are utilised and generate incomes. The use of local artisan also ensures local availability of the stoves and together with the incomes derived from stove sales act as incentives for the producers to promote the stove. For stove users, benefits include substantial decreases in fuel used per year, estimated at $65 per household per year, whilst the stove itself costs between US$2 and US$5. These savings have acted as an incentive for the households to adopt the stoves. It is currently estimated that almost one million households now cook with the Kenya ceramic Jiko, this includes around 56% of urban households in Kenya use the KCJ, representing a national household penetration rate of 16.8%. 10

10 Upesi Stove 11 As a product, the Upesi stove has had a widespread impact in rural Kenya, while other types of improved stove, adapted for local needs, are used in many other Developing Countries. The technology is relatively straightforward. What makes the Upesi a success is the way in which nontechnical issues including the use of the market, the participation of the community, entrepreneurial training and skills development have been addressed as part of the development approach to the technology. ITDG worked with three groups of women potters to design and test prototypes. The Upesi stove was selected for production through field trial that showed it could provide fuel wood savings of up to 43 per cent compared to a three-stone fire, and has a life span of around four years. Some stoves have reportedly been used for up to ten years. The community is actively involved in the manufacture and promotion of stoves, which are sold commercially on the open market. The Rural Stoves West Kenya project has trained 13 women s groups (approximately 200 people) to make improved stoves. As well as production training, the women gain skills in business management, including marketing. The training is participative. Women identify their own training needs, devise the programmes and control their pace. The annual production is estimated at to stoves, and the profit generated by the stoves provides artisans with a higher than average rural wage. As a result, the women involved have gained status, self confidence and financial independence. The technical training of the women, by itself, would not have been sufficient to achieve success. Training on group organization, management, marketing and business skills was crucial, particularly because the aims of the project focused on the benefits to producers and the development of a commercial market for stoves. The initial market for the Upesi was developed at a time when similar stoves were being subsidised, leading to artificially low prices and unequal competition. A key target was to create a market with a more realistic pricing structure reflecting real production costs. During the field tests, the affordability of the stove was determined on the basis that if an ordinary lady can sell bananas or chicken to afford a stove, then the price is acceptable. Thus KShs 70/- was considered an acceptable price for an installed stove. Later the Upesi project raised price to KShs 120/= to reflect actual production costs. Marketing awareness among the producers also fed back into the technical training. The Upesi had to be a high quality product, because the market had been damaged by stoves of inconsistent quality. Although a higher production standard may initially appear to raise prices, in fact people with little money need to have confidence that what they do buy is reliable. 11 Technology...is only half the story. ITDG Energy Booklet.

11 A further business service which was crucial to this project was the establishment of a strong network of the key actors producers, installers and retailers of the stove and the effective dissemination of information and knowledge between them. For small scale producers the lack of information and knowledge, every bit as much as economic mechanisms, constitutes a major barrier to use of the market. The issue of fuel wood shortage in Kenya cannot be overemphasised. Any technologies that improve the efficiency of fuel wood use have real benefits to society. Equally important is the tree planting encouraged as part of the project, to replenish the wood used for manufacturing the stoves. Anagi stove, Sri Lanka The Anagi model 12 was designed to be disseminated through commercial channels, it initiated through a joint project of Practical Action (ITDG) and the Ceylon Electricity Board, by mid 1980s. The success of this model was immediate, so that between 1987 and 1990 there were about 80,000 units sold. This initial success encouraged Practical Action in 1990 to embark in a joint project with IDEA (Integrated Development Association) a small and new local NGO, with the purpose to make the Anagi cook stove widely available in the Island. This project enabled a number of potters and artisans to become producers of this stove through training activities, the project also included activities on marketing, which partly were through training to manufactures and part through conventional media information dissemination. By 1992 there was reported about 110, units sold in Sri Lanka. In a recent report ARECOP (The Asian Regional Cook Stove Program) 14 states Anagi is a two pot-hole pottery improved stoves, originally developed and disseminated in Sri Lanka. Anagi has been one of the most successful pottery improved cookstoves in Asia, with more than half a million units being disseminated (mostly through commercialization) since With the realization that ICS commercialization is an avenue of sustainable ICS dissemination, ARECOP has identified Anagi as a proven ICS design for mass production and commercialization. ANAGI COOK STOVE A number of factors lead to the success of the Anagi stove 15 : - There were multiple reasons for introducing the improved stove: national concerns over deforestation and lack of wood fuel; aims to reduce fuelwood consumption in the house, and reduce the burden on women; to improve household conditions though cleaner kitchens; and to increase incomes for the potters groups who manufacture the stoves. - The programme had Government support at national level for stove development, with local NGO implementation Amarasekara, R.M. and Atukorala, K., Historical timeline for subsidy to commercialisation of improved cookstoves: path leading to sustainable stove development and commercialisation in Sri Lanka, IDEA, Kandy, Sri Lanka.

12 - The programme has three distinct phases: stove design and piloting; small scale dissemination; large scale dissemination and full commercialisation. - Technical development and considerable local field testing meant that the Anagi suited both local manufacture by local potters and also suited the local cooking practices. - Improved quality assurance on the product gave greater consumer confidence. - National media promotion plus local promotion by the produces and retailers led to rapid wide scale dissemination of the stove. - A key objective was to move from a subsidised programme to a fully commercialised product. This was fully achieved in Sri Lanka. While this programme has been hugely successful, there is one current concern. This is that a few large scale manufacturers of the Anagi are pushing out some of the smaller scale producers. This both reduces the access to the stove in some isolated rural areas and negates one of the programme objectives which was to improve the livelihoods of small producers. LPG cooking in Sudan 16 High dependence on biomass fuels for household energy not only contributes to environmental degradation, but equally causes serious health problems, especially for women and young children. Practical Action Sudan initiated the first work of its kind in Sudan by monitoring household indoor air pollution (IAP) levels, using participatory research methods with a sample of thirty poor households from a semi-urban residential area, Wau Nour, Kassala. Traditionally, cooking takes place on inefficient three stone stoves using firewood. The IAP monitoring revealed high levels of particulate matter and carbon monoxide. A participatory discussion with household members revealed a high awareness about the health risks of smoke and about the possible interventions to reduce or eliminate smoke. Almost all households claimed that LPG is the best way to mitigate the smoke health risk. However, the issue of accessibility to LPG cylinders and burners was raised as the dominant constraint: the cost of buying and installing these ranges between SD 9,200 and SD17, 900. Practical Action has helped the Wau Nour sample households switch to LPG by organising financial loans to cover the cost of changing to LPG. Using a revolving fund, the project enabled 167 households to switch to cooking with liquid petroleum gas (LPG), which reduced levels of IAP in the home by more than 80 per cent. A scaling-up strategy was developed with the Women s Development Associations (WDAs) and other partners and stakeholders. This enabled women to buy ovens and gas cylinders by establishing a revolving fund, managed by the women who also contributed to it financially. The Gas Agent in Kassala agreed to supply cylinders on an instalment basis. Based on energy savings and conservation calculations, households could repay the cost of LPG appliances in a maximum period of six months. 16

13 Now over 900 households have switched from using wood to gas and have acquired all the necessary appliances. Refilling outlets were established in Wau Nour and Kadugli residential areas to give easy access to gas. A new plate for baking Kisra (a thin sorghum pancake which is the main food in central Sudan) is being manufactured locally. Training on safety measures is done through the involvement of the Civil Defence Forces, and so far no accidents have been reported. Success factors for Practical Action Stoves Programmes Practical Action considers that new technologies under development and promotion have to ensure to account for the critical factors related to the social and economic situation of the users; and believes that there that the poor need better technologies to alleviate them from drudgery, to lower cooking costs and cooking time, and to improve their livelihoods. However acceptance of those technologies will only be possible if the social and economic requirements of the users are accounted for. In addition it is essential to move from unit production to commercial production and marketing of a technology to ensure the long term sustainability of an initiative. The Practical Action programmes described above have a number of common factors which have contributed to the over all success and long term sustainability of the technical intervention. These include: Community involvement in stove development and design. This ensures that the technology is appropriate for local manufacture, local cooking practices and for cost. Local manufacture (including training of artisans and quality assurance) Local markets development, promotion and commercialisation Cost must be affordable to the target community, and financial schemes should be in place. This will generally require an initial phase of subsidy, but in most cases it would be possible moving to a fully commercially viable product once markets are established. In some cases (notably the Sudan LPG example) it was essential to introduce micro financing to overcoming up front cost barriers, and spread pay back over a number of months. 3.2 Experience of Practical Action on electricity services for the poor Practical Action has been working on electricity access for the poor since early 1980s, and primarily on the provision of electricity for rural villages and communities. Its strategy has focused on the promotion of small decentralised electricity generation systems, micro hydro power plants (MHPP), solar PV systems, Small wind generation systems (SWEGs); although it has taken part in activities related to electricity access for urban poor (such is the case of cheap connection design). Practical Action experience of Micro Hydro Power in Nepal, Peru, Kenya and Sri Lanka Practical Action has played a significant role in establishing community based micro hydro power plants (off-grid schemes under 100kW) with communities in Nepal, Peru, Sri Lanka, and Kenya. These systems, which are designed to operate for a minimum of 20 years and are usually 'run-of-the-river' hydro systems, which do not require a dam or storage facility to be constructed but simply divert water from the stream or river, channel it to gain some head and 'drop' it in to a turbine via a penstock (pipeline). Cost for

14 a typical micro-hydro system varies depending on the project. As a guide every kilowatt of power generated cost around 800 to Experience shows that community capital (in labour and cash), financial credit and improved income make these schemes economically viable and sustainable. Besides providing power for domestic lighting and few appliances, village hydro schemes can also be used for charging batteries or for income generating activities like grain milling, depending on the needs and opportunities of the community. Practical Action has found that success factors for establishing MHPP include: establishing of local (national) capacity to manufacture and provide maintenance services; good organisation of the community to manage and operate the system; community involvement in planning and implementation of the schemes; and appropriate financing models to allow access for lower income communities. National capacity building on decentralised technologies has been done through technology transfer to small entrepreneurs, training and supporting them to establish sustainable businesses in the area of manufacturing and selling equipment in a commercial basis, promotion and installation of pilot systems for demonstration and training purposes. The local capacity building activities has always been tied up with the issue of sustainability of small isolated systems, which have meant the establishment of local capacities operate, maintain and manage the energy systems properly. And they have been done at community level, but also at national and regional level trough information dissemination, training courses and others. Among other important activities performed by Practical Action has been the promotion of appropriate policies and strategies to implement sustainable stand alone energy systems, and establishing financing electricity systems in the rural markets and for lower income household. The most important lessons from the existing information and experience are: Lighting: Lighting is unavoidable for households, no matter the level of poverty people will always require to light for at least few evening hours. Those who have no access to electricity will generally do using wax candles, kerosene lamps and other sources. Poor people without access to electricity generally pay more for those energy sources used for lighting (kerosene, wax candles) than people with electricity, and they have much lower quality lighting. Communications: People, despite their poverty use small communication devices, which provide them information, news and a sense of belonging to a wider world, and for that they use small radios and TVs, and increasingly mobile telephone; the fact is that they feel better communicated and integrated with the world through the use of such devises. Small quantities of electricity have significant impact: The quantities of electricity required by poor families are small, mainly for domestic lighting and communications (TV and Radio), and possibly a few small electrical appliances such as irons. This agrees with the international literature, which shows the figures for electricity consumption in the lower range (kwh/month per family). However, very small quantities of electricity can make difference in people s lives in terms of quality of life, extending hours for study or

15 productive activities, increased access to communications and increased social interaction in the evenings. Productive end-uses: While the development of productive end-uses for power will make an electrification project more profitable, there are a limited number of productive end-uses for electricity in rural areas. Productive uses are usually focused on the main rural business of agriculture, and because they have little or no access to large or medium size markets, the sort of businesses that they generally engage with are those related to the provision of local services (milling, sharpening tools, battery charging, local stores and carpentry). Achieving long term sustainability of small isolated energy schemes is the most complicated issue for small decentralised electricity generation systems, and so far there is no clear single solution. However, Practical Action experience is that the sustainability of these systems depends heavily on the management of the electricity services, training to the users and technical assistance in country. Decentralise electrification for remote areas Most governments in developing countries are willing to provide electricity to their people; however they are stopped not only due to the significant costs involved in rural grid extension, but also because there are important barriers social and cultural that prevent from launching rapid extension programmes. In main countries, even where there is high urbanization rates and medium to high electricity coverage, new grid connections per family exceed US$ Often small decentralised systems could be competitive with the cost of grid, especially some renewable energy options. However there the energy strategies and policies in the developing countries generally privilege grid extension for electricity access for their rural people, which is mainly because previous experience of frequent failures around the world in the implementation of small decentralised energy systems have discouraged them. However, in recent years a number of countries with successful rural electrification programmes, such as Brazil, Tunisia and Costa Rica have developed programmes of off-grid electrification using renewable energy to reach more islated and disperse rural communities. In some cases biofuels and micro hydro have been used, but solar PV has been successfully accepted introduced in many parts of the world despite its extremely high unit cost, although this successful introduction has been due in large extent to important subsidies involved. An important feature of this option is that it does not need mini grid hence no need for complicated administration and management, its modularity helps to provide electricity according specific needs (per family or per application), and it provides electricity to tap at least one or two critical needs (lighting and communications). Comparing with the PV option, the SCORE stove shows an interesting parallel, because it can be small and can be built to meet household energy demands, while its great advantage would be its much lower cost while delivering both cooking and electrical power, therefore it is expected to have greater acceptance by the poorest groups of people Solar PV for developing countries The typical and most common off-grid solar photovoltaic system is the solar home

16 system. That is a solar photovoltaic (PV) array of between 20W p and 50W p, with a control system, battery storage and connection to domestic appliances, usually high efficiency lighting plus one or two power sockets. Unless SHSs are heavily subsidised, they are generally not affordable to lower income rural homes. In addition, there needs to be provision in rural areas for supply and service of the solar technology. There are an increasing number of innovative enterprises which aim to overcome the barriers for poor communities to access solar PV systems. For example: SELCO-India 17 : Making solar energy affordable yet commercially viable. SELCO is a private business, based in Bangalore, which provides solarhome-systems (SHS) and other solar services to low-income households and institutions. Its network of local sales and service centres are set up where micro-finance organisations can provide loans to customers. All systems are sold on a commercial basis, but SELCO is committed to providing the highest quality services to poor people on financial terms they can afford. Barefoot collage: During the last ten years this project has been introducing solar technology to remote and inaccessible villages in the Himalayas. Run by the Barefoot College in Rajasthan, India, the project has shown that with appropriate training, poor and rural communities can install solar equipment in their villages and then maintain it without any further external help. The project has trained illiterate and semi-literate villagers as 'Barefoot Solar Engineers', (BSEs) at its Barefoot College in Rajasthan. After the training, they return to their home villages to install solar units and provide their communities with a skilled and competent repair and maintenance service Solar service Delivery Company: Sunlabob Rural Energy Ltd, Lao PDR, provides solar power electrifies rural villages at a price people can afford. The success and sustainability of the scheme lies in a rental service which avoids upfront costs and direct subsidies and a network of trained rural entrepreneurs who can respond quickly to any technical hitches in the more remote areas and so maintain the high quality of the PV systems. 4.0 Assessment of requirements for a new successful cook stove (SCORE project). From the information above, it becomes clear that although poor people have serious constrains on accessing better quality energy, and therefore in most cases have little choice but to be affected by the dangerous effects of exposure to smoke, they suffer drudgery on the collection of wood, have very poor lighting option etc.. Findings show that for the SCORE project: The most successful improved biomass stove programmes have considered local needs for manufacture and use of the stove, develop local capacity to produce and promote the stove, have considered appropriate costs and 17

17 financing to purchase the stove, and aim at long term commercialisation of the stove. Failed stoves programmes have often involved external agencies promoting or giving away stoves which have been designed either for a different country or culture, or have been designed in a laboratory without consideration of local needs; failed programmes are often heavily subsidised and have no consideration of long term sustainability of the scheme, so collapse when programme funding ends. Poor families are, however, often willing to switch to modern fuels such as LPG when made available and affordable. The poor appreciate electricity for lighting and other basic services, and very small quantities of electricity can make difference in people s lives. And finally, refrigeration may appear to be important from our point of view for the preservation of food and drinks, but has generally not been an urgent demand by the poor. Therefore a new product like the SCORE- stove design features should match with people s needs for energy, and must also be able to adapt for each location to match with local economical, social and cultural living conditions. The SCORE devise will produce the services, electricity, cooking and refrigeration; this fact gives advantages and disadvantages compared with other technologies. Among the advantages, the main one is that one devise will produce a pack of three services, which presently must be provided by at least two devises, that is an electricity source and a cooker; these in turn means it may also give advantages in terms of space and operation. Its main concerns which will have to be given consideration potentially include: matching times of energy generation and use; for example the cooking time in most cases is different to the time required electricity for lighting; matching the stove to the local biofuel fuel type 18 and cooking practices; and refrigeration appears to be a much lower priority than the other two functions, so there will need to be considerable consideration of the needs for refrigeration, which will have to be targeted at the specific needs of the target households.. Factors for consideration when piloting the Score stove in developing countries The barriers on the provision of energy access for the poor has not been only financial and technical, but perhaps more complicated the social and cultural barriers. The design of the new Score stove should be done taking into consideration social and cultural issues as well as cost since all these technologies have been primarily promoted within the poorest sectors of the population. Piloting and development of the stoves will have to consider: 18 It should be noted that women are often put off improved cook stoves if they have to process the fuel considerably before use in a stove, for example if the stove only accept wood which has been chopped into small pieces.