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Mrs Gayashree with her BIOTECH biogas plant and umbrella to protect it from falling coconuts.

Getting rid of waste, both food and human, is essential to hygiene. But waste is also a cost-effective and sustainable source of fuel. The evidence? Well, since 2004 BIOTECH has improved the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Kerala, Southern India and saved several thousand tonnes per year of CO2 simply by getting rid of waste.

Their success is all down to their biogas digester. Designed to be easily installed, it comes in different sizes to process not only home waste but also market and municipal waste. Digestion produces biogas which in turn reduces reliance on more expensive and harder to access LPG.

BIOTECH has calculated that the average family can pay back the cost of the digester in three years. They also facilitate the government subsidies which may cover part of the installation costs. By 2009 they had installed 16,000 plants in total.

BIOTECH is a burgeoning organisation. It has tripled in size since 2006 and now employs over 140 people with a wider network of installers. It continues to refine and expand the digester model and to spread the word across the country. Unsurprisingly demand is growing. After all, here is a product that works.

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Some Daxu stoves also come with a back boiler, bringing running hot water and central heating to rural families, for the first time.

Although many parts of rural China have access to mains electricity, most families still cook and heat their homes using stoves that burn coal or wood. This has led to severe deforestation and contributed significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. Coal use in particular leads to dangerous levels of indoor air pollution, and also contributes to the poor outdoor air quality in much of China.

Crop waste, which is widely available in many parts of rural China, could provide an alternative source of fuel for cooking. However most current stove designs do not burn this waste effectively.

In 2000 Mr Pan Shijiao together with others began researching and developing a stove design that could effectively burn crop waste in addition to burning wood much more efficiently. Satisfied that they had come up with an innovative new design that could do the job, in April 2005 Shijiao set up the Beijing Shenzhou Daxu Bio-energy Technology Company Ltd (Daxu) to commercialise the new improved stove.

The Daxu stove is specifically designed to use either loose or compressed crop waste as well as wood. The stove is over 40% efficient and produces hardly any smoke. This is achieved by burning the fuel using a controlled supply of air that produces gas which then rises to meet 'secondary' air causing the fuel to burn more thoroughly. This ensures that the fuel burns more efficiently and that heat is transferred to the pots more quickly which allows a meal to be cooked in 15 -20 minutes with minimal smoke pollution.

The Daxu stove has radically improved the lives of farming families in the regions where it has been sold. Its two hotplates allow a stir-fry dish and steamed rice to be cooked at the same time, it reduces the cost of cooking and heating by 50% whether it is using crop waste or wood and it significantly reduces levels of indoor air pollution and smoke. Some of the Daxu stoves also come with a back boiler, bringing running hot water and central heating to rural families for the first time.

As one stove user, Zhang Qinhua put it: "it's much cleaner - my kitchen isn't dirty and smoky like it used to be and we can wash properly now we have hot water - there wasn't much point in washing before anyway because it was so dirty with all the coal dust."

Another stove user, Zhao Yucheng, marvels at the benefits: "It is so much quicker; with coal, it used to take half an hour just to get a good flame. With this stove, we can start cooking almost as soon as it is lit. I don't spend a penny on fuel now - we get all the briquettes we need for free.. so we must save about 1,000 yuan from summer cooking alone."

Such is the efficiency of the Daxu stove that it is estimated that using one instead of coal prevents the production of over 8 tonnes/year CO₂.

The Daxu stove model has proved so efficient that it was singled out for achieving the highest efficiency of any entrant in a stove competition organised by the China Association for Rural Energy Industries and the Shell Foundation.

To date, 25,000 Daxu stoves have been sold with 10,000 having been sold in the first three months of 2007. These sales are due in part to subsidies provided by the Yangqing County authorities in a drive to combat deforestation and indoor air pollution in a region with an abundant source of crop waste.

There is enormous potential for introducing such technology throughout China, since over 20 million wood and coal stoves are sold each year. Daxu is negotiating agreements with other local authorities and promoting its stoves through agricultural shows and village exhibitions to encourage the wide-spread use of this highly efficient stove model.

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Electricity from the micro-hydro plant powers a sewing machine - and a TV.

The Eastern slopes of the Andes in North Peru are among the least developed parts of the country with the majority of people living in remote villages with little or no access to grid electricity. Whilst high rainfall supports a diverse range of agricultural activities, the lack of access to grid electricity makes life a daily struggle for survival and severely restricts economic development of the region. As a result a high proportion of the population leave the area in search of better opportunities.

The usual strategy adopted to address the lack of access to essential electricity is to extend the national grid. However with over five million people living without access to electricity in the Andean areas of Peru where grid extension is an unrealistic option, there is an urgent need to find effective alternatives.

Practical Action has been at the forefront of searching for and investing in an alternative that provides access to essential electricity as well as addressing the high levels of poverty in the region. Since 1992, through their Renewable Energy Promotion Fund, Practical Action has been actively promoting micro hydro-power as the most effective source of electricity for the region, given the high rainfall and the extensive network of rivers and streams. To date the scheme has installed 47 micro-hydro stations producing a combined capacity of 1568 kW of electricity. This provides metered electricity to an estimated 5,044 families (30,000 people). Practical Action hopes to extend the scheme to eventually include parts of Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia where lack of access to essential electricity is a daily reality for many.

The results of the scheme have been overwhelming. People who previously left their villages in search of better opportunities are now returning and others are migrating there from other villages. Some villages, such as Tamborapa, have doubled in size and surveys suggest that about 25% of households have started or expanded businesses as a direct result of access to electricity. Earnings have also increased for 60% of those targeted by the scheme. A manager of the electricity enterprise in Tamborapa commented: "With electricity the community is growing fast. We have good schools, a good health centre with a dentist and laboratory. And a church is being built."

The educational and health benefits are myriad. Schools can use computers, photo-copiers and audio-visual equipment. Children can study at home in the evenings and, crucially, teachers are more likely to live in communities where there is access to electricity. As one teacher said: "If there was no electricity here, I would go to the coast and work there."

Health centres can now operate vaccine refrigerators, maintain computer records and use radio links for vital communication. People, especially women and children, are no longer exposed to the toxic fumes produced by kerosene lighting that cause breathing problems and eye irritations. In their homes people can also enjoy the benefit of TV, radio and DVD players.

The micro-hydro projects are installed only with the full involvement of the community who pay for 40% of the capital cost as well as deciding on the best payment structures for the electricity supplied. A village micro-enterprise is also set up and technicians are trained to take responsibility for the day to day running of the micro-hydro plants. As one teacher put it: "Electricity has made everyone in the village an engineer."

Professor Homero Miranda comments on Practical Action's success: "Good management is more important than good financial resources. Practical Action, Peru is able to get close to the people and understand their real needs in a way that universities and politicians cannot do."

Ashden Award money will be used to strengthen and broaden the scope of the Renewable Energy Promotion Fund to include other types of renewable energy such as wind and solar. The scheme will also be extended to include other regions.

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One of Shidhulai's boat libraries visits a remote village in Raishahi, Bangladesh. Electricity on boats is generated by solar PV.

The remote Chalanbeel region of Bangladesh is home to some of the poorest and most marginalised communities in Bangladesh. Road access is extremely limited with boats being the only dependable means of transport, especially in the wet season where much of the area becomes flooded from monsoon rains. Many people have no land with which to support themselves and no access to education, training or modern energy supplies. There is no mains electricity and very basic sanitation. There are almost no telephone lines, though there are a few mobile phones in use, Although all children are meant to get free education, it is difficult to find teachers who will stay in the region as transport is limited, and schools get flooded in the monsoon.

Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha was founded by Abul Hasanat Mohammed Rezwan in 1998 with a mission to assist the communities in Chalanbeel to develop sustainable livelihoods through access to education and training.
Shidhulai has achieved this by building up a fleet of flat-bottomed boats, all made with locally available materials, that make their way through the shallow rivers and canals of the Chalanbeel to bring a range of educational services and renewable energy supplies to water-side families.

The boats use solar PV modules to generate all the electricity they need to provide a range of services including almost daily classes in primary education for children, libraries, training in sustainable agriculture, health advice, mobile phone and Internet access and battery charging facilities for solar home systems and solar lanterns. On some boats the PV supply is used mainly for lights, computers, DVD/CD players and video projector whilst on others the PV energy supply is used mainly to charge batteries for the solar home systems and solar lanterns distributed by Shidhulai. So far, 13,500 solar-homes-systems (SHS) and 2,500 solar lanterns have been distributed. The lanterns are used mainly on fishing boats at night. To supplement the training in sustainable agriculture, Shidhulai has also distributed 15,000 bicycle pumps that deliver between 60 and 100 litres of water per minute, which is enough to irrigate half a hectare of land during the dry season. Micro-enterprise loans are also made available mainly to landless women who want to set up small businesses such as Rabia Begun: "I borrowed T10,000 to set myself up as a waste collector, and to lease some land to keep goats on. Now I've got a much better livelihood and we all eat better"

Unsurprisingly Shidhulai's efforts have transformed the lives of the communities it serves providing access to information which was previously unattainable. For 72 year-old Abdul Ghassem, it has provided him with an opportunity to keep learning: "I come here with my grandson. I like reading books on farming and biographies on great people. I am still learning. I have learnt about bicycle pumps, and now I want to have on of my own"

Girls, who were previously excluded from access to education because their parents couldn't afford it or because they did not want the girls to leave the village, are now being educated on a daily basis in floating classrooms! Girls are also receiving rights based education through the Girl Children's Rights Association, a distance education programme that provides information to girls and young women on topics such as domestic abuse, child trafficking and prostitution.

The PV-powered Internet and telephone access has not only helped people stay in touch with distant relatives and learn about what is going on in the 'outside world', it has also provided advice on health and agricultural practices. IT experience and skills from using the PV-powered computers has also improved the career prospects of young people, giving them more options when they go to seek work. As one 18 year-old library trainer says: "I learnt in a boat school myself, and now I am training people to use Word and Excel here. I'm really excited to be teaching here. It'll help me get a good IT job".

Afroza Rozi, a 15 year-old library user, adds: "I'm studying here because I can't afford to buy books. I want to be a teacher. I really like reading the papers on the Internet. There is so much happening in politics. I want to know the news"

Shidhulai's focus on training villagers in sustainable agriculture such as water management, reducing run-off, pest control and reduction in chemical outputs, has achieved impressive results. Surveys suggest that farmers have been able to increase income by 45% on average, and that the average use of synthetic pesticides has decreased by 60%, with about one third of farmers eliminating their use altogether. Water quality in the rivers has improved due to the planting of 80 hectares of trees and grasses along riverbanks, resulting in improvements in aquatic life. It is hoped that tree planting will also reduce flooding.

The SHS and lanterns provide families with good-quality light in the evening for children to study and adults to do craftwork to earn extra income. They also save the cost of kerosene, and eliminate the pollution and fire risk of using a kerosene lamp. As one solar home user says: "Our children can study now for three hours; the light's much better than kerosene." Another user adds: "I get around a third more money now that I can sew in the evening, and we're saving on the kerosene"

Solar lanterns have been particularly useful for night fishing, and surveys suggest that they have raised the average fisherman's income by T 300 (£2) per month – a significant increase in a region where earnings are typically only T 1,200 (£10) per month. The lamps also improve safety on boats, which are now having fewer accidents at night, and give them the ability to signal to other boats in a way that they could not with a kerosene lamp.

Bicycle water pumps have improved irrigation, allowing dry season crops to be grown and the area of cultivated land to be increased. Farmers report that this had allowed them to more than double their income.

There is significant potential within Bangladesh for Shidhulai to expand its work, as there are approximately 20 million people living in villages accessible only by boat, and only 400,000 people are being reached so far. Shidhulai plans to extend its work into the northeast and south of Bangladesh by 2008, and three other NGOs in Bangladesh are replicating its work

Ashden Award money will be used to increase the number of solar powered boats and charging stations and also to train local technicians to develop solar home systems locally.

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A Sunlabob technician checks solar lamps.

Laos is ranked among the 50 poorest countries in the world with 74% of the population living on less than $2 per day. The average annual electricity consumption per capita is 135 kWh, compared to a global average of 2,490 kWh, and only 48% of the population have access to the electricity grid.

The Lao government is committed to rural electrification of up to 90% by 2020 yet recognises that centralised systems cannot be relied upon to deliver electricity to remote, sparsely populated rural areas. Rural communities need alternative sources of electricity that can be delivered at the local level and at a price people can afford.

Solar energy is an obvious choice yet many initiatives have proved unsustainable because of dependence on direct subsidies to cover the upfront costs of the technology. The answer lies in making solar energy commercially viable yet affordable for the rural poor. Sunlabob has done just that. It has succeeded in developing a commercially viable business model providing high quality solar PV systems to the rural poor at a price they 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.

A network of trained franchisees install and maintain the solar PV equipment. Each franchisee trains technicians in the villages to perform day-to-day maintenance. Equipment is rented to the Village Energy Committee (VEC) which is selected by the whole community, and the VEC then leases it on to individual households. This puts the community in control of setting prices, collecting rents and performing basic maintenance. Larger systems are also supplied to health centres which has made a huge difference to the delivery of health care. Dr Sonexay Phonexaysack, a doctor at solar-powered health centre in Ban Kuai village, comments on the benefits of the system: "Before we had solar, we had to fetch essential medicines and vaccines from elsewhere, because we had no way of keeping them cool here. Often people are very ill by the time they reach here so it could make a difference to whether they live or die. With solar, we can operate at all hours. We used kerosene lanterns before, but they were dirty and smoky and the light was poor."

At present 1,870 home systems (including 20 larger ones for community use) and 500 solar lanterns are rented to families in 73 different villages. More than 5,600 solar-home-systems have also been sold to the Lao Government, development agencies and commercial enterprises as part of a separate scheme.

Solar-home-systems and portable solar lamps are rented at prices starting lower than the spending on kerosene for lighting, so that families can actually save money by switching to solar PV. Users benefit from safe light in the evening for household chores, income generating craftwork and school homework. As Mr Paek Keo Douangsouphan, a solar user says: "Before we had solar, the children could only spend an hour on their homework - till it got dark. But now they can spend enough time on it because the light is good. And that means they do better at school."

Mr Ban Ounlatsamy, adds: "I like making baskets, and now I can do them more quickly - and there's enough light for my grandchildren to do their homework as well. I was spending a lot on kerosene. Now solar gives me better light but doesn't cost so much."

These extended evening hours and the time saved from fetching kerosene and firebrands give more time to spend as a family and with their neighbours. The hazards associated with kerosene lamps such as burns, fires and indoor air pollution are removed as are carbon emissions.

"I've had the lamp for eight months, and its great. Before, if we were working in the fields or going into the forest, we used to take a firebrand but it would often go out and was useless in the rain. Sometimes the flame started fires and if you were careless you could get burnt. Now you just take the lamp and you don't have to worry about any of the that." Bounmy Chanxay, solar lamp user

The success of Sunlabob's business model and the high quality of their PV systems has led one independent renewable energy consultant with 30 years experience to comment: "I personally have been directly involved in rural electrification through solar photovoltaics in more than 25 countries. The Sunlabob project is easily the one that stands out as the best at integrating PV based rural electrification, rural business development and lifestyle improvement for rural dwellers and, most remarkably, has done so with no support from the government and with the apparently achievable goal of full cost recovery." Herbert Wade, Renewable Energy Consultant

The potential for growth and replication of Sunlabob's business model is huge. Sunlabob is already starting work in Cambodia and Indonesia, and is exploring possibilities in Bhutan, East Timor, Eastern Africa and Latin America. The main barriers for replication are the development of a local skill base and the establishment of small enterprises to run the franchises, but these are by no means insurmountable.

Sunlabob's success has led the Lao government to consult them on its rural electrification policy and also to comment: "Sunlabob really works well with local people. Because they are a private company they can make things happen quickly. If we had one or two more like Sunlabob, then I think the government would be very happy." Head of the Lao Government Rural Electrification Programme, Bouathep Malaykham

Ashden Award money will be used to expand and develop the rental services of solar lamps so that the monthly household lighting expenses can be reduced and directly compete with kerosene. Investment is required tackle the obstacles that limit the attractiveness of solar lanterns for rural communities.