Archive for February, 2010
Helping Bawjiase Orphanage
Thursday, February 11th, 2010
Earlier today energy4everyone returned to Bawjiase Orphanage and donated various cooking and lighting energy technology and started improving the orphanage’s access to modern energy. Importantly, all of the technologies donated were affordable and sustainable for the orphanage. In total, energy4everyone donated four energy efficient charcoal cook stoves, two solar lanterns and twenty crank-powered torches.
All of the staff and children at the orphanage were extremely thankful for the donation of equipment and were looking forward to using the equipment. In particular, they were very excited about having improved access to light and some of them busily set about turning levers to charge the torches. The prize: readily available light! Certainly, seeing the smiles on their faces was very satisfying and reiterated the value of our work and what energy4everyone is striving to achieve.
The donation of four efficient cook stoves for cooking enabled the orphanage to switch from using fire wood to charcoal. The efficient nature of the cook stoves, due to the ceramic liner, means that they retain heat far better than firewood stoves or traditional charcoal cook stoves. Consequently, the orphanage will be able to save money on its cooking energy costs. The orphanage estimates that the cost of a three week supply of firewood is approximately GHc 300 (Ghanaian Cede), which is approximately USD 200. This is in contrast to their estimate of approximately GHc 90 for a three week supply of charcoal; potentially, a huge saving. In addition, the efficient cook stoves produce little or no smoke and will therefore reduce the health risks to the people preparing the food.
The other area that energy4everyone was able to assist the orphanage was lighting. Very few of the buildings at the orphanage have lighting and there is no lighting in any of the twelve classrooms. As a result, the children cannot study in the evening, and walking around the orphanage grounds is dangerous because of snakes, which cannot be seen in the dark. By providing the two solar lanterns, the orphanage now has light in an outside communal area and the twenty crank-powered torches, which are charged by physically turning a lever, can be shared among the children when they walk from building to building.
Over the coming months we will monitor the effectiveness of the energy technology donated, as well as research and discuss the appropriateness of alternative energy technologies with the orphanage. This will ensure that energy4everyone continues to make best use of its physical efforts and financial resources, as it improves the lives of the children at Bawjiase Orphanage.
To view photographs of the orphanage and the energy technology donated to the orphanage, go to our Flickr pages at www.flickr.com/energy4everyone.
Tags: Bawjiase Orphanage, efficient cook stoves, energy, energy efficient charcoal cook stoves, energy4everyone, Ghana, solar, solar lanterns
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Efficient Cook Stove Project Launch
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
Yesterday, energy4everyone, together with its local partner Innovative Finance (www.myinnovativefinance.com), launched the energy efficient cook stove project at Adabraka Fish Market in Accra – and it was a huge success.
The efficient cook stoves, which Ghanaians call coal pots, burn 40% less charcoal than traditional cook stoves. As a result, the beneficiaries save money as they don’t need to buy as much charcoal. The cook stoves are more efficient because they have a ceramic liner that retains the heat. In addition, the efficient cook stoves produce less smoke and, indirectly, decrease deforestation because less charcoal is used.
This first phase of the Adabraka project had identified between 100 and 150 vendors that wanted efficient cook stoves. Originally, we had scheduled two days to distribute the stoves at the market. However, the stoves were so popular that all of them had been assigned and distributed in four and half hours! Not only that but we also have a new list of vendors who expressed an interest in obtaining an efficient cook stove if, or hopefully when, there is a second phase to the project.
The Adabraka Fish Market energy efficient cook stove project utilizes a subsidized micro-finance model. To achieve this structure, energy4everyone partnered with Innovative Finance, a local Ghanaian micro-finance institution that has the network and expertise in providing micro-finance in Accra. energy4everyone funded the purchase of the efficient cook stoves in advance and, along with Innovative Finance, distributed them to the vendors, once they had passed the appropriate credit checks. The vendors will then repay the amount of the efficient cook stove over a period of two or three months. Without this ‘loan’ the vendors either could not afford an efficient cook stove or the interest rate charged by lending institutions would make the purchase far more expensive.
Both energy4everyone and Innovative Finance will monitor the project and the repayment profiles over the next few months to see what beneficial revisions need to be made to the structure and process for any future project phases.
You can view the photographs of the project launch at Flickr www.flickr.com/energy4everyone.
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“Energy Crisis Looms”
Sunday, February 7th, 2010
Let me be clear – this is not my prediction for or comment on Ghana. Rather it is the front page headline that ran in Thursday’s Daily Graphic, one of Ghana’s most popular and country-wide newspapers.
According to the Daily Graphic article, the ability of the Volta River Authority (“VRA”) to generate hydro-electricity is in “serious crisis” because of a failure by a number of companies and ministries, departments and agencies to pay the VRA what they owe it. In addition, the VRA says that the cost of producing the hydro-electricity is greater than the revenues it obtains from selling it, and so they’re seeking a tariff adjustment. A spokesperson for the VRA estimated the loss to be 50% of its production cost. Other contributing factors to the problem were inflation and rising crude oil prices. However, the fact that a spokesperson for the VRA was willing to go on the record does provide, I think, some indication of how seriously the VRA views the situation. Only time will tell.
Anecdotally, I had been told that power rationing often occurs at this time of year, and has been occurring, and I have experienced it first-hand on my visit. I was visiting a friend, here in Accra, when the power was rationed to that neighbourhood. The solution: a large diesel generator to power all the air conditioning units, fridges, freezers and lighting until the grid came back online in that neighbourhood. And these generators are powerful – 20 KVa. To those of you that are technically minded that will mean a lot more to you than me! However, these units come at a cost, which can run into the thousands of U.S. dollars, and probably the equivalent to a family saloon car. For those that can’t afford such luxuries, torches, solar lanterns, candles and kerosene lamps are used as alternative lighting sources. So regular are such events, that households can actually have special lights, connected to the grid line that runs outside their homes, to indicate when the grid power is on or off, regardless of the time of day.
While the grid is used by households to power electrical appliances and lighting, people typically use liquefied petroleum gas (“LPG”) for cooking. Electric ovens are available, and are used, but because of the relative high cost of electricity, it is seldom the first choice of cooking energy. When LPG cannot be sourced, or if people cannot afford to purchase it, charcoal cookstoves are often used (LPG is usually the same or lower cost, but charcoal can be bought in small quantities if required, whereas LPG is bought in canisters of various sizes, typical to the ones North Americans use for barbeques). Unfortunately, the supply of LPG has been an issue over the last six months when I’ve visited Ghana, with many distribution stations out altogether, leading to a lengthy search process for people trying to fill up their canisters.
Such issues likely take a toll on the Ghanaian economy. However, the one energy that Ghana will never run out of is the human kind. Regardless of what issues they face, the people, some of whom I’m fortunate to call my friends, continue with their everyday tasks throughout, employing the necessary contingencies available to them to mitigate such rationing.
Remember, you can continue to keep updated on what energy4everyone is doing by following us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/energy4everyone or by viewing our photos on Flickr at www.flickr.com/energy4everyone and on our website Project pages at www.energy4everyone.com.
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