Das Projekt "Impacts of Pico-photovoltaic Systems Usage" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung e.V. RWI, Kompetenzbereich Umwelt und Ressourcen durchgeführt. In recent years, costs of both LED lighting diodes and photovoltaic (PV) systems have decreased substantially. In widely non-electrified rural Africa, this has induced a silent revolution, the market based dissemination of dry-cell battery or solar driven small LED lanterns in rural areas. These devices are in many cases of a very low quality, which might threat the sustainability of these new markets by a loss of trust among customers. The international community has responded to this development by promoting so-called Pico-PV systems that meet sufficient quality standards. Supported by the Dutch Daey Ouwens Fund, the British company ToughStuff Ltd. has recently started to market such Pico-PV-Systems in Rwanda. The ToughStuff systems include a 1 Watt panel, a small lantern, a mobile phone charger, and a radio. Together with ISS, RWI has been assigned by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to evaluate the impacts these systems have on households in rural areas. For this purpose, a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) is conducted in 15 remote communities in which households do not have access to electricity and rely on candles and kerosene for lighting and dry-cell batteries for radio usage. Mobile phones can only be charged in the next grid connected area or against charging fees in shops that have a generator or a car battery. After a baseline survey, for which 300 households are interviewed, 150 of them are selected randomly to receive a ToughStuff Pico-PV system for free. The baseline data is used to randomize within similar strata or pairs of households. The 'winners' also receive the same short training on how to use the Pico-PV system as ordinary ToughStuff customers who buy the solar system on the market. A follow-up survey will be conducted 6-12 months after the randomization of the Pico-PV systems. This research set-up allows for two principal research questions to be addressed: First, since the capacity of the Pico-PV system will in most cases not be sufficient to allow full usage of all three energy services - lighting, radio, mobile phone charging - we investigate how people living in absolute energy poverty decide between these three services. Second, the unbiased impact of using a Pico-PV system can be estimated due to the RCT approach. Indicators we examine are energy expenditures, lighting usage, mobile phone usage, and radio usage as well as the knowledge about contraceptive usage, family planning, and malaria prevention, which might be affected through radio information campaigns. In addition to the RCT, a small survey of around 100-150 households in regions in which ToughStuff is already promoting its products on the market is conducted in parallel to the follow-up survey. The purpose is to check the extent to which the usage and impact results in the RCT can be transferred to 'real-world' users.
Das Projekt "Bio Fuels in Motion (BioMotion) - Biofuels in Motion information, motivation and conversion strategies for biofuels with consideration of the special regional structures" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von 3N-Kompetenzzentrum Niedersachsen Netzwerk Nachwachsende Rohstoffe und Bioökonomie e.V. durchgeführt. BioMotion aimed at increasing the use, knowledge and acceptance of biofuels, focusing both on plant oils and biodiesel and also biogas, ethanol and BTL. Given that one of the main obstacles to the use of biofuels is a lack of awareness and insufficient knowledge, BioMotion created a solid and extensive knowledge platform. An international cluster of relevant actors and seven biofuel information centres were established (one in each participating region: two in Germany, one in Poland, Romania, France, Hungary and the Netherlands). A number of highly visible best practice examples, or 'beacons', were used to demonstrate the use of various raw materials for the production of different biofuels on a commercial scale. A BioMotion-Tour, with vehicles powered by several types of biofuels, showed the advantages of using biofuels. The project encouraged the development of biofuel supply chains and highlight market opportunities, particularly in rural areas.
Results:
- Creation of a solid and extensive centralised knowledge and experience platform on production, distribution and application of different biofuels.
- Show and demonstrate innovative technologies, processes and the use of different raw materials for the production and application of different biofuels on a commercial scale.
- Increased awareness of the biofuel market by informing and educating the various stakeholders in this field.
- Offer solutions to current problems and create innovative possibilities to optimise the use of biofuels.
- Stimulate enterprises and consumers in using biofuels.
Lessons learned:
- The lack of information and training about the use of the different types of biofuels is a major obstacle and the acceptance of biofuels is heavily influenced by the very emotional FOOD vs. FUEL debate.
- There is a need to organize an international multilingual and native language biofuel information platform for the optimization of the information provision and communication between biofuel producers and users.
- The formal interest in biofuels is highly dependent on the prices of crude-oil based fuels and the national legislation and tax system. Another lesson is that decentralised production systems are characterised by very high efficiency regarding energy utilization and gain as well as GHG emissions, which means in detail: closed cycles of materials are possible; short transportation distances; low input of fossil energy sources; maximum energy output.
Das Projekt "Sustainability for Future Generations: The Relevance of Intergenerational Transfer of Knowledge for Health and Population Programmes" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Vögeli-Sörensen durchgeführt. The project will examine the links between gender relations, reproductive health and sustainable development. The overall aim is to foster international research and policy dialogues and to build on partnerships between women researchers in academic, NGO and policy institutions and networks. The field research, based on case studies, will take place in Brazil, Ghana, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, and Tanzania from Sep. '94 - June '95. It will be an interdisciplinary, comparative-qualitative study using participatory methodology. Each case study will examine the intra- and intergenerational transfer of women's knowledge regarding reproductive choice, health care and family planning in the course of their life cycles. An initial workshop held in Zuerich prepared the ground for the initiation of the individual case studies.