First year of ACREST-CO2balance partnership

Since the local stakeholder meeting held in January last year, a significant progress was achieved in the jointly implemented “West Cameroon Improved Cookstove” Project. The Gold Standard Foundation listed our project, endorsing this unique partnership whereby local knowledge and skills are matched with international support and know-how. The improved cookstoves made at the ACREST Headquarter in Mbouda has been subsidised though the carbon market and was made affordable for hundreds of families, providing access to cleaner and healthier cooking environment.

One of the stove users is Madame Yontu Solange. She is very happy with the stove mainly because it cooks faster and uses twice less wood than the three-stone fire she used before. She also pointed out that the stove is safe and does not require constant supervision like the three-stone fire, this way she can carry out other household tasks or even go to the market while the food is being cooked. Given that the stove retains heat efficiently, it keeps the food warm even after the fire extinguished, which is also a great advantage as the family is big and everyone arrives home at different time to eat.

We are looking forward for another successful year with ACREST in Cameroon!

Rwandan boreholes

 

While the CO2balance and Climate Corporation cookstove projects in Rwanda continue to make fantastic progress, we are also working on feasibility studies to be able to start our first Rwandan borehole project! We are working closely together with Rwandans4water, a non-profit organisation registered in Rwanda providing clean water solutions to communities. Rwandans4water was established in 2008 by a group of Rwandan engineering students graduating from different universities in Rwanda and abroad with the aim of improving people’s health conditions by providing clean water as well as inspiring and equipping the youth to be part of solutions to problems the country faces. We are looking forward to start the work on the ground, stay tuned for further updates!

to be rehabilitated soon…

Project partner ACREST among the finalists of the Clinton Global Initiative University Challange

At CO2balance we believe that our projects have the biggest impact on the ground if we work in strong partnerships with local communities and organisations, which is why CO2balance welcomes similar partnerships whereby international support meets local knowledge and skills.

The African Centre of Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology (ACREST), our partner NGO in Cameroon has been working with engineers from Purdue University in the United States to harvest energy from the local river through a micro-hydro plant. Besides providing electricity for more than 50 families in the neighbourhood, the plant is essential for ACREST for a continuous work on its cook stove, solar and water purification projects.

Students at Purdue University wanted to take this initiative to a higher level in order to build a ” locally-sourced, locally-fabricated, financially-sustainable micro-hydropower plant” by upgrading the existing one with innovative engineering techniques to reduce operation costs. The project “Beyond “empowerment”: the realization of community power” has reached the final stage of the prestigious Clinton Global Initiative University 2014 commitments challenge, being one of the 16 finalists of the competition (http://press.clintonglobalinitiative.org/press_releases/16-student-teams-advance-to-compete-in-the-clinton-global-initiative-university-2014-commitments-challenge/). The Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) was launched by President Clinton in 2007 to engage the next generation of leaders on college campuses and to provide the necessary finance needed to realize the selected projects.

Well done ACREST and Purdue University!

You can also read about our existing partnership with ACREST here: https://co2balance.wordpress.com/tag/acrest/

co2balance arrives for project stakeholder meeting in Bangang, Cameroon

Eszter Hegyi from co2balance has arrived in Bangang, Cameroon to conduct the local stakeholder consultation alongside our project partner ACREST on the 7th Jan 2014.  The meeting will be held in ACREST’s headquarters, in a lush jungle location powered by a water wheel – redefining the meaning of green!

The ‘West Cameroon Improved Cookstoves Project’ will see co2balance leveraging carbon finance to subsidise a construction and sales programme of over 3300 efficient wood burning stoves in the cities of Mbouda and Dschanque.  90% of people purchase wood fuel in these two cities, which has led to a dramatic decline in the nearby forests and consistent price rises in the main fuel used for everyday cooking.  Our project will help reverse both of these negative trends and also kickstart a local business opportunity, which we will help to expand as awareness of cleaner, more efficient cooking technology grows.

This will be the second mini project within our Micro Energy Programme of Activities, which has been specifically designed to work with new partners to develop small domestic level energy efficiency projects in low to middle-income countries in Africa and Asia.  Using this and our other low income country programme, we are able to develop projects in most countries across the globe and take advantage of the simplified rules for programmes of activities to offer our partners a route to scale up their business using carbon credit funding.

This is our first project in Cameroon and our first in a Francophone country, fingers crossed it will be the first of many – Bonne Chance Eszter!