Rendev

Project description

Objective of the project

The main objectives of the RENDEV project are:

1. To promote development of income generating activities with renewable energy supply,
2. To identify measures justifying involvement of SMEs in the solar energy sector,
3. To build synergies between the microfinance sector, the renewable energy sector and the microenterprises in Bangladesh and Indonesia,
4. To better inform stakeholders providing pro-poor sustainable renewable energy services,
5. To bring a positive impact on the quality of life in rural districts.

 

1. To promote development of income generating activities with renewable energy supply,
   
   Bringing energy and especially electricity in remote areas is a major step forward for the populations, one everybody will remind in the village. People will have the feeling to be connected to the outer world and change their habitudes, they will feel more secure and comfortable on their way in the village and TV will become part of their new life. However, to really improve their life and to foster the development of the area, electricity has to become the mean of huge gains in productivity and development of new income generating activities. Tremendous amounts of time and sweat can be saved thanks to electricity and use to new activities, care of the family or simply leisure. To do so, people must have access to both the technologies using this electricity and to the capital to acquire those technologies. There, Microfinance has a proven record of enabling people to achieve their projects and more.
   
   
2. To identify measures justifying involvement of SMEs in the solar energy sector,
   
   The solar electricity sector is a very particular one in the world of energy. It is a one where a large number are producing a small amount of energy to cover their needs compare to the traditional concentrate model of one centre of production linked to several consumers. Plus, the people, solar energy actors are dealing with are poors, live in remote areas with difficult access conditions, typically those big companies are not interested in. In the meantime, several entrepreneurs share the vision of providing solar electricity to the people. RENDEV will empower them and help them advocate their cause to their national government. The different workshops will be the forum of open discussions to express their needs and define the ways forward.
   
   
3. To build synergies between the microfinance sector, the renewable energy sector and the microenterprises in Bangladesh and Indonesia,
   
   Even though the best political framework is adopted, not a single SME will be able to run a solar energy project by its own. The amounts of capital required to purchase the solar home systems are by far too important. Bridging them to microfinance institutions which lends the necessary capital to their clients while the solar energy provider installs and maintain the system is a solution that the project will study with the local stakeholders.
   
   
4. To better inform stakeholders providing pro-poor sustainable renewable energy services,
   
   While department of energy and national stakeholders are aware of the technologies, at the grassroots level, local governments lack the basic awareness of the possibilities of renewable energies. The project will train them, raising their awareness on the opportunities of renewable energies but at the same time the challenges they will have to overcome to bridge the gaps. Furthermore, when needed, the project will try to bridge willing local governments with the national policy makers.
   
   
5. To bring a positive impact on the quality of life in rural districts.
   
   By participating to the diffusion of modern energy services, the project will contribute to provide to rural people of Bangladesh and Indonesia the positive impacts of energy as listed by REN 21. www.ren21.net

 

Importance of Energy to Achieving Specific Millennium Development Goals

Millenium Development Goal	Steps Toward Goal	Modern Energy Contributes by
1. Cutting Extreme Poverty and Hunger	Reduce by half the proportion of people living on less than $1 a day    Reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger	Reducing share of household income spent on cooking, lighting, and space heating.    Improving ability to cook staple foods.    Reducing post-harvest losses through better preservation.    Enabling irrigation to increase food production and access to nutrition.    Enabling enterprise development, utilizing locally available resources, and creating jobs    Generating light to permit income generation beyond daylight.    Powering machinery to increase productivity
2. Universal Primary Education	Ensure that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling	Providing light for reading or studying beyond daylight.    Creating a more child-friendly environment (access to clean water, sanitation, lighting, and space heating/cooling), which can improve attendance in school and reduce drop-out rates.    Providing lighting in schools, which can help retain teachers.    Enabling access to media and communications that increase educational opportunities.    Reducing space heating/cooling costs and thus school fees.
3. Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment	Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015	Freeing women's time from survival activities, allowing opportunities for income generation.    Reducing exposure to indoor air pollution and improving health.    Lighting streets to improve women's safety.    Providing lighting for home study and the possibility of holding evening classes
4, 5, 6. Health	Reduce by two-thirds the mortality rate among children under five    Reduce by three-quarters the maternal mortality ratio    Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS    Halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases	Providing access to better medical facilities for maternal care.    Allowing for medicine refrigeration, equipment sterilization, and safe disposal by incineration.    Facilitating development, manufacture, and distribution of drugs.    Providing access to health education media.    Reducing exposure to indoor air pollution and improving health.    Enabling access to the latest medicines/expertise through renewable-energy based telemedicine systems.
7. Environmental Sustainability	Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs; reverse loss of environmental resources    Reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water    Achieve significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers, by 2020	Boosting agricultural productivity, increasing quality instead of quantity of cultivated land.    Reducing deforestation for traditional fuels, reducing erosion and desertification.    Reducing greenhouse gas emissions.    Restoring ecosystem integrity through land management.

This table is extracted from the report: ENERGY FOR DEVELOPMENT -The Potential Role of Renewable Energy in Meeting the Millennium Development Goals

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