In 2011, TPW Energy Collaborative continued grant work in both Jharkand India and in Honduras focusing mainly on cooking through stove testing, implementation and design; and on access to lighting and basic electricity services through solar and biogas.
From the excellent letters of inquiry and ideas, the TPW Energy Collaborative funded three organizations.
Energy from Biogas from the Zamorano University, Honduras
Based on the successful model from the Zamorano Stove Certification Center, Zamorano is developing a Regional Biogas Testing Station. The project will be developed at the Zamorano University Campus, located in the Yegüare Valley, 30 Km east of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. One of the strengths that Zamorano found from developing the Stove Center is the training programs which demonstrate the potential for developing a Regional Biogas Testing Station for educational and research purposes.
This project will support the spread of biogas units in rural areas of Honduras through the evaluation of a locally-adapted prototype, the establishment of demonstration sites at the Zamorano Campus, participation in regional conferences, training in the construction and operation of bio-digesters, and the public dissemination of research and evaluation results. The wider use of biogas units could help reduce the use of firewood in rural areas and should supply high-quality fertilizer for local farming activities. For the purpose of this project Zamorano is proposing three components: (1) training and reinforcement of the knowledge, (2) research and (3) publication of results.
The project will impact a community of 1,381 inhabitants at the Zamorano Campus. Of these, about 80% are students from 18 Latin American countries and 20% include professors and instructors (most of them part-time farmers).
Three-Year Appointment of a Bilingual Business Manager at AHDESA, Honduras
The TPW EC is supporting the Honduran Association for Development (AHDESA) to hire a Bilingual Business Manager (with Environmental and Social Development Expertise) for 3 years to strengthen the organization’s work—ideally enabling them to have longer term sustainability. The Business Manager will work in the AHDESA office in Tegucigalpa and will strengthen organizational and managerial capacity to develop a portfolio of potential and successfully completed projects. AHDESA has acknowledged that their organization has a good reputation for work in the field but has not been successful in running their office and following up on grants/reports. In addition to hiring the business manager, AHDESA will create an effective, transparent, and punctual system to meet project timelines; they will increase and maintain open and constant communication (in English) with international organizations; and establish strategies to increase AHDESA’s visibility both inside and outside of the country.
Empowering communities in rural area of Jharkhand by providing them power through alternate energy routes and a village energy assessment report, Krishi Gram Vikas Kendra, India (Jharkhand)
KGVK performed an Energy Assessment survey in 21 Total Village Management (TVM) villages to understand the current energy situation, to quantify the energy requirement, and to assess future energy demand. This survey covered approximately 2200 households in 21 TVM villages. The data was collected from each household wherever possible, for certain villages the data was collected on statistical basis. Through this survey KGVK assessed the availability of raw materials for alternate energy technologies available in these 21 villages and served as the data baseline for the full village energy proposal from KGVK.
Based on the results from this report, KGVK was better able to identify specific areas to implement sustainable renewable energy solutions at the community level. They are using locally available resources in the community to meet village energy demands. Some of the abundantly available local resources are bio mass, animal dung and solar radiation and therefore will implement a Husk Power Systems biomass plant, a solar micro-grid, a solar charging station and solar lanterns impacting an estimated 3,600 people.
The primary goal and objective is to provide assured and uninterrupted power supply for a fixed number of hours per day. The project is based on lessons learned from the earlier project, and the need to replicate successes and scale up through other innovative models (based on the 2010 TPW EC grant for solar charging stations for lanterns).
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