Energy

The power to change lives

Even today, in the 21st century, millions of people living in developing countries have no access to modern energy. This means they can’t switch on a kettle, turn on a lamp, or power a fridge. They must rely on traditional methods of lighting, heating and cooking – methods that are often unreliable and hazardous.

For three billion people, the main energy usage is ‘biomass’ – wood, charcoal, and organic waste – for cooking. Overwhelmingly, these people are concentrated in developing countries.

Working with communities to develop appropriate solutions

Practical Action’s energy projects aim to increase poor people’s access to energy technology options, through improving the efficiency and productivity of biomass use, and through small scale, low cost, off-grid electricity supply.

Practical Action works closely with communities to help them develop technology options which are appropriate to their needs.

• Where biomass for cooking is the principal energy requirement, Practical Action helps bring technical improvements in its use; for example, by developing and commercialising low cost cooking stoves to improve upon the traditional three-stone cooking fires.
• Where communities seek additional options for energy supply, Practical Action helps them to develop and promote sustainable energy technologies — sustainable, not only because they use renewable energy sources, but also because the community can participate in designing, building and maintaining the project. These options include micro-hydro plants, small scale wind generators, affordable solar lanterns, and biogas plants.

The benefits to communities can be dramatic.

	Improved cooking stoves use one third of the amount of firewood as a traditional fire. They also reduce household smoke levels, with benefits to the health of women and children.			Small scale wind power generators can charge up the vehicle batteries which are used by hundreds of thousands of off-grid households to light their homes.
	Micro-hydro plants can be used to mechanise crucial tasks like grain milling, and to power small businesses, as well as to bring community and household light.			On-farm biogas plants can provide 75% of household cooking needs, run lights and heat up irons – with a by-product of enriched fertiliser for farmers’ fields.

Access to these energy options brings greater income, reduced drudgery (in firewood collection and cleaning utensils, for example), better education for children who can study in a lighted home, and access to public goods like information through TV and radio, or lighting for community centres.