Breakthroughs across the supply chain of the clean cooking and heating sector have been emerging independently across the Asia- Pacific region. The presentations in this session will highlight and analyze proven commercial solutions, and will deconstruct how they can be adapted or replicated across developing Asia. Technologies that will be discussed include char-briquetting, gasifier cookstove, small-canister LPG, etc. Aside from clean cooking technologies, the presenters will also discuss experience and strategies for reaching significant unserved markets and provide livelihood opportunities.
Session Chair: Karuna Bajrachaya, Nepal Market Manager, Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves
Presenters
Nathaniel Camat, Vice-President, Pascal Resources Energy, Inc.
The Gaz Lite Project in the Philippines
Only about 40% of Philippine households use LPG for cooking. The other 60% predominantly burn firewood or charcoal to cook daily. Most of these families belong to the marginalized sector and live in urban poor and rural areas. They aren’t aware that using solid fuel causes detrimental effects to their health and the environment. The price of standard LPG tanks is too steep for these cash-strapped households. Distribution costs to rural communities add significantly to the retail price making cooking with cleaner LPG prohibitive in many areas. This presentation details the aims of Pascal Resources Energy Inc. to serve 1 million families by 2022 by making LPG affordable and available through its Gaz Lite technology and a scalable business model.
Ashma Vaidya, Consultant, Ajummery Bikash Foundation
Social Marketing to Promote Electric Cooking in Sub-Urban and Rural Nepal
While about 80% of the total households in Nepal are electrified, almost 60% of the total households still rely on firewood for household cooking and heating. About 500,000 households in Nepal are receiving electricity through a decentralized network of Community Rural Electrification Entities (CREEs), functioning as electricity cooperatives. This presentation will review a cooperative effort using social marketing and a local CREE to promote electric cooking technologies in Baluwa area of Nepal. This involved establishing links with the CREE, micro financing institutions and suppliers of electric cooking technologies with last mile retailers and service providers. Early results show that this initiative has increased public awareness about, and demand for, electric cooking technologies in the area, with a potential for replication in 282 other CREEs spread across 52 districts in Nepal.
Carlo Figà Talamanca, CEO, Sustainable Green Fuel Enterprise (SGFE)
It’s Simply Good Value for Money
This presentation will explore what has allowed Sustainable Green Fuel Enterprise (SGFE) to grow 20 fold in the last 5 years. For instance, in Cambodia, people choose SGFE’s char-briquettes not because of their eco-friendly aspect, but because of their quality, which is simply good value for money. SGFE is also highly appreciated for its reliable delivery service and business professionalism. Today SGFE owns the know-how to effectively replicate and franchise its business model in order to become a major sustainable biomass fuel company.
Christian Liedtke, Chief Technical Advisor, GIZ Nepal
Inducing Behavior Change and Overcoming Financing Barriers with the “Earn While You Cook” Approach
Often clean cooking technologies are not adopted by users because the motivation to change cooking behavior is limited, and the technology is costly. The “earn while you cook” approach—developed by Servals Automation in India—has proven to overcome these challenges. This approach is based on a gasifier cookstove that produces charcoal while burning wood, and the creation of a value chain for the produced charcoal. This allows the user to earn money while cooking by selling the charcoal, and to repay the loan for buying the cookstove in less than a year. The presentation will show the proven track-record of this approach, and describe how it is being out by a cooperative in Nepal with the support of GIZ.