Our missions are: (a) educating poor community in the developing countries on renewable and alternative energy sources and creating awareness on heat retaining for saving fuel, reducing sound pollution, minimizing kitchen timing and mitigating indoor air pollution through sustainable technologies, (b) creating awareness among housewives on the easy application of energy efficiency technologies when cooking food for the family, (c) utilizing free source of solar energy for cooking and water pasteurizing and also for space heating, (d) empowering women community through fuel briquette making process from the waste materials generated at the household level, agriculture, forestry, industry and business houses including schools, and (e) encouraging community to reuse their electronic and plastic wastes for producing a marketable items.
Contact Information
Our Focus
We initiated our efforts of promoting sustainable technologies as mentioned above since 2002 in Nepal. Achievements: So far we trained about (a)300 families in solar cooking, (b) 200 students in solar cooker building from paper and sheet metal with reflective materials, (c) 500 families on solar water pasteurization to protect from water-born diseases, (d) 200 families in solar drying food stuff, (e) 200 families in energy efficiency including heat retaining technologies, (f) 600 families in fire wood efficient stoves, (g) about 1000 families in fuel briquette making process in Afghanistan, Cambodia and India and Nepal. Targets in 2010: We have target to train 100 families on briquette making, 50 families on solar cooking and solar cooker building, 40 on solar drying, 40 on solar water pasteurization, 50 families on mattress weaving using waste materials such as straws, corn wastes, video tapes, music cassettes, plastic bags from milk, cooking oil, shopping bags etc. Achievement in 2010 (January to April): we trained 60 families in briquette making process, 20 on solar cooking and cooker making, 10 in water pasteurization, 2 families in stove making, 30 on mattress weaving using plastic and e-wastes such as video tapes, etc. Scalling up of the program: We have plenty space to scale up the program in the community depending upon the resources. So we request through this profile to collaborate with us for empowering the poor community through environment-friendly sustainable technologies.
Our Experience And Interest In The Four PCIA Central Focus Areas
It is a challenge for us to introduce new things in the community. People never believe to apply the things just reading the literature and just viewing the videos. They believe on actions in front of them and taste them, such as cooking their dishes in efficient stoves, solar cooker, water pasteurization in bottles/pots, converting their wastes into briquettes. We need to show the new ideas which must be matched with local culture, local environment, local economy, local education and no impacts on their traditional practices. We empower all the members in the family through our program, no matter whether family member is old, say 60 years plus. Old age family mebers also actively participate in our program because we respect them for their encouragement and support to the other family and also for their abundant source of different skills such as mattress weaving - a good example.
We create market through our program within the community. If some family produces briquettes, other family produces stoves. We also lobby the products through various media circles - FM radio, TV channels, newspapers, etc. We organize demonstrations in festivals, public gatherings and participate in exhibitions organized by the government, INGOs and NGOs. We also update the developments in our website, in our partner websites, in google, facebook, twitter etc.
In our experience, technology standardization depends on the following: (a) environmentally sound, non-polluting (b) low cost and easily applicable (c) less smoky and enough heating for cooking (d) mobilization of local resources such as manpower, energy source, local economy (e) utilization of idle things, waste materials in producing efficient energy source such as fuel briquettes from waste materials. However, these things must be measured with standard equipments for testing efficiency, energy value (calorific value), density, CO2 etc. So, we tested all these things in Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (formerly called Royal Nepal Academy of Science and Technology) on fuel briquettes from saw dust+paper and paper only and briquette stove. We got certificates in September 2009. Series of such testing will be continued depending resources for the job.
We monitor the programs in our project areas periodically either directly or involving local CBOs and NGOs and get feedback from them for further polishing the activities in future.
Relevant Publications or Studies
We have the following: (a) video on Sustainable Energy Source (FoST) - a documentary video (39 minutes), (b) BBC's video on "Cooking without Gas" as Runner up of the World Challenge Award 2007, (c) video on briquette technology, (d) video on solar cooking initiatives with back up system in Nepal (1995 to 2010), (e) lot of media highlights in national and international newspapers. Some special articles: - Special features on our efforts in Newsweeks of November 12 and December 17, 2007 - Fuel from waste materials, Bliling Point #52 published by Practical Action - "Fuel briquettes put energy in people's hands" in Engineering for Change, April 2010 http://www.engineeringforchange.info/?p=1149
Our Contribution to the Partnership
We would like to participate in the Partnership by sharing our experiences, our efforts in community through sustainable technologies, and providing skills training to the needed areas.
