NGO Another Way (Stichting Bakens
Verzet), 1018 AM Amsterdam, Netherlands.
SELF-FINANCING, ECOLOGICAL, SUSTAINABLE,
LOCAL INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS FOR THE WORLD’S POOR
Edition
06: 10 December, 2008
(CLIQUEZ
ICI POUR LA VERSION EN FRANÇAIS)
08.30
Ecological aspects of the project.
08.30.01
Introduction
The project is 100% ecological.
It is based on the use of renewable energies, and in particular on the
use of solar photovoltaic cells to power
the distributed drinking water structures. The eco-sanitation structures
planned compost waste materials on site. Urine and faeces never come into
contact either with drinking water or with surface or underground waters.
Non-organic wastes are collected and recycled where possible under the
local money systems set up for productive uses within the project area .
The use of high efficiency stoves
eliminate smoke and fine particles hazards inside and around users’ homes. The
replacement of fire-wood and charcoal by locally made min-briquettes safeguards
forests and minimises CO2 emissions. The project should in principle qualify
for CER (carbon emission reduction) certificates under the
The local production of items made from gypsum composites is also
entirely ecological. The working cycle is such that the very small quantity of
water needed during one phase of the cycle is recycled in a second phase of the
cycle without the loss of any used or dirty water into the environment. Gypsum
composite products are themselves 100% ecological. They are always repairable. Should
they no longer be needed, they can be returned to the production units for 100%
recycling to make new products. Material used is never lost to the environment,
but even if it were, would not harm persons or things.
The use of gypsum composite materials may well cause fine dust inside
the production units and in areas immediately surrounding them, and the
quarries. For this reason, the working of gypsum composites in restricted areas
should always be accompanied by means of protection for eyes and lungs. The
project involves manual mining and manual working of materials on a very small
scale, to the order of a few hundred tons a year. Much of the work takes place
in spaces that are not closed in.
The quarrying of gypsum can in principle cause the need to re-locate a
few families whose homes may be situated directly on top of the gypsum
deposits. The amounts of gypsum required, are however, so small that the need
to re-locate anyone is considered extremely remote.
Exploitation rights relating to the gypsum deposits are held by the
project on behalf of the inhabitants of the community where the gypsum deposits
are situated. Used quarry areas will be
turned into useful local social structures according to the preferences
expressed by the inhabitants, who are also the owners of the land.
08.30.02 Waste
recycling structures.
The
system for the collection of recycling of waste waters, urine, excreta, other
organic solids, non-organic solids will be set up during Moraisian organisation
workshops held for the purpose. This section refers to the planned recycling
network as a whole. For technical details on the recycling of organic waste,
please refer to the project files. The following is an indication of the type
of structure which would be expected to emerge during the workshops.
The operations will take place under the local money
LETS systems. A separate interest-free credit fund is provided in the budget
for the purchase of equipment which is not available locally and/or which has
to be paid for in formal currency.
In principle, the equipment used should not require
the consumption of imported energy (electricity, diesel, petrol etc) which
causes an on-going financial leakage from the project area. Transport distances
should be kept as short as possible.
The following drawings and graphs form an integral
part of this project proposal.
DRAWING OF WASTE
DISPOSAL STRUCTURES.
DRAWING OF
COMPOSTING TOILET TANK MADE FROM GYPSUM COMPOSITE(R)
Detailed technical information on the treatment of
grey water is included in
attachment 24.
- (a) Recycling should
always be done at the lowest possible level, starting with the individual user.
- (b) Recycling at a second level should also be done as late as possible during
the composting cycle to reduce the volume of material handled.
- (b) The whole system should be operated within the local (LETS) currencies.
- (b) Capital investment for recycling equipment, transport and storage under
5) and 6) will be a priority for Micro-credit loans.
- (e) "Dirty" work will be better paid than "clean" work in
the LETS systems, because the rate of pay will reflect the willingness of
people to do the work. Those doing unpleasant work will have an above-average
income within the LETS systems so that there should be no difficulty finding
people to do the work.
- (f) Waste should, as far as possible, be recycled within the project area so
communities are self-sufficient and there is no leakage of formal money from
the system. In particular, materials like metals, paper, plastics can often be
treated at local level for use in local industries creating jobs and local
value added during collection, treatment and production. The principle also
promotes the export of re-cycled products for formal currency which will be
used to repay the interest free micro-credits loans.
- (g) Lucrative job possibilities are created within the system.
- (h) Export and sale of selected non-organic solid waste through the recycling
centres for formal currency so micro-credits used for re-cycling operation can
be repaid.
- (i) Selected non-organic solid waste products will treated locally and
recycled as raw material for local artisan industries.
- (j) Interest free micro-loans for compost collectors above may justify a
longer repayment term than other micro-credits as most of the compost will be
recycled within the local currency system. Some of the compost collection
charges may have to be in formal currency or the equipment may need to be used
part-time outside the LETS systems to help earn formal currency to repay the
micro-credit loans.
- (k) Recycling of special industrial and medical wastes to be addressed
separately.
- (l) The use of throw-away
waste products without value added, such as product packaging, is discouraged
and may be subjected to local project taxes.
- (m) Repairable goods will
be repaired at project level under the local money LETS system set up. Spare
parts not locally available will be charged in formal money at their original
imported formal money price.
08.30.03 Structures for the elimination of smoke hazards from
and around homes.
For a
complete description see section 05.35 Smoke hazard elimination structures.
See also the article PV
and biomass aspects of sustainable self-financing integrated development
projects and their financing
prepared for the Conference on Renewable Energies for Rural Dveleopment,
Aeration, and in particular the elimination of
smoke in and around homes in developing countries is one of the most important
aspects for a healthy life. It is widely
overlooked.
In poor countries, and in particular in
“... extensive and long term exposure to combustion
products in confined environments is a major cause of disease .... this is a
priority area for research and prevention measures”.
Not only individual homes but entire villages are subjected to the smoke hazard
two or three times per day around the time when meals are being prepared.
Projects under the Model must therefore
introduce locally-built high efficiency cooking stoves to reduce and if
possible eliminate the smoke hazard from family homes and villages. The
ecological advantages and CO2 savings initiatives relating to and the economic
aspects of the introduction of high efficiency stoves in project areas are
discussed in detail in section 07.07 Analysis of Costs and Benefits.
Construction
of mini-briquettes.
Projects, at least in theory, can qualify for Carbon Emission Reduction
Certificates under the Kyoto Treaty. Within the framework of self-financing
integrated development projects there is a market for 20.000 – 30.000 high
efficiency cookers in at least 10.000 families. Assuming a fuel saving of 6.5
kg/day of fuel in each family, savings amount to 65 tons of wood per day or
23725 tons per year. Converted into tons of CO2, that is 18705 tons of CO2 per
year. Assuming a market value of Euro 24 per ton of
CO2, this amounts to a credit of nearly €450.000 per project per year to which
other cost and time savings can be added. Over ten years this alone would be
enough to finance the project. As described in 09.33 CER certificates Kyoto
Treaty : programme of activities as a single CDM project activity some
timid steps are being taken to help groups of smaller projects participate in
emission rights trading. Carefully
managed high application and compliance costs have so far kept them out.
08.30.04 Use of
renewable energies.
See
the following articles:
New horizons for
renewable energy technologies in poverty alleviation projects ,
published in "Refocus" October, 2001 pages 22-25.
PV and biomass
aspects of sustainable self-financing integrated development projects and their
financing, article prepared for the Conference on Renewable Energies for
Rural Development,
PV, a cornerstone of sustainable self-financing integrated
development projects for poverty alleviation in developing countries,
presented at the 17th European Photovoltaic Energy Conference,
Financial leakage from poor areas caused by the
importation of energy, including energy produced in other areas of the
project’s host country, is one of he main causes of poverty. This bitter
reality means that to stop the financial leakage importation of energy into the
project area must be stopped. This means
that energy consumed in the project area must be produced there. Since the project
area has no existing energy distribution network the production of energy for
local use must necessarily be decentralised. Since the amount of energy which
can be locally produced is limited, priorities for energy applications have to
be rigorously defined. An attempt must be made to reach an ethical balance
between the benefits of structures and their cost. The project covers the cost
of energy resources for public services. The costs of energy resources for
local productivity increase are covered under the 05.22 Interest-free
cooperative micro-credit structures. The cost of energy resources for
individual comfort purposes are not covered directly by the project, which
however supports the formation of voluntary cooperative purchasing groups.
Typical
projects provide for the installation of about 200 solar pumping systems, with photovoltaic panels with an installed power of 60 KW ; the
isntallation of PV systems in schools and clinics ; and 200 PV lighting
systems for study purposes.
The project also offers possibilities for small scale local generation of renewable energies for specific activities such as small milling installations and other similar public services. For more information refer to A green oil for the world. Locally grown fuels for generators. (By courtesy of Sun & Wind Energy Magazine); LED lights for lighting. Information from the Light Up the World Foundation; Plant oil for small-scale energy generation.
08.30.05 Nature conservation.
Natural parks and reserves
The [name of park/reserve] forms
part of the project area. It was placed under the management of [name] by
law/decree [number] dated [date].
The [name of park/reserve] has
inestimable ecological value and its conservation for the benefits of the
present and future generations is in jeapardy due to chronic lack of financing.
Interesting possibilities exist
for productive cooperation between the inhabitants of the project area ,
through the structures set up in the course of project execution, and the
management of the reserve, to set up a sustainable development of this
resource.
The reserve management may
become member if the local money system set up by the project. This way it can
make use of local labour and services
without needing any formal money. The services can include maintenance,
reforestation, guards, conservation of fauna and flora, and the construction of
infrastructures. The park management may request the isntallation of
photovoltaic watering points for animals in the reserve.
The costs expressed in local
money debits to the charge of the Park Management can be discharged through
strictly sustainable managment of resources including the sale of wood
(timber), meat, commercial tourist licences etc.
Nurseries
Nurseries, especially for the
cultivation of native trees, including fruit trees, will be formed as
commercial activities under the local money system set up, with financing of
necessary imported items under the
interest-free micro-credit structures. Fruit trees will be planted along paths
between villages and in public places and placed under the management of needy
families.
Cooperative seed bank.
The project will set one or
more seed banks up under the local money system. The seed bank(s) will
serve :
a) For the reintroduction and conservation of local and
regional plant sorts threatened with extinction.
b) The preparation and conservation of seeds for local
farmers.
c) The conservation and reintroduction of traditionally
used medicinal plants.
08.30.06 Food and
water security in times of drought and crisis.
In the case of serious drought for extensive periods
of from 2 to 3 years no community in the world whether in the North or in the
South, whether industrialised or under development would be able to survive
without help from outside. In past periods of human history people may
sometimes have been free to migrate to areas which had remained green and
fertile. Demographic pressures in the modern world are such that this is very
rarely an option in our times.
Project areas under the Model undoubtedly enjoy a
greater resistance to droughts and other crises than most other communities.
However, they cannot offer total guarantees against disaster.
For example, recommended solar pumps work at total
heads up to
Under conditions of extended drought for 2-3 years,
reserves of harvested rain-water will have run out. There will be no surface
water available, and perhaps no water left in rivers. The only water available
to the inhabitants will be the
The recommended solar pumps also have the feature that
they can be installed at any depth below the level of the water in the
borehole. It is therefore possible to take strong fluctuations in the water
level in the borehole into account to cover situations of severe water
draw-down during the day in conditions of slow borehole replenishment. However,
where night-time replenishment becomes insufficient to compensate for extra
drawings during the day, the quantity of water pumped must be reduced either by
turning the PV arrays out of the sun or by reducing the number of pumps in
operation. As users start receiving less than
Plant nurseries will be set up under the local money
system created by the project. Tens of thousands of fruit and vegetable oil
trees will be planted in the project area. The trees will take several years to
sink deep roots and create relative immunity from drought conditions. Once they
have done this they will form a second source of food in hard times.
NEW HORIZONS FOR DEVELOPMENT: SOME SHORT POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS
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MORE ON SOME BASIC ISSUES COVERED BY THE MODEL:
Suite : 09.10 List of attachments.
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08.20 The protection of Women's rights.
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