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kristopher

(29,798 posts)
Thu Apr 11, 2013, 10:11 PM Apr 2013

Bringing Solar Light to the Energy Poor

Bringing Solar Light to the Energy Poor

More than 1.3 billion people around the world live without electricity. Another 1 billion endure prolonged periods without power, up to 18 hours per day. Most of them are in the developing world in countries such as Nepal.

...

The first idea is this: a solution to the problem of kerosene. That solution is solar LED lighting—small, portable, bright, renewable, and inexpensive (the payback is less than one year and it’s cheaper than kerosene per unit of energy).

The second idea is this: a pathway to make the solution a reality; namely, distribution for the solar lights. EG’s name hints at that pathway … empower. Specifically, EG is empowering entrepreneurial women to take the lead. In the developing world, women tend to be responsible for finding energy for the household—they collect firewood and buy kerosene, cook over the dangerous fuel, and light the house.

This marriage of two ideas—clean energy and women’s empowerment—is a reflection of Cohen and Cherneff as a couple. He worked at RMI from 2008–2010 as the Assistant to the Chief Scientist and is now at Shell’s Corporate Venture group working on alternative energy investments. She earned a master’s in international human rights. They founded Empower Generation in 2011 and got married in 2012.

Now they’re bringing clean energy to the people who need it, not through charity, but via small businesses run by women...


http://blog.rmi.org/blog_2013_04_08_bringing_solar_light_to_the_energy_poor
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