Post on 14-Apr-2018
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The theme for this 11th issue of the
e-net magazine is Carbon Markets.Carbon markets came about with the
adoption of the Kyoto Protocol by the
majority of parties to UNFCCC. It is a
market based mechanism to promote
emission reduction in the world. This
issue comes at a crucial juncture in
the global initiative to reduce carbon emissions and work for
climate change adaptation. It is well known that the poorest inthe South Asian region are most vulnerable to the adversities
associated with climate change. This issue looks at the role
that carbon markets can play to help these disadvantaged
communities deal with adverse climate change impacts.
The Hiniduma Bio-link Reforestation Project in Sri Lanka
featured in this issue shows how farmers use their indigenous
knowledge and benet from protecting the local environment. It
is an example of how communities can be integrated into Clean
Development Mechanism (CDM) initiatives.
Articles from India and Nepal provide insights into the CDM
process for cookstoves. The very candid article from the Centrefor Rural Technology Nepal elaborates on what potential
entrants into CDM should consider and some of the issues
to be overcome in CDM project nancing and sustainability.
Experiences from the Indian project elaborate the possible
challenges and solutions linked to designing, developing,
implementing and monetising community oriented CDM
projects. These experiences are further consolidated in an article
on Understanding Carbon Markets which provides readers with
information on the carbon markets (CDM and voluntary markets)
and the registration processes.
Future issues of e-net could explore the impacts of carbon
markets on the lives of the poor. It is important to understandif and how carbon markets have provided opportunities for
communities to engage in the development process and ensure
sustainability of their environment. What has been the role of
community led initiatives in the climate change scenario?
This issue also reports on a unique initiative in Sri Lanka where
awareness on sustainable energy has been created through a
rst day cover/stamp art competition among school children.
e-net has been bringing to you summaries of the discussions onthe South Asia Electronic Energy Forum. This is a networking
initiative that shares information on community based energy
initiatives and community perspectives on energy issues. We arepleased to announce that the network itself will be expanded in
the coming year. It will now reach out to South East Asia (in
addition to South Asia) by linking with other related networks
such as hydro network. Space will be provided for more member
participation (such as the posting energy related events) and
the sharing of research papers and news. We are also happy
to announce that the e-net magazine will be revamped in2013. While each issue will continue to have a theme, the
magazine will also include articles on other areas highlighting
community based renewable energy initiatives, include a
technical paper, and news in the energy sector.
We hope that you would continue to read e-net in 2013 asyou have done in the past years.
IMPRINTe-net is a magazine for the dissemination of informationon decentralised and renewable energy technologies,
implemented using a community based approach.
Editor-in-Chief : Svati Bhogle
Managing Editor : Tushani Kalugalagedera
Project Manager : Damitha Samarakoon
Country Editors
Prof. Zalmai Zaheb, Kabul University, Afghanistan
Iqbal Karim, Bangladesh
Nar Bahadur Khatiwora, SNV Netherland
Development Organisation, Bhutan
Dipti Vaghela, India
Jun Hada, Swiss Agency for Development and
Cooperation SDC, Embassy of Switzerland, Nepal
Habib Gul, PCRET, Pakistan
Namiz Musafer, Practical Action Consulting, Sri Lanka
Graphics, Layout and Production:
Amali Feroz, Dinesh Pradeep, Minidu Abeysekera
ISSN 1800 - 3680
Practical Action
5, Lionel Edirisinghe Mawatha, Colombo 5, Sri LankaT | +94 (11) 2829412F | +94 (11) 2856188E | e-net@sa-energy.net
e-net website | www.sa-energy.net
The views expressed in this magazine do not necessarily represent theviews of Practical Action or the editorial team. Whilst all due care is taken
regarding the accuracy of information, no responsibility can be accepted
for errors or omissions.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons
Attributed Non-commercial 3.0 Unported License
7/30/2019 Enet Mag Carbon
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Designing, Developing, Implementing andMonetising Community Oriented CDM Projects
Community oriented Clean
Develpment Mechanism (CDM)
projects while wide in variety are
still too small in number. Thisarticle provides insights into the
challenges and possible solutions
linked to designing, developing,
implementing and monetising
community oriented CDM
projects. It draws on experience
from an energy efcient cookstove
project in India to help illustrate
these points.
One of the CDM primary objectives
has been to promote sustainabledevelopment and achieve the
Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) through inclusive and far
reaching project types. A wide variety
of inclusive, i.e. community linked,
projects have been undertaken by
various stakeholders. However the
numbers still reect poorly on the
envisaged targets. For instance,
in India, out of the 875 registered
CDM projects a total of 27 serve
rural communities1. While industrial
projects have achieved a good level
of standardisation, community
based projects such as those which
enhance access to energy or create
other infrastructural facilities, are yet
to see easily scalable models. This is
despite the fact that some of these
community based projects offer the
lowest cost per tonne reduction of
greenhouse gas emissions, a clear
win - win in cost benet terms. Theseprojects range from subsidising
household level assets such as
biogas plants, efcient cookstoves,
and renewable power devices to
other energy efciency interventions
such as novel water purication
techniques or even micro-grids and
community owned assets.
Establishing additionality2 and
ground level support for such projects
has been relatively easy even at a
small scale thanks to the United
Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC) evolving
support sub-mechanisms. Examples
of such support are automatic
additionality for smaller projects and
the emergence of a discerning buyer
segment that values greenhouse gas
(GHG) reductions for its overall social
impact and the network externalities
created therein. However, there are
some unique problems that mar
the growth and success of such
enterprises. The following sections of
this article share certain experiences
and issues faced while designing,
developing, implementing and
monetising community oriented
CDM projects.
Designing
Common design issues in community
based CDM projects include baseline
data collection which often hinges
on household surveys. Obtaining
accurate data is difcult and the
collection of data is a tedious task,
especially for surveys pertaining to
biomass use assessments (such as
for cooking and water purication
energy for which often rewood,
agro-waste, and animal dung are
A cookstove from one of the CDM ICS projects being used
(PhoocoesyoGeenwyG
meenIn)
1 Source: UNFCCC website - www.cdm.
unfccc.int
2 Additionality implies proving with valid
arguments and proposed proof that the project
is unlikely to happen without the aid of carbon
revenues, given the complexities of nancial
sustainability, risk of a new deployment model
etc.
used). This is mainly due to the fact
that it is difcult to get communities
to make usage estimates (and metric
estimates). Even where output
linked metrics are available (such as
the amount of kerosene estimated
to be consumed per unit lumen
output for solar lighting projects
etc.), clearly estimating the number
of households using lanterns and the
number of lanterns per household is
a tedious task.
A commonly voiced problem is
ascertaining what is known as the
fraction of non-renewable biomass
in other words what percentage of the
used biomass in a community comes
from non-sustainable sources. While
the UNFCCC has prescribed surveyguidelines (wherein a scientically
selected subset of the community
is asked questions) they are often
difcult to follow given costs and
execution difculties. In addition,
establishing even the validity of
post data collection is tricky as a
technical question is being sought
to be answered by essentially an
opinion based survey.
In some successful projects the
validity of baseline data has been
established by endorsements
from government bodies and
Geographic Information System
By: Neha Juneja
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POWER HOUSE
(GIS) based surveys. However, this
is not possible for all geographies
and communities. The Food and
Agriculture Organizations awaited
national baseline data on biomass
usage, though conservative, could
provide a much needed boost and
relief to practitioners in terms
of overcoming this basic hurdle
of accurately estimating and
establishing the GHG mitigation
impact of intended initiatives. Other
than baselines, project structuring
(especially in terms of contributions
from the community) and contractual
paperwork with beneciaries etc.also calls for a good understanding
of CDM dynamics and the beneciary
communitys expectations. Various
carbon subsidised pricing models
have been implemented across the
globe ranging from the provision of
items such as providing cookstoves
for free to charging a near market
price for them, depending on the
project resources and off-take/
paying capacity of beneciaries.
It is interesting to note that the
initial product pricing has had very
little overall effect on the success
of projects. It is urged that more
technical experts come together and
develop baselines collaboratively and
openly, to enable eld practitioners
and implementation partners to
identify the most vulnerable and
high impact areas and build upon
this data to quickly and effectively
execute projects.
Developing
Project developers often face
problems in selecting the correct
project structure (such as choosing
the programmatic approach3 vs.
registering multiple individual
projects), choice of methodologies,
what options and choices to
provide to the beneciary pool etc.
This requires not only the help of
technical experts for developing
the project documentation but also
adequate understanding from the
implementation partner. It is thus
recommended that capacity building
initiatives form part of the project
activities - specically for NGOs and
other community sponsored bodies.
Another issue is that of nancing low
carbon assets initially; though carbon
funds provide support to community
sponsored bodies for such assets,
it is often difcult to make use of
these nancing opportunities. Forinstance, recently banks and other
nancial institutions have stopped
considering carbon revenues as
a valued asset. As per Indian
accounting rules, carbon assets do
not even form a balance sheet item.
A new trend has been to introduce
micro energy credits wherein these
assets are micro-nanced and
subsidised through carbon revenues
thus making access to them more
organic/demand driven, i.e. without
funder intervention.
Implementing
Apart from commissioning related
issues one of the most critical
problems faced once a project
commences is that of monitoring.
Given that CDM projects mandate
a minimum scale to justify initial
and ongoing costs (for example say
5,000 households for a cookstoves
programme) even sampled monitoring
becomes a challenging and resource
intensive task, especially as
beneciaries are spread out and at
times irritated with monitoring visits/
checks. Existing examples show
that many practitioners have simply
given up on potential CDM revenues
post successful registration and
implementation due to the cost and
hassle of monitoring the project. Theadvent of remote monitoring devices
can greatly alleviate both the cost and
inconvenience issue. However, due
to the initial costs of these devices
and largely untried nature of these
technologies for such applications,
they are still uncommon.
Today, many high social impact
CDM projects come with a buyer
tie-in prior to implementation. This
helps ensure that implementing
partners are able to build capacity
via the buyer and are able to
monetise generated credits in a
timely and reliable manner (off-take
and pricing). Although there are
still a good number of unilateral
projects (with no identied buyer)
this approach poses more risk anduncertainty since the sale process
and payment cycles are often not
very well understood by practitioners
which can prove detrimental to the
nancial model behind the project.
Despite these problems, the high
social impact of CDM projects is
taking on new and larger forms
especially in Africa and in project
categories such as improved stoves
(with 19 programmatic CDM
projects out of 28 being undertaken
in Sub-Saharan Africa). The ease
of programmatic CDM rules by the
UNFCCC and its ready acceptance by
practitioners is a positive sign since
this enables incremental additions
and quick scaling up in a more
cost effective manner with newer
methodologies coming to the fore
and hopefully a renewed vibrancy
in carbon prices, such project typeswould lead the next generation of
carbon reductions.
e n e r g y n e t w o r k
Neha Juneja is the co-founder
of Greenway Grameen Infra, a
social enterprise that designs
and disseminates household
energy products to the main
base of consumers. She has
worked on a number of CDM
project designs involving energyand water related products in
India and Africa.
E-mail: neha@grameeninfra.com
3 Programmatic approach implies registering
a mother project type to which multiple
individual projects of the same nature can be
added without the need of registering every
time. This approach results in higher upfront
costs and lesser recurring costs.
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A cookstove from one of the CDM ICS projects being used
POWER HOUSE
Issues and Risks of a Cookstoves CDM Project in Nepal
Nepal has a huge potential
for energy related Clean
Development Mechanism (CDM)
projects. The country currentlyhas six CDM projects one of
which is the improved cookstove
project by the Centre for Rural
Technology, Nepal (CRT/N). This
article provides an insight on
what potential entrants into CDM
should consider, characteristics
their organisation and project
should have and some of the
issues they may face in project
nancing and sustainability. Thisis mainly based on the experiences
of the CRT/N improved cookstove
project.
CDM Projects in Nepal
All six of the CDM registered
projects in Nepal are based on
renewable energy technology (RET).
The rst two projects on biogas
were registered in 2005. Five years
lapsed before another project on
micro hydro was registered in 2010.
In 2011, one project on improved
cookstove (ICS) and two projects
on biogas were registered. Five of
the registered CDM projects have
been developed by the Alternative
Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC),
a government agency overseeing
the promotion of renewable energy
in the country. The project on ICS
was developed by the CRT/N, a
non-government organisation, and
is the second registered project on
ICS in the world. These efcient
biomass mud stoves are constructed
on site and the project provides
subsidy support for purchasing its
ceramic and iron components. User
households are expected to transfer,
to the project, rights to the Certied
Emission Reductions (CERs) under
the Clean Development Mechanism
(CDM), which is generated from their
regular use of the stoves.
Nepal has a few more RET projects
being developed as CDM projects.
The AEPCs proposed CDM project
on improved water mills and itstwo programmes of activities (PoA)
projects on ICS and biogas are
currently undergoing validation.
CRT/N is also looking at the possibility
of developing at least one more CDM
project on ICS in the near future,
while the Sustainable Development
Centre has three proposed CDM
projects which are under validation
currently. The voluntary market
carbon projects have also attracted
the interest of NGOs. While the WorldWildlife Fund Nepal is implementing
a Gold Standard biogas project,
Swasth Chulo Nepal has initiated
a voluntary carbon project on ICS.
Some private business houses
have also come forward developing
CDM projects integrated with their
business ventures.
CRT/Ns CDM Project on Improved
Cookstoves
CRT/Ns CDM project Efcient
Fuel Wood Cooking Stoves Project in
Foothills and Plains of Central Region
of Nepal - was registered by the
CDM Executive Board on 15 March
2011 (registration no. 4530). Egluro
Limited based in the UK has been
providing pre-nance support to the
project in lieu of future CERs to be
generated by the project. The project
aims to promote about 23,000
household cooking stoves acrosssix districts in the southern plain
of the country. The stoves are xed
type mud brick stoves with chimney
outlets which are constructed on site
by trained local masons.
CRT/N has two decades of experiencein implementing ICS projects
with grant support from various
donors, support organisations and
the government. CRT/N initiated
the fully carbon nanced CDM
project following the successful
implementation of a pilot voluntary
carbon project on ICS during
2007-09. To be fully prepared to
undertake the rst CDM project,
the organisations enhanced its
knowledge on CDM through trainingof its staff members at the University
of Twente, Netherlands, and at some
international training events.
In addition, a trustworthy link with
the buyer, Egluro Limited, was
crucial in initiating the CDM project.
This relationship was developed
through the pilot project mentioned
above.
CRT/N capitalised on the followingstrengths in developing this project:
i) condence in the technology which
an organisation gains through years
of implementation experience, ii)
expertise on community mobilisation,
and iii) enhanced knowledge on the
working of the CDM mechanism.
Dling wih h I
Developing and implementing a CDM
project is a new experience for CRT/N.
To a large extent, it is different from
implementing a grant supported
project. The project proponent has
to change its conventional mind-set
of community development. Along
(phoocoesyoCrt/N)
By: Subarna Prasad Kapali
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with achieving the conventional
goals like livelihood improvement,
empowerment, etc. the project
proponent has the additional goalto generate a specied amount of
CERs which is tied up with the total
fund that would be available for
the project. In addition, the project
proponent has to deal with a number
of new issues some of which have
been discussed below.
In Nepal, establishing coordination
among various programmes and
projects on the given RET is a practical
need. It was the case for CRT/N aswell. It had a series of coordination
dialogues with the national agency
on RET, i.e. AEPC, before it could
nalise the geographical boundary of
the CDM project. Such coordination
was necessary to avoid duplication of
the efforts in the same area. In fact,
it was necessary to show absence of
similar activities in the area to prove
additionality of the CDM project.
One of the critical parts of preparingthe project design document was
establishing the fraction of non-
renewable biomass (NRB) being
consumed by the project beneciary
households. The lack of reliable data
generated by authentic agencies
was a big problem. In order to be
conservative as is suggested by
the applied methodologies, the
validators tried to employ the smaller
value of NRB leading to a lower
volume of CER generation from thesame number of ICS.
The validation process itself was
almost 16 months long. Maintaining
patience and commitment to do
the project was extremely difcult
during this period. However, CRT/N
was prepared to successfully defend
all the queries of the validation
team thanks to timely capacity
building of its staff members. An
important lesson learnt was that a
correct understanding of the project,
including the technology by the
validation team was crucial. Due to
validators differing understanding
of the technology in terms of its
efciency value at the beginning and
at the end stages of the validationprocess, CRT/N was compelled to
make a substantial change in the
project design. Initially the validator
accepted our proposition of 25% as
the conservative value of efciency.
However, later the validatory insisted
we use an efciency value of around
29% as shown by the actual water
boiling test. This change affected
the total number of stoves to be
disseminated, signicantly affecting
the overall planning of the projectincluding human resource, timeline
and budget.
Having no grant assistance at all,
the project was fully dependent
upon revenue from the sale of CERs.
Upfront investment by the buyer,
Egluro Limited, was indispensable to
start the project activities. However,
this actually ended up placing CRT/N
in a weaker nancial position during
the emission reduction purchaseagreement (ERPA) negotiations with
the buyer. This was because waiting
for a favourable market situation to
reap a higher price was not feasible
as CRT/N was under pressure toinitiate the project activities as soon
as possible from the communities as
well as the coordinating government
agencies. By accepting a pre-
nancing solution at the very early
stage of the project, CRT/N perhaps
got a lower price for its CERs.
CRT/N also lost leverage as all CERs
were sold at once to the buyer at
the same rate. Further, it lost the
opportunity of being the focal point
for communication with the CDMExecutive Board.
However, it is also equally true that
with the acquired pre-nancing
support CRT/N enabled the timely
commencement of the project
for the benet of the people. As a
result, funding has been secured for
implementation of the entire project,
any risk related to delays in cash
inow is minimised, the risk of the
price going down is mitigated andthere is also no post-2012 risk to the
project.
There was also the issue of sharing
the carbon revenue with the ICS users
as they are the ones contributing
to actual emission reductions.
CRT/N has addressed this by
providing incentives to the users
on the purchase of the stove and to
construct the stoves as their share
of carbon revenue. A communitydevelopment fund will also be
established from the CER revenue
for implementing new community
development projects.
Project risks
The CDM project has several risks
at various levels. The main risks are
described below.
At national level, the project has
risks relating to coordination. If other
grant supported projects are initiated
in the same geographical boundary,
the CDM project might nd it difcult
to prove emission reductions.Creating community awareness on ICS
(phoocoesyoCrt/N)
POWER HOUSE
e n e r g y n e t w o r k
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There is a perceived social risk to
the project. This is mainly because
of the short 3 year life period of the
stoves. The project is designed to
support the users up to a maximum
of two replacements of the 3-year
completed stoves. The perceived risk
is that the users might opt for using
other options instead of replacingthe stoves. Organisations like CRT/N
should support people if they go
for even better stoves but the CDM
project will suffer due to the loss of
active users of the stoves leading to
the generation of a lower volume of
CERs and even delivery failure.
There is also the risk of non-use or
non-maintenance of the stoves by
the users leading to a decreased
volume of emission reductions.
Intensive user education and quality
assurance of stove construction is
needed.
A very positive part of the CDM is that
it encourages the project proponent
to develop and promote highlyefcient stoves. In fact, CRT/N made
substantial improvement in the
existing design of the improved xed
type mud stove which ultimately
proved to be much more efcient
compared to existing ICS. The higher
the efciency level the smaller the
CDM project in terms of the total
number of stoves required in a
bundle. This reduces project cost
but increases total yield of emission
reductions, thus increasing total
CDM revenue. CDM, however, can
also stop the further development of
the technology. Once the technology
is dened in the approved project
design document introducing other
stoves, even if they are better, is not
allowed under the same CDM project.
This leads to the potential failure
of the project perhaps during the
second half of the ten years crediting
period as peoples aspirations for new
innovations would not be addressed.
finl mk
In Nepal, there are several NGOs who
could potentially develop RET based
CDM projects. Having prepared
itself in terms of condence in the
technology, social mobilisation
and CDM knowledge, NGOs can
move ahead with the development
of the CDM project. They need
to understand the project risks
beforehand as far as possible. If pre-
nancing is needed the search for a
trustworthy buyer should be started
from the early stages of the project.CDM can be a low hanging fruit for
a prepared proponent otherwise it is
only a mirage better not pursued.
Demonstrating the Rocket Stove to the community
(phoocoe
syoCrt/N)
POWER HOUSE
e n e r g y n e t w o r k
Subarna Prasad Kapali is
the Director at the Centre for
Rural Technology in Nepal
(website: www.crtnepal.org)
E-mail: subarna@crtnepal.org
vents
Programme on Sustainable Energy promotion in South Asia by SWAN
South Asian Womens Network (SWAN) focuses on sustainable development in the region, and as such one of SWANs
priorities is sustainable energy for South Asia (SA). Thus, a programme on sustainable energy promotion in SA will
be initiated towards the next SWAN annual conference in August 2013 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The purpose of the
programme is to mobilise SWAN membership to: become aware of, engage with and help to shape policy and practice,
inuence creating conducive policy and practice environment to reduce energy poverty in SA; to ensure that poor
people have adequate access to sustainable energy to meet their basic needs. The programme will focus on specically
beneting poor women in SA (who are totally dependent on biomass for their daily energy needs and burdened with
collecting and using it in an inefcient manner) by both raising their prole and their needs in the international arenaand by designing programmatic approaches where they are prioritized when meeting domestic energy needs.
More information on this programme will be posted in the next issue of the e-net magazine and on the South Asia
Electronic Forum on Energy (www.sa-energy.net)
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Community Assisted Carbon Credit GeneratingReforestation Efforts in Sri LankaContributed by the Conservation Carbon Company
The Hiniduma Bio-link Project
in Sri Lanka is a reforestation
project working in partnership
with the local community towardsestablishing a biodiversity corridor
between two large remnant
rainforest patches in the country,
Singharaja and Kanneliya. It is
one of the rst initiatives of its
kind in Sri Lanka and although
a relatively young pilot project,
it provides lessons on how to
work with communities on
such initiatives which could be
replicated elsewhere. This articleexplains how the project benets
from the farmers efforts and
indigenous knowledge to protect
the local environment, while
in turn helping to improve the
farmers nancial status, skills
and knowledge on how to deal with
the effects of climate change.
The Hiniduma Bio-link Project in Sri
Lanka is the countrys rst Forestry-
based carbon credits initiative.
Developed by Conservation Carbon
Company (CCC)1 and the local
non-prot organisation Rainforest
Rescue International (RRI), this
project works in partnership with
the forest-edge communities along
the Kanneliya Reserve buffer zone
of what is one of the islands last
remaining rainforest ecosystems.
The project involves reforestation of
the land in the wet zone of Sri Lankain an effort to establish a biodiversity
corridor between two large remnant
rainforest patches and to conserve
buffer zones around the forest
edges. Its success is dependent
on the cooperation and efforts of
15 local farmers. The uniqueness
of the project is that it addresses
the three pillars of sustainability -
people, planet and prot - as farmers
gain nancially and have a nancialincentive to protect the surrounding
forests.
The Hiniduma Bio-link Project started
in 2009 and operates in the low land
wet zone region that currently have
land use practices of traditional tea
planting, small rubber plantations,and coffee and paddy cultivation.
The World Heritage Forests of
Singharaja and Kanneliya, along with
numerous related forest fragments,
all lie within 10 km of Hiniduma
village. Together, these forests
account for more than 60% of the
countrys surviving primary rainforest
cover and are under extreme threat
from further fragmentation. The
areas of land used for reforestation
under the project are as follows:
small deforested patches, extents
of land within cash crop of small
rubber plantations, coffee and tea
lands, etc., forest patches along
the river, barren lands2, grasslands
and home gardens. The project also
works towards conserving the buffer
zones around the forest edges which
are often 1 km deep and are areas
of land on which the government
has allowed certain human activity,such as cultivation and rewood
(Phoocoesyo
CCCndrrI)
Farmers helping with project activities
Analog Forestry Concept
Analog Forestry is a system
of silviculture, which aims to
restore the local biodiversity
while providing economic
opportunities to small-scale
farmers. Inspired by Sri
Lankas tradition of homegardens, it encourages the
use of economically viable
crops such as tea, spices, fruit
and vegetables, as well as
ecologically important species.
Where Analog Forestry differs
from other systems is in the
planting design, which mimics
both the structure of a natural
forest (i.e. different canopy
layers) and the ecological
functions of a natural forest(i.e. watershed management).
(Source: www.
rainforestrescueinternational.org)
1 Information on the Conservation Carbon
Company is available at www.conservecarbon.
org.
2 Barren land is land which is often not
suitable for cultivation, has poor soil quality
and has small shrubs growing on it.
collection. Parts of this land are
often owned by farmers and are used
as home gardens. The total land area
of this proposed biodiversity corridor
(beyond its current pilot stage) isapproximately 20,000 ha.
7/30/2019 Enet Mag Carbon
9/2092012July
(Phoocoesyo
CCCndrrI)
(PhoocoesyCCCnd
rrI)
Community involvement
Local farmers are involved in
almost all the stages of the project,
especially on the ground - from
the choice of what trees need to
be planted, tending to the trees,
and harvesting of non-timber forest
products (NTFPs) for personal/
commercial use. The project has
three main eld implementation
stages. The rst stage involved the
introduction of concepts such as
climate change and carbon creditsto the community, and ascertaining
what native ora and fauna to plant
in the demarcated areas. The CCC
and RRI teams met with the farmers
and informed them about climate
change impacts and the carbon credit
system and their potential role in the
Hiniduma Bio-link Project. Once
the farmers had agreed to join the
project it was important to determine
which species of plants needed to
be reforested. This decision was
made by experienced biologists and
ecologists in consultation with the
traditional communities in the area.
Plants were then handed over to the
farmers to tend in their home gardens
and to replant under the supervision
of CCC and RRI project coordinators.
Farmers are remunerated for the time
and effort they spend on tending the
plants and participating in other
project activities. The third andnal stage of the project involved
obtaining professional expertise
to ascertain the amount of carbon
credits generated from the project.
The revenue received from selling
these credits are used to improve thefarmers livelihood and to provide
nancial sustainability to the project.
The trees and other plants selected
for reforestation play specic roles
within the ecosystem. More than 90
tree species have been introduced
to improve the ecosystem services.
These plants are native and endemic
rainforest species, as well as fruit and
medicinal trees. Thus, based on the
Analog Forestry concept the bio-link
will mimic the neighbouring forests
while enhancing the livelihood of the
farmers.
In general, most of the challenges
faced were in the rst year. The
project team was small, and there
were many xed one-time tasks for
the certication and many ground
level activities and tasks which
needed to be completed on time.One such task was the planting
of trees by farmers which was
sometimes delayed as they only
did this in their spare time after
engaging in their other livelihood
activities. In addition, some of the
farmers were reluctant to plant
forest species (non utility) in their
lands as they were only interested in
having commercially valuable timber
trees. However project coordinators,
through well planned awareness
programs, were able to create
awareness on the ecological value of
those species resulting in a change
in these farmers attitudes.
Benefts to the community
Valuing the farming communitys
involvement to improve the ecosystem
services through sequestrated carbonquantities is one of the projects main
objectives. The 15 farmers and their
families involved with the project
are the direct beneciaries of the
project and will reap various benets
during the 20 year project period.
Their income is enhanced as they
are being paid to tend to the trees
payment is made per tree per month.
Increased income diversication
through NTFPs is also likely. These
would include the use of these
plants as a source of medicines,
fruits, shading materials, livestock
feeding, provision of potential bee
keeping habitat (as beehives could
be hung on the trees), shading for
humans and livestock and pruning
material which could be used as
rewood. Even at this early stage of
the project, fruits and some NTFPs
are being harvested. At present
farmers incomes have increasedon average by approximately 10%
per year. This is expected to reach
25% due to value added crops and
multiple cropping cycles. In addition,
improving woodlots will provide
a local and sustainable source of
rewood and poles, reducing the
pressure on the forest to provide
these resources.
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e n e r g y n e t w o r k
Farmers and project coordinators
Edge of the forest - the buffer zonewhere project reforestation activities
are taking place
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10/2010
The project is currently in the process
of helping the farmers to form a
community based organisation
(CBO) to hand over the management
and revenue distribution activities to
the farmers. Once the project starts
to scale up its activities the CBO
will be expected to take on more
responsibilities in keeping account
of revenue received and distributed,
etc. In order to perform their dutieseffectively CBO members have
been provided with training in
leadership, management and book
keeping skills and the project team
has also encouraged the CBO to
conduct livelihood training courses
for its members and community,
such as skills training in sewing and
composting for women.
The project also enhances the
skills and knowledge of thefarmers. They are provided with
knowledge and training on eco-
friendly livelihood options such as
organic farming, efcient farming
techniques and Analog Forestry,
which are introduced without
disturbing the farmers existing
livelihood practices. In addition, the
participatory approach adopted by
the project has increased awareness
among the village community
on the benets from and their
responsibilities to the forest, as well
as on the impacts of climate change
and carbon trading opportunities.
The resulting increased community
ownership and value recognition
of the reforestation efforts and the
ecosystem help to minimise the
threat from communities adjacent to
these forest buffers and surrounding
forest.
Carbon credits and Asias frst Plan
Vivo registered project
The CO2
sequestered through this
project (through the newly planted
trees) generate carbon credits. The
project team along with external
experts used growth models to
predict the CO2
sequestered by
each species of plant for the next
20 years. It is predicted that a
total of 1,700 tonnes of CO2
will be
sequestered by the end of the 20
years. The generated carbon credits
can be sold as Voluntary Carbon
Standard (VCS) credits in the local
and international carbon markets. As
such, this project will be nanced
through the money generated from
the sale of these carbon credits.
The economic benet of the project
is a win-win situation for both land
owners and the project developers.
The Hiniduma Bio-Link Project
was established following globally
accepted standards and was
registered under the VCS Scheme
called Plan Vivo Standard. The
Hiniduma Bio-Link Project is the
rst project in Asia to complete a
Plan Vivo. Plan Vivo is a standard for
designing and certifying community
based payments for ecosystem
services (PES) programmes. The
project team has also taken steps
to register the carbon credits under
a well-known registry called Markit
Registry (www.markitenvironmental.
com).
Sequestrated CO2
from newly
planted trees are eligible for sale
as VCS credits after going through
the project development, validation
and verication processes. Under
the VCS Scheme the carbon credits
generated can be sold prior to the
20 years and this pilot project has
sold most of its credits in advance
so as to ensure meeting farmer
payments and meeting running costs
until project completion. One of the
noteworthy successes of the project
has been the sale of carbon credits
from the Hiniduma Bio-link Project
to Marks & Spencer, UK. Seventy-
three percent of the revenue from
the carbon credits is given to the
farmers while the remaining 27%
goes towards meeting project costs.
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Figure 1: Plan Vivo project registration process
Source: Plan Vivo
(PhoocoesyC
CCndrrI)
Farmers planting trees in the buffer zone
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11/20112012July
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The success of these types of
projects is closely linked to viable
land use practices over the long term
and the provision of sustainable
socio-economic benets to
communities beyond that of carbon
payments. While attractive nancial
benets will help ensure the future
conservation of the planted trees
the real long term benets for such
communities are that they and
future generations will live in a clean
unpolluted environment, maintaining
a controlled, replenishable use of
forest resources. As this is a pilot
project the CCC does not expect to
Subramaniam Eassuwaren, is a
Director of Carbon Conservation
Company and Deputy Chairman
of Eswaran Brothers Exports
(Pvt.) Ltd.
E-mail: subra@eswaran.com
vents
INDIA 2012 EXPO
Date: 7th 9th November 2012
Venue: India Expo Center, Greater
Noida National Capital, Region of
Delhi, India
Renewable Energy India is
an annual exposition held in
New Delhi to serve the Indian
renewable energy market in
leading sustainable development
globally. It focuses on upscaling
and mainstreaming environment-
friendly renewable energy
resources such as solar, wind,
biomass, bio-fuel, small hydro,
geothermal and energy efciency
through an international exhibition
and conference platform.
Supported by the Government
of India - Ministry of New &
Renewable Energy and Ministry of
Power, the event is Asias largest
congregation of renewables. There
will be 550+ exhibitors; 175+
speakers; 1000+ delegates; 35+
knowledge packed conference
sessions / parallel events;CEO |CTO and CFO Conclave;
Business Matching and Investor
Lounge services; Theme Display
Awards; Youth Entrepreneurial
Green Awards; Lucky Draw and
several networking opportunities.
For further information please
go to the event website www.
renewableenergyindiaexpo.com
RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLDCONFERENCE EXPO ASIA
Date: 3rd 5th October 2012
Venue: Impact Exhibition & Convention
Centre, Bangkok, Thailand
For companies involved from
the manufacture of equipment
to the supply of products orservices to the renewable energy
industry, Renewable Energy World
Asia provides the platform and
showcase opportunity to reach,
meet and demonstrate to industry
professionals and key industry
buyers and inuencers of South
East Asia. Inclusive of a conference
and exhibition there will also be a
technical tour.
For further information please
go to the event website www.
renewableenergyworld-asia.com or
e-mail: registration@pennwell.com.
SOUTHEAST ASIA RENEWABLEENERGY PEOPLES ASSEMBLY(SEAREPA) PEOPLEPOWERING ENERGY
Date: 29th October 2nd November2012
Venue: Rainforest Discovery Centre
(RDC), Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia
This inaugural SEAREPA event is
held to showcase community based
renewable energy solutions and
their role in building a sustainable
energy-secure future. Aimed at
attracting 150 200 participants
from Borneo and all of Southeast
Asia, this event will provide anopportunity for participants to share
and receive technical advice to
help strengthen on-going projects
and initiatives. Renewable resource
engineers, energy policy experts
and investors from all over the world
will be attending the conference to
provide their inputs on the projects
and initiatives discussed by South
Asian representatives.
For more information on the eventplease e-mail admin@searepa.com
*All event details have been extracted
from the respective event websites.
make a monetary prot from this
particular phase of the reforestation
initiative. However, the successes of
this pilot initiative is being used to
scale up the projects reforestation
activities in partnership with other
institutions and investors, which is
expected to generate a prot for the
company in the future.
The Hiniduma Bio-link Project has
helped show how carbon sequestering
initiatives can prove economically
viable not only for the project
developers but for the community as
well. By involving the community in
the project processes it has ensured
that increased community respect,
ownership and responsibility towards
their surrounding environment is
inbuilt into the system, promoting
sustainability in the long run. In this
way, traditional communities become
essential partners in the effort to
make a cleaner, greener, fairer world.
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12/2012
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Understanding Carbon MarketsBy: Damitha Samarakoon
As the Kyoto Protocols ve-
year rst commitment period
(20082012) draws to a close, it
is time to assess the overall useand effectiveness of the Clean
Development Mechanism (CDM).
This article explains the CDM
and voluntary carbon emission
reduction concepts, the trends in
the market and future potential.
It also goes on to explain the
registration process of CDM
projects in the compliance market
under the UNFCCC (United
Nations Framework Conventionon Climate Change) and in the
voluntary market (with reference
to the Gold Standard). Where
community based smaller projects
are concerned the evolution of the
voluntary market carbon nancing
is important and the article places
a special focus on this aspect of
registration.
The concept of carbon emission
reduction projects (later developedin to greenhouse gas emission
reduction) Clean Development
Mechanisms (CDM) came into the
fore at international forums where
global climate change discussions
and concerns were taken up, as a
method of reducing the emission of
greenhouse gases (GHG) in traditional
development mechanisms. The use of
carbon emission reduction projects
and related funding methods wereconnected to carbon trading (off
setting) during the Kyoto Protocol
discussions in 1997 and came
into effect from 2005. By the end
of 2011, the protocol was ratied
by over 190 countries. This treaty
set up clear commitments from 41
annex 1 countries (categorised as
developed or transition economies1,)
to reduce their GHG emissions by
5.2% (reduced to 4.2% as the
United Stated did not ratify the
protocol) against the baseline (1990)
values. The time period for the rst
commitment was 2008 - 2012.
Flexible mechanisms to reduce
emissions
Under the treaty the obliged
countries were given several options
(exible mechanisms) to reducetheir emissions:
1. Emission trading (credit trading)
2. Joint implementation projects
3. Clean development mechanisms
Emissions trading
Refers to where the countries were
given a cap for GHG emissions
(Kyoto Protocol, EU emission trading
scheme etc). Most of the countries
then transferred and adapted them
to different industries, decided on by
a central authority in each country.
The governments and companies
would purchase the credit permits
for their limits and would trade
them in an open market. Industries
and companies which do not need
their overall quota trade the excess
credits with a company that requires
additional carbon credits for their
operations. Often this trading
mechanism is facilitated through the
national authority of the respective
countries.
Joint Implementation Projects (JI)
These are projects implemented in
annex 1 countries itself where one
country (state 1) would implement
a project that will reduce emissions
in another country (state 2) and
purchase the emissions reductions
(they would do so as it would becheaper for the state 1 to invest in
a carbon reduction scheme in state
2 than to do so in their own country)
and then claim for the emission
reductions. These projects would
usually include replacing a coal red
power plant with a more efcient
combine heat and power plant
thereby reducing net CO2
emissions.
Clean Development Mechanisms
(CDM)
The CDM was designed to meet a
dual objective: to help developed
countries meet a part of their
emission reduction targets under
the Kyoto Protocol and to assist
developing countries in achieving
sustainable development. An annex
1 country or a company from such
a country would nance a project in
a non annex 1 country. The project
should support a development
activity in the non annex 1 country
and should also be supporting GHG
emission reductions so that if not for
the carbon credit funding the project
(PhoocoesyouNfCCC,phoogph
e:XiodiCi)
A way to a better life - local farmers taking crop residues to a bio power plant
1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_
Framework_Convent ion_on_Cl imate_
Change#Annex_I_countries
7/30/2019 Enet Mag Carbon
13/20132012July
would either not take place or will
be implemented in such a way it will
emit more GHGs.
Carbon emission reduction trading
happens in two major markets. One
is the CDM market - the obligation
of carbon (or harmful emission)
reductions under the Kyoto Protocol
or EU ETS traded off to a value of
USD 176.5 billion in 2011 (World
Bank). The second market is a
voluntary market where companiesand individuals voluntarily purchase
carbon credits to offset their GHG
emissions. The voluntary market
is mostly supported by small scale
emission reduction projects and
in 2011 the value of the voluntary
emission reduction (VER) market
was above USD 570 million.
Overall, in both the compliance
market and the voluntary market thevalue of emission reduction projects
rose from USD 47 million in 2001 to
USD 130 billion in 2012.
CDM investments for the future
The UNFCCC report - Benets of
the Clean Development Mechanism
2011: United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change -
stated that by 30th July 2011, a total
of 3,276 project design documents(PDDs) had been registered with the
CDM executive board. The investment
in CDM projects, which was only USD
41 million in 2004 had increased
in value to over USD 140 billion by
mid-2011. These projects have very
clearly contributed over and above
the prime objective of reducing
GHG emissions by supporting
the sustainable development and
investment funding for the host
countries.
Table 1 shows the number of PDDsregistered and issued, and the
related investment by country in the
South and South East Asian region
(details of China are also included
for comparison).
The voluntary carbon market (VCM)
It has been reported that 2011
recorded the transacting of the
second largest market-wide volumes
(95 MtCO2e 2) and the largest valueever (USD 576 million) tracked in
voluntary carbon markets.
Country
Number of projects Total Investment
(USD millions) Country
Number of Projects Total Investment
(USD millions)
Registered Issued Registered Issued Registered Issued Registered IssuedIndia 694 419 21,144 7,531 Indonesia 70 30 1,512 856
Pakistan 12 4 370 167 Malaysia 93 36 544 359
Sri Lanka 7 7 79 79 Vietnam 64 10 1,559 229
Bangladesh 2 1 10 5 Laos 1 1 1 1
Nepal 4 2 27 6 Philippines 54 18 715 199
Bhutan 2 1 184 - Thailand 53 31 461 336
China 1468 830 96311 65,156
Volume (MtCO2e) Value (USD millions)
Markets 2010 2011 2010 2011
Voluntary OTC-traded 128 93 422 572
CCX (exchange-tradedand OTC-cleared)
2 - 2 -
Other Exchanges 2 2 11 4
tol Volny Mk 133 95 433 576
tol rgld Mk 8,072 10,094 158,777 175,451
tol Globl Mk 8,835 10,189 159,210 176,027
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Table 1: Project Investment
Source: Benets of the Clean Development Mechanism 2011:
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC, 2011
Source: Ecosystem Marketplace and the World Banks State and Trends of the Carbon
Markets 2012. Note: Totals may not add up due to rounding
According to the Eco system
Marketplace report by Bloomberg,
the average price for voluntary
emission reductions (VER)s
increased slightly in 2011, from
USD 6/tCO2e in 2010 to USD 6.2/
tCO2e in 2011. While the volume of
credits traded in the USD 1-2/tCO2e
range doubled, so did the volume
of credits in the USD 5-10/tCO2e
range. Above average prices were
attributed to newly issued credits
from highly charismatic projects;emerging domestic programmes; and
credits eligible for future compliance
market use. 2011s average price
is calculated by the aggregation of
hundreds of reported prices that vary
greatly by project standard, location,
and technology ranging from less
than USD 1/tCO2e to over USD 100/
tCO2e.
The verication of the projectsthrough a recognised standard
system is a must for these carbon
Table 2: Transaction Volumes and Values, Global Carbon Market, 2010 and 2011
2 MtCO2e stands for Metric Tonne (ton) Carbon
Dioxide Equivalent. It is the amount of CO2
emissions that are reduced or secluded from
the environment.
7/30/2019 Enet Mag Carbon
14/2014
offsets to be accepted. The following
standards prevailed during 2011
in terms of units of carbon offsets.
Veried Carbon Standard (VCS) saw
41 MtCO2e of credits transacted
utilising its standard. Behind
VCS, the Climate Action Reserve
guided another 9 MtCO2e of credits
transacted in 2011, and Gold
Standard with 8.5 MtCO2e. A number
of standards that apply exclusively to
domestic projects remained active,
while numerous local and national
governments initiated voluntary
offset projects. Country-specic
standards backed 6 MtCO2e or 7%
of all credits transacted in the VCM
in 2011.
The ultimate buyers were mainly
companies seeking to offset their
carbon emissions. There are
brokers and intermediaries who
purchase carbon credits from project
developers and resell the credits to
the nal buyers. From the supply
side the variation based on the type
of organisation varied, is shown in
Figure 1 during 2011.
Non-prot market share grew again
in 2011 (to 20% of all transacted
credits), when the private sector
looked to non-prot suppliers
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to source a growing volume of
their credits, or pursued a more
philanthropic model for meeting
their GHG targets. Hence, non-prot
suppliers portfolios were more varied
last year shifting from a dominant
focus on forestry (85% of non-prot
credits sold in 2010) to transacting
several project types and at a price
more competitive with for-prots
suppliers.
From the shift to more non-
prot market share it is clear that
demand has been affected due to
the economic conditions in the
European market. However, the VCM
concept is showing good resiliencein terms of addressing both the
objectives of emission reduction and
sustainable development. A study by
Thompson Reuters indicates that by
2020 the VCM will reach a value of
USD 3.6 billion. But the certication
requirements are expected to become
more stringent.
How can an organisation obtainfunding through a CDM Project?
Projects can apply to be registered
as a CDM project in the compliance
market under UNFCCC or can apply
to be a part of the voluntary market.
The process for applying for
registration of CDM under UNFCCC
guidelines (as stated on the UNFCCC
website) is as follows :
1. Project Design: Projectparticipant prepares project
design document, making use
of approved emissions baseline
and monitoring methodology
2. National Approval: Project
participant secures letter
of approval from Party (the
project participant or any other
partner in the project of the
host country), The Designated
National Authority (DNA) of a
Party involved in a proposed
CDM project activity shall submit
a letter indicating the following:
That the country has ratied the
Kyoto Protocol.
That participation is voluntary.
And, from host parties, a
statement that the proposed
CDM project activity contributes
to sustainable development (EB
16, Annex 6, paragraph 13
).3. Validation: Project design
document is validated
by accredited designated
operational entity, private third-
party certier.
4. Registration: Valid project
submitted by (designated
operational entity) DOE to CDM
Executive Board with request for
registration. DOEs are private
certiers who validate projectsand verify emission reductions.
Registration is the formal
acceptance by the Executive
Board of a validated project
as a CDM project activity.
Registration is the prerequisite
for the verication, certication
and issuance of CERs related to
that project activity.
5. Monitoring: Project participant
responsible for monitoring actual
emissions according to approved
methodology.
3 Source: http://cdm.unfccc.int/EB/016/
eb16repan6.pdf
Figure 1: Response Count by Proft Status, All Years
Source: Ecosystem Marketplace. Note: Based on 310 organizations from
previous four years
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15/20152012July
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6. Verication: Designated
operational entity veries that
emission reductions took place,
in the amount claimed, according
to approved monitoring plan.
7. CER issuance.
DOE submits a verication report
with request for issuance to the CDM
Executive Board. Steps in the CER
issuance in detail:
Completeness check by
secretariat
Vetting by secretariat
Vetting by Executive Board
If a Party or three members of the
Executive Board request review,
issuance request undergoes
review, otherwise proceeds to
issuance
The Gold Standard
Registration in the voluntary market
is also similar to the process, (given
below), advised by the Gold Standard(GS).
Planning stage check eligibility
The project should be checked
for cl - it could be large,
small or micro as dened by the
GS tool kit.
The project should be clearly
cgoid in to one of the
following; renewable energy
supply, end use energy efciencyimprovement or waste handling
and disposal.
Only 3 out of the 6 GHG emission
reduction categories under UNFCCC
are eligible under the GS VER
scheme - i.e: Carbon Dioxide(CO2),
Methane(CH4) and Nitrous
Oxide(N2O).
If the project receives ofcial
development assistance (ODA) and
the credits are transferred directly
or indirectly to the donor country the
project will not be eligible for VER.
If the project was announced to go
ahead previously without assistance
from carbon credit then it will not
be eligible to claim funding from
carbon trading, but projects can
claim carbon funding if the funds
are critical for the sustainability of
the project. If projects have been
initiated before being registered
under GS VER it can claim for carbon
emission reduction up to a maximum
of 2 years before the registering date
under the GS VER scheme.
Taking into account additionality
and sustainability, the premium
status certication from GS isgiven for projects of high quality.
The additionality criterion refers to
the fact that the carbon emission
reduction would not have taken
place if the project did not happen
and the project is dependent on the
carbon credit income generated.
Sustainability criterion refers to
the fact that the actions under the
project contributes to sustainabledevelopment of the host country. The
GS advices to refer to development
assistance sites of GTZ, UNDP,
FAO, SNV, DFID, OXFAM, DANIDA,
ODI, South-South North, etc. to
nd tools to optimise insight and
potential impact. Once the eligibility
criteria is studied and it is clear that
the project is eligible the project
participant should start writing the
GS passport which gives all the
information regarding the project.
The project passport will include the
following information:
Project title
Project description
Proof of project eligibility -
based on: category, region,
project type, project gases, ODA,
other certication schemes and
project timeframe.
Unique project identication
Outcome of the Local Stakeholder
Consultation process - The
details of how to conduct the
stakeholder consultation process
and the details required are
given in the GS tool kit.
Outcome of the Sustainability
Assessment - presentation of
the outcome of the do no harm
assessment and consolidated
sustainable development matrix
Sustainability Monitoring
Plan - Additionality and
conservativeness deviations
Filling up the passport can be done
while the project design document
is being prepared, however to
Figure 2: Project cycle for a CDM project
Source: www.clearbluetrading.com
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complete the passport you need a
completed PDD. The following steps
and assessment will help to write the
PDD and complete the GS passport:
Select Baseline and Monitoring
Methodology
Additionality Assessment using
tools given in the GS tool kit.
Sustainability Assessment
(Do No Harm Assessment,
Detailed Impact Assessment-
Sustainable Development Matrix,
Sustainability Monitoring Plan,
Environmental & Social Impact
Assessment (ESIA)).
After creating a registry, details and
necessary documents are uploaded
onto the GS web site, and after
completing the stakeholder report
the GS secretariat will inform the
project participant whether the
project has received the applicant
status and listed. The project should
then be validated by a DOE, or a
AIE (accredited independent entity),one can also opt for a GS internal
validation by paying a fee (this
applies for micro scale projects only).
After the validation and reviewing of
the validation by the GS a successful
project will receive the registered
status.
There are many micro scale projects
that would have signicant impact
The Gold Standard Foundation,
available on http://www.
cdmgoldstandard.org/ [17 October
2012]
UNFCC website, Project Design,
available on http://cdm.unfccc.int/
Projects/diagram.html [16 October
2012]
Point Carbon, 23rd November
2010, CDM will grow beyond 2012
with 3.6bn CERs issued by 2020,
available on http://www.pointcarbon.
c o m / a b o u t u s / p r e s s r o o m / pressreleases/1.1487593 [16
October 2012]
State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets
2012: Eco System Market place
forest trend initiative, Bloomberg.
UNFCCC, Benets of the Clean
Development Mechanism 2011:
United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change,2011
on GHG reduction and sustainable
development in host countries if
carbon funding is received and
this will make the carbon emission
reduction targets more realistic
globally. The issue that still remains
is the lack of knowledge among small
entities on how to apply for carbon
credits and related funding. Effective
sharing of information among these
entities should be promoted for
them to benet from carbon funding
schemes and thus promote GHG
emission reduction and contribute to
sustainable development.
References
Wikipedia, Carbon offset, available
on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Carbon_offset [17 October 2012]
Environmental Leader, 2011,
Voluntary Carbon Market
Surges, Global Carbon Trading
Stalls, available from http://
w w w . e n v i r o n m e n t a l l e a d e r .
com/2011/06/03/voluntary-carbon-market -surges-g lobal -carbon-
trading-contracts/ [17 October
2012]
UNFCCC website, Approved Baseline
and Monitoring Methodologies for
Large Scale CDM Project Activities,
available on http://cdm.unfccc.int/
methodologies/PAmethodologies/
approved [16 October 2012]
Damitha Samarakoon, Project
Manager, Practical Action.
E-mail: damitha.samarakoon@
practicalaction.org.lk
Changing to serve you better
With the coming New Year e-net plans to re-strategise itself in the renewable energy arena. We will continue to
place emphasis on community planned, managed and sustained energy initiatives. Further, the forums regional
reach will expand to include South East Asia as well. In order to serve our members better changes will be made to
the South Asia Renewable Energy Forum. The revamped forum website will facilitate increased interaction between
members. Discussions will continue to be held on energy issues faced by the poor and issues and opportunities
in the energy development sector. Increased space for members to post details on energy related events (such as
workshops, conferences) on the forum website and links with other networks in the energy sector are just some
of the changes our members can look forward to. The e-net magazine will continue to be a bi-annual publication.It will not only contain articles related to a specic theme but it will also cover a technical paper on a chosen
renewable energy technology while containing articles covering community based energy initiatives and news in
the energy sector.
7/30/2019 Enet Mag Carbon
17/20172012July
POWER HOUSE
Creating awareness on Sustainable Energy andEnergy Options through art in Sri LankaContributed by Practical Action
using renewable energy sources
to generate energy, due to the
fast depletion of fossil fuels.
In the process of designing their
entries children had to learn about
energy issues and the sustainable
energy options available. Various
aspects of the energy crises, the
sustainable energy requirement and
renewable energy solutions were
portrayed in the childrens artwork.
As such, the entire event was a great
awareness building initiative for the
younger generation on how to deal
with the upcoming energy crisis.
Awareness was created on how
dominant sectors in a countrys
economy, such as industry, education
and health, are greatly inuenced by
the supply of energy. Awareness on
alternative renewable technologies
such as energy efcient cookstoves,
tidal power generation, wave power,
solar power, wind energy, small and
large scale hydro power plants andbiogas facilities was also created.
Aspects of energy saving appliances
and techniques were also depicted
in their pieces of art for instance
how to use electricity efciently and
using energy saving bulbs in the
home.
The fact that the energy issues,
and the energy saving technologies
and applications were depicted in
the childrens entries are a signof how effective the competition
was in creating awareness on the
energy issues and sustainable energy
options. Practical Action along with
the Ministry of Postal Services and
Sustainable Energy Authority were
successful in making this stamp
issue an opportunity to offer insights
into strengthening the methods and
initiatives on Sustainable Energy for
all and it served as an opportunityto build awareness among the
younger generation on the need for
sustainable energy and the use of
alternative energy options.
Energy has become the foundation
of all economic related activity and
improving access to energy has a
direct positive impact on economic
growth, living standards and poverty
alleviation. The year 2012 was
declared the International Year ofSustainable Energy for All by the
UN. Practical Action joined hands
with the Ministry of Postal Services
and Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy
Authority to organise an island-wide
art competition for school children to
design the rst-day stamp cover for
the launch of a stamp symbolising
this theme. The competition was
launched on 10th January 2012 and
the stamp and winning rst day coverdesign entry were released on 20th
March 2012 at an event attended
by the participating school children,
their parents and representatives of
the organisations involved.
The competition was held to create
awareness and interest among
school children on sustainable
energy and the sustainable energy
options available in Sri Lanka. It also
provided a platform for the younger
generation to express their views
on energy related issues using art.
Press advertisements and posters in
the national languages (Sinhala and
Tamil) were used to publicise the
competition and the related theme.
The competition was a great success
and received over 200 pieces of
artwork from school children from
around the country, proof of the
great enthusiasm generated over thisevent. Awareness was created not
only among the children but their
parents and teachers as well.
Two rounds of selection by 2
independent panels led to the
selection of winners. Cash prizes
and awards were distributed at the
stamp launch to the rst, second,
third place winners of the rst day
cover. Grade 12 student, MissD.H.A. Sachini Ruwanika Nimanthi
Perera won rst prize in the art
competition. She is a student at
Holy Family Balika Maha Vidyalaya,
in Wennapuwa, in the North
Western Province of the country. Ten
consolation prizes were also awarded.
Twenty other places under the merit
category were also given prizes
and certicates by the Honorable
Minister of Power and Energy Mr.
Patali Champika Ranawaka in front
of the distinguished gathering.
The Honorable Minister thanked
the children for their participation
and highlighted the importance of
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Winners of the rst day stamp cover art competition
7/30/2019 Enet Mag Carbon
18/2018
Formation of the South / South East Asia Micro/Pico Hydro Network
Micro Hydro power generation units
have been used for almost a century
to electrify remote villages in South /
South East Asia. However, the hydro
potential in the region has not yet
been fully harnessed. So there is a
lot more scope for a positive impact
on the lives of those who need
electricity the most. The formation
of the South/South East Asia Micro/
Pico Hydro Network is an initiative
to help countries collaboratively
accomplish this.
The rst micro hydro systems were
used in plantations in countries
like India and Sri Lanka and with
increased usage of electricity as
a public utility hydro power also
gained popularity. However, it was
only during the 1980s that the
concept of community managed
mini/micro hydro systems came into
prominence.
Several countries were very
successful in adapting different
technologies (such as hydro) and
social practices to suit their local
needs, using existing hydro power
for sustainable power generation
and electrifying remote villages.
However, some countries are yet to
take full advantage of this power
source available to them due to
several obstacles.
The potential
The countries in the region still have
a large technical potential for hydro
power, as shown in the table below.
Tapping into this technical potential
might not always be feasible as
economic and social conditions are
not always suitable. For example, in
Sri Lanka the economically feasible
generation capacity is 7,255 GWh/year against the technical feasibility
of 8,250 GWh/year resulting in
an unutilised amount of hydro
potential. In Nepal only 14,742
GWh is economically feasible
whereas in Cambodia and Indonesia
the economically feasible capacities
are 1,500 and 40,000 GWh/year
respectively.
It is clearly visible from Table 1 that
most of the countries are yet to takeadvantage of this natural resource
and improve the standard of living
of its people. The need to protect
and use these renewable sources
for power generation is becoming
increasingly important as the cost
of using fossil fuels, both nancially
Cony tchnicl Ponil(GWh/y)
Gnion om inlld(GWh/y)
Afghanistan 25,000 1,000
Bhutan 99,200 7,134
Bangladesh 1,500 1,200
Cambodia 34,400 55
Indonesia 401,646 10,700
Laos 18,000 3,777
Malaysia 12,300 4,950
Myanmar 39,720 7,830
Nepal 44,000 2,410
Pakistan 204,000 28,667
Philippines 20,334 6,432Sri Lanka 8,250 3,947
Thailand 16,292 5,314
Vietnam 123,000 24,000
Table 1: Technical potential vs. Current generation of hydro power
(Source: Hydro power and Dams, World Atlas 2009)
and environmentally, is already
having negative impacts on these
countries and on the world at large.
The individual capacities in these
countries at each site can be
categorised as large scale, mini/
micro and pico hydro technology,
based on the power generated.
The smaller versions (micro and
pico) get less attention as large
scale projects can attract large
donor agencies, governmental
support and the technical knowhow
required. However, it is the smaller
scale versions that are best suited
to provide energy to remote rural
villages in these countries.
The main obstacles for these smaller
technologies to take up and reach
maximum potential are:
1. Lack of nances and suitable
nancing models
2. Lack of technical knowledge and
skills
3. Lack of managerial techniquesat community level
4. Lack of appropriate policy
support
However, certain countries have
achieved success in certain areas.
Considering the region as a whole it
seems to have the capacity to take
micro/pico hydro technology usage
to the next level. For example there
are very good case studies found in
Sri Lanka, Nepal and Malaysia ofusing community managed hydro
schemes, connecting small scale
units to the national grid, and very
successful funding mechanisms to
support small hydro projects.
The hydro network
The Wuppertal Institute under its
WSIONS project supports small
scale renewable energy development
projects in the region. It recognisesthe necessity for a regional network
on micro/pico hydro. The network
would facilitate the sharing of
knowledge and build capacities
of smaller organisations to benet
www.sa-energy.netSouth Asia Renewable Energy Network
7/30/2019 Enet Mag Carbon
19/20192012July
from each other while also using the
synergy created through the network
to develop policy level support in each
country to enable rapid development
in the Hydro Power sector. With this
in mind, the WISIONS program team
held a meeting with its partners and
interested organisations from the
region (Sri Lanka, Philippines, Nepal,
Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and India) in
February 2012 in Sri Lanka. During
the meeting participants drafted a
framework to initiate a South/South
East Asia Micro/Pico Hydro network.
The main objectives of this network
are to build the technical capacities
of the network members to develop
the hydro sector in their respective
countries, address nancial issues,
tariff structures, and policy issues
through knowledge sharing.
The regional coordinator of the
network will be Janathakshan the
local partner of Practical Action
(formerly ITDG) in Sri Lanka. The
rst phase of the network will be
to create a member base with at
least one partner from each country
and to create an online platform to
share information and knowledge.
As the network is expected to
promote grass root level activities
and policy inuencing at later
stages, the membership will initially
be limited to the organisations
that were represented in the rst
meeting in Sri Lanka. As the network
activities increase the membership
Name Ogniion Cony WblinkNazario R.Cacayan
YAMOG Renewable EnergyDevelopment Group
Philippines www.yamog.org
Auke Idzenga AIDFI (AID Foundation Inc) Philippines www.aid.org
Victoria Lopez SIBAT (Sibol na Agham atTeknolohiya)
Philippines www.sibat.org
Shikha Srivastava Development consultant India
Dipti Vaghela Development practitioner India
SalineeTavaranan
BGET (Border Green EnergyTeam)
Thailand www.bget.org
VongkhamSenesathit
Ministry of Science andTechnology
Lao PDR triresearch@hotmail.com
PushkarManandhar
Practical Action Nepal www.practicalaction.org
Carmen Dienst/Julian Knig
Wuppertal Institute Germany www.wupperinst.org
Rohitha Ananda/Gihan Sajeew
Practical Action Sri Lanka www.practicalaction.org
will be opened to a wider group
of organisations and individuals
who are actively involved in micro/
pico hydro development in these
countries. The Wuppertal Institute
is willing to support initial level
knowledge sharing and technical
exchange requirements within
the membership, the success of
which will bring more supporting
and funding organisations into the
network .
Collaboration between South/SouthEast Asia Micro/Pico Hydro Network
and the South Asia ElectronicForum on Energy
Developments of the network will be
shared through the www.sa-energy.
net site on a separate page dedicated
to the South/South East Asia Micro/
Pico Hydro Network. The information
will be visible to all visitors of the
South Asia Electronic Forum on
Energy. However, uploading and
downloading of information will be
limited to registered members. The
page will provide a market place for
members to showcase their demand
and supply on specic needs
to develop the hydro sector, the
regional coordinator together with
the members will then try to match
the requests and prioritise the needs
that could be met within the available
resources of the network. Later ontechnical training and specic needs
matching is expected to take place.
The list of organisations and
individuals present at the rst
meeting and who will be the initial
members of the South/South Asia
Micro/Pico Hydro Network is given
below. Later on technical training
and specic needs matching is
expected to take place.
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South/ South East Asia Micro/Pico hydro network development workshoporganised by Wuppertal Institue and Practical Action, Kandy, Sri Lanka
For more information on the
South/South East Asia Micro/
Pico Hydro Network and its link
with the South Asia Electronic
Forum on Energy, contact Damitha
Samarakoon, Manager of the e-netproject, at damitha.samarakoon@
practicalaction.org.lk
7/30/2019 Enet Mag Carbon
20/20
www.sa-energy.net E-mail: e-net@sa-energy.net
e n e r g y n e t w o r k
Issue 11