Low-cost biodigesters are more than biogas producers – they hold tremendous untapped potential for wastewater treatment. Jaime Martí Herrero reflects on a project that took him from a metropolitan slaughterhouse in Ecuador to Indigenous communities in the Amazon.
WISIONS article among recent most popular "Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews" articles
One of our research articles entitled “A cross-sectional review: Impacts and sustainability of small-scale renewable energy projects in developing countries”, which has been published in “Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews”, is among the Top 10 most downloaded articles published by Germany-based authors since 1 January 2014!
Access to sustainable and affordable energy services is a crucial factor in reducing poverty in developing countries. In particular, small-scale and community-based renewable energy projects are recognized as important forms of development assistance for reaching the energy poor. However, to date only a few empirical evaluations exist which analyze and compare the impact of these projects on local living conditions and their sustainability ex-post implementation.
To better understand the impacts and the conditions that influence sustainability of these projects, the research presented in this paper evaluated 23 local development projects post implementation. By applying an standardized evaluation design to a cross-sectional sample in terms of renewable energy sources (solar, wind, biomass, hydro), user needs (electricity, food preparation, lighting, productive uses), community management models, finance mechanisms and geographical locations, the review results provide valuable insights on the underlying conditions that influence the success or failure of these small-scale local energy interventions.
The article is available for free download until 15th January 2016 at ScienceDirect.
