Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/12/03/2530465/miami-herald-staff-wins-regional.html#ixzz1fctvakc0

At the invitation of Nicola Armacost of Arc Finance, which specializes in microfinance and renewable energy, who is also a Village Trustee in Hastings-on-Hudson, the Foundation presented the Ethanol Clean Cookstove Initiative for Haiti at the local Take Me to the River Fair.  Board member George Garland and Associates Rosario Rodriguez and Imnet Yebio joined David Stillman as presenters.

            Climate Week NYC’s opening ceremony provided an example of public private alliance that defies belief. The Rethinking Resiliency, a panel on innovative solutions for climate adaptation, brought us an example of the insurance company Swiss Re bringing disaster insurance to the 39,000 microfinance clients of Fonkoze Financial Services in Haiti.

Ann Hastings, Fonkoze CEO, has seen disasters from weather and earthquake undo successes many times. Hurricanes, tropical storms, and earthquake have destroyed  financial stability achieved through struggle to pay back micro loans. Ann has raised funds for loan forgiveness to restore such progress several times. Now, in a breathtaking example of public private partnership between an especially creative non-governmental organization Fonkoze and Swiss Re, Fonkoze offers disaster insurance to its clients. Swiss Re will pay out if certain levels of disaster are reached. Swiss Re simply pays Fonkoze which in turn pays insured disaster victims. With 41 offices in Haiti, Fonkoze can service claims and not rely on the kindness of strangers every time disaster strikes!

Voice of the Voiceless   — Vwa Pou Sila Ki Pou Gen Vwa or Les Voix Des Sans Vois  – is produced in English, French and Creole.

An introduction by Leonard Doyle, Media and Communications Coordinator at IOM/Haiti, sets the stage:

“This book is testimony to the desire of Haiti’s new homeless to have their voices heard and to become part of their country’s national conversation. Ten examples have been chosen from among more than 2,500 received by IOM over a three month period. Once picked up the letters are read and responded to. The humanitarian community also analyses the letters to gauge the needs and concerns of the displaced as it plans an exit strategy from the camps. The letters in this book provide a glimpse into a harsh and precarious life being lived by an estimated third of the population of the capital Port-au-Prince. The writers cry out in desperation for jobs that pay a living wage saving them the indignity of depending on the charity of friends to survive each day.”

These are just some of the people whose lives have been devastated by the earthquake, and give face and voice “to the voiceless.”

•  Chief Master Planning Officer – Description | [PDF, 49.9kB]
• Stagiaire à la CIRH   (6 positions are open) -Description | [PDF, 55.2kB]
• Data Analyst – Description | [PDF, 67.2kB]
• Health Sector Lead Specialist Description | [PDF, 249kB]
• Media Spokesperson Description | [PDF, 55kB]

To apply, send a cover letter with resume to resumes@cirh.ht indicating in the subject to which position you are applying. Only applications corresponding to openings listed above will be reviewed.

The general URL for the IHRC website is: http://en.cirh.ht/

The Initiative team, including SImACT, Inc., the Public-Private Alliance Foundation, Bio-Tek Solutions, Dometic Group, and several other partners, is organizing provision of ethanol, plans for marketing the stoves and plans for manufacture in Haiti. Recently the group met at SImACT headquarters in Brooklyn and with potential investors in Manhattan.

SEI works with light gauge steel, a new technology in construction markets that has environmental, structural, and economic benefits. Structures built with light gauge steel are strong and flexible, increasing resistance to hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes, and are light enough to reduce piling requirements in poor soils. In the past 12 months, SEI has shipped more than 5,100 wood and steel housing units to Haiti, and established local production facilities in Leogane.

Now, Haitians trained by seasoned professional engineers, manufacturing personnel and project managers are assembling 800 houses for installation in Leogane and Grand Goave. SEI’s 2.5 acre plant and warehousing facility is a major source of employment and economic assistance in the area, where 90% of homes were flattened in the earthquake. Working in collaboration with the Cooperative Housing Foundation and other major aid organizations, SteelElements has a highly successful track record in the construction of houses, shelters, and community centers in Haiti and developing countries around the world.

PPAF and SEI are exploring possible connections between SteelElements and the Ethanol Cookstoves Initiative for Haiti.

Scott Coulombe at Jacmel Conference, June 2010

 We asked these experts to come because whether we are working in Haiti, the Dominican Republic or Madagascar, people want and need clean energy and local electrification, simple, affordable housing, and better cookstoves. 

PPAF Executive Director Dr. David Stillman opened and moderated the session.  Presenters included BioGen (Dominican Republic and U.S.), Medesco (U.S.), Habitech International (U.S. and Dominican Republic), WECAN, Inc., and Project Gaia (U.S., Ethiopia and Brazil).  A presentation was also made on Viridian Energy, whose program for non-profits will benefit the Foundation. (See article.)

BioGen manufactures modular and scalable equipment to provide 200 to 700 kw of electricity for communities and agro-business sites, through gasification of a wide variety of biomass and organic waste.  According to the BioGen team, its gasification process is a clean energy solution which combines strong temperature control in the reactor with an exclusive closed loop tar recovery process.  Specialized systems clean the synthesis gas virtually tar-free, and the filtered tars are recycled as fuel in the reactor.  The result is exceptionally clean synthesis gas that will run a wide variety of genset engines, a closed-loop process free of wastewater emissions, and  the ability to operate with numerous varieties of biomass.  BioGen’s manufacturing takes place in the Zona Franca of Santo Domingo, D.R.  Brad Godfrey, Founder/CEO, Bill Yeates, Chairman of the Board, Eng. Giovanni Capello, Board Director and Alfonso Rodriguez, Sales and Sustainability Director and Frank Ciufo participated in the meeting, as did Rick Lafond and Alex Krutansky.

Medesco builds on the experience of its principals in engineering, health care and management.   Marty Borruso presented Medesco’s technology which maximizes the round-the-clock energy needs of hospitals and such institutions.  He described its flagship project, with Atlantic Health Systems / Overlook Hospital in New Jersey for a 4 Megawatt State of the Art Trigeneration system for electricity, heating and cooling.  The system will operate at over 90% efficiency, providing electric, heat, steam, hot water and airconditioning to the hospital while reducing the carbon loading by 10,891 tons per year.  Medesco’s analyses have demonstrated significant financial advantages, showing reductions in total energy bills from 45% to 60%, a simple payback of investment of fewer than three years and lifecycle ROI ranging from 250% to 400%.  Medesco principals Alfred LoBiondo and Frank Ciufo, Robert Peake, corporate director, Facilities at Atlantic Health, and John Borruso also participated.

Habitech International provides equipment, technical and financial assistance to establish building material production facilities to supply projects for construction of low-cost housing, commercial and institutional buildings, including in seismic-prone developing countries.  Its products include soil-cement interlocking bricks, concrete interlocking bricks and blocks, concrete joists for floors and flat roof structures, and concrete roofing tiles. John Weatherhead gave a PowerPoint presentation showing the equipment and the actual building, step-by-step, of 15 houses in the Dominican Republic in 2009.  He emphasized involvement of the community and prospective homeowners in the construction.  Ten houses were delivered to the NGO headed by the Country’s First Lady. The remaining five were private units for sale. This provides an effective demonstration of a successful experience which can be replicated in the D.R. and Haiti where the geology is similar.
 
WECAN, Inc., a consulting firm based in the U.S., provides training of trainers and best practices in management to support the expansion of Habitech International’s low cost innovative housing technology. These organizations are currently preparing plans for work in Haiti.  Francisco Di Blasi highlighted that these plans can also promote community mobilization, youth employment, and other steps to address local needs.  The first phase is to identify a community in rural Haiti for a “demonstrated” deliverable product, and to help design a blueprint for replication and expansion.  They are seeking funds from public, private and NGO sources. 

Project Gaia Inc. is a nonprofit organization that is part of a global initiative promoting clean-cooking fuels, particularly alcohol cooking stoves, for those living in poverty.  Brady Luceno and Harry Stokes presented the CleanCook stove, produced by Dometic, A.B.   The stove burns alcohol fuel without smoke, is easy to use, is highly efficient, and affordable to run. The stove is stable, and the fuel is stored safely in a non-spill fuel tank.   Project Gaia is working with SImACT, Inc., the Public-Private Alliance Foundation and others to manufacture the stove in Haiti and to ensure production and marketing of sugar-based ethanol and the stoves.    

The Haiti Southwest Sustainable Development Project is the 21-month $8 million launching project of a 20-year, $200 million project known as the South Coast Initiative for 10 Communes in the southwest of Haiti.  This, in turn, is the first stage of a larger program known as the Haiti Regeneration Initiative.  The UN Environment Program (UNEP) and the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) are jointly responsible for the project, which was approved by the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission and funded by the Haiti Recovery Fund.   The South Coast Initiative also receives funding and support from Catholic Relief Services, the Green Family Foundation, and others.

Andrew Morton is the Haiti Program Manager for UNEP-Geneva and the Director of this Project.  He spoke about the project and the potential for working with some of the presenters at this PPAF meeting.  He noted that the region suffers from serious land degradation, relatively low levels of investment, difficult transport links and high vulnerability to hurricanes, floods and earthquakes. At the same time it has significant agricultural and beach and park tourism potential.  The project aims to: (a) Reduce poverty through the introduction and expansion of sustainable agriculture, agroforestry, forestry and energy programs; (b) Reduce the vulnerability of urban populations to flooding through restored catchments and improved river basin; and (c) Increase the contribution of sustainable forestry to help meet Haiti’s energy and timber needs.

Viridian Energy is an energy supplier serving New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Illinois. Viridian Energy offers premium renewable energy products that meet or exceed the proposed 2020 federal environmental goal of 20% renewable energy. Many states have already adopted Renewable Portfolio Standards, which require electricity suppliers and utilities to source a minimum amount of their electricity from clean energy sources. Viridian exceeds this requirement in each state in which it operates.  Alex Stillman briefed the group on Viridian’s offerings.  See a separate article on how you can help the Public-Private Alliance Foundation by selecting Viridian as your electricity provider.  For more information or to become a customer, contact ppafoundation2@gmail.com

Other participants included Dr. Lesly Kernisant President of SImACT, Inc.; Josiane Radjoelson, Counselor, the Mission of Madagascar to the UN; Serge Beauzile and Claudel Seide, Haitian-American technical experts; Lord Kevin Lumb and Elaine Ward of Global Investment Summits;  Maria Teresa Lasa of Columbia University’s Earth Institute; John M. Finan, New York City Consulting Group, and Jonathan Hanson, photojournalist.   PPAF Board members attending included George Garland, Jeanne Betsock Stillman. Secretary and Scott Wright, Treasurer.   PPAF Senior Fellows attending included V. Judith Bowman, John Edgar Stillman and Michael Ambrozek

Biofuels Digest recently conducted a survey on the “food versus fuel” debate, specifically on the question of the “morality” of different sources of biofuel, ranging from corn to marine-based feedstocks. Respondents were self-selected, mostly US-based and largely made up of Digest readers, but gave wide-ranging comments.  As stated by the Digest “The public says “depends on the feedstock,” but generally more moral than converting land for oil & gas or housing.”  Highlights of survey results are given below, and more fully at   http://biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2011/04/06/food-vs-fuel-are-biofuels-moral-or-immoral/

Recent efforts by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are also noteworthy for emphasizing the benefits to small-scale farmers in developing countries in growing both food and biofuel feedstock. Called ‘integrated food-energy systems,’ FAO finds that small-scale, local biofuel production brings economic and environmental advantages. As stated, “Integrating and intensifying food and energy production has the potential to improve food and energy security in rural villages and the national level as well.”  www.fao.org/bioenergy/67564/en/

The Biofuels Digest survey found broad support for well-managed biofuels. The first question was key – “Is it moral, or immoral, to use a (human) food crop at any time to make energy or fuel? Examples could include anything from an ethanol cook stove, a home-based corn pellet stove, up to industrial-scale production.”  The results were — Moral 62%, Immoral 16%, Other 21%, No response 1%.  Comments were welcomed, and PPAF gave a detailed one.

Respondents were most comfortable with producing biofuels from waste oils and municipal and agricultural waste, and from idle land not suitable for growing crops.  The survey found much less support for using land previously allocated for conservation, for using trees rather than crops, or for using farmland for shopping centers. 

Obviously this is a topic of great interest to the Public-Private Alliance Foundation, as we work to encourage adoption of cookstoves fueled by sugar- and sorghum-based ethanol as an alternative to Haiti’s heavy reliance on wood and charcoal, and the consequent health, economic, and environmental problems. At the same time, popular questions do arise, and need to be answered.

Creating a locally-based, sustainable ethanol industry and spreading the adoption of ethanol-burning cookstoves should be especially valuable to people in Haiti. Food versus fuel criticisms can be addressed, and as shown in the FAO program, a local ethanol industry could bring significant benefits, help reduce Haiti’s massive deforestation and help overcome poverty.

PPAF is a member of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves http://cleancookstoves.org/ and is a partner with SIMACT (Societe Immobiliere d’Agriculture, de Commerce, et de Tourisme) http://www.simact.net/ , Project Gaia http://www.projectgaia.com/ , and other organizations to promote ethanol cookstoves in Haiti.