Public-Private Partnerships for Sustainable Development

by Bob Worth and David Stillman

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.

The Public-Private Alliance Foundation organized meetings from January 13 through 17 for representatives of Blume Distillation, LLC, which is planning to manufacture community-level distilleries for alcohol production that fuel clean cookstoves, motorbikes, etc.  The distilleries will accept sugar cane and a variety of other feedstocks and can receive support through distance monitoring.  The aim is to encourage agribusiness both in feedstock production and in co-products of the distillation process which can enrich the soil and support secondary markets.

Meetings were held with several potential private investors, with Ambassadors to the UN from Madagascar and Haiti, and with UN officials.  On the 15^th SImACT, a Haitian-American investment group, organized a session with more than 50 participants at their Brooklyn headquarters for discussions on both the clean cookstoves and the distilleries. 

On January 14, Blume Distillation represented and investors joined Stillman at the Conference for Teaching About the UN.  Blume staffed a display table at the conference along with Project Gaia.  Stillman addressed the conference on the topic “Fighting the Silent Killer in the Kitchen: Achieving the MDGs.”

Photos are available on the Foundation’s Flickr account.

In September, David Stillman and colleagues from SImACT and Nova Technology Partners, Inc., traveled to Port-au-Prince, Léogane and Jacmel to meet with organizations interested in a project to promote ethanol cookstoves in Haiti.  Several partners from business, non-profits and government intend to stimulate production of one and two burner cookstoves, and fuel from ethanol derived from sugar cane, to replace the wood and charcoal fires most families and small businesses rely on.  Wood is the main source of all energy used in Haiti.  This has stripped the country bare and contributes greatly to illness, poverty, pollution and vulnerability to hurricane mudslides. 

Haiti consumes over 4 million tons of firewood every year

The ethanol cookstove partnership for Haiti will start small, with pilot testing of stoves and fuel already available elsewhere.  It aims for a sizeable future with local production and users ranging from families in post-earthquake tent camps to hot food street vendors to schools. 

On this trip, team members consulted with representatives of the UN Environment Programme, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs of Haiti, the Embassy of Brazil, the International Rescue Committee, a metal shop owner, a watershed management advisor, two owners of hardware store chains, a fuel distributor and a group of sugar farmers and distillers.  All offered valuable perspectives, questions and advice to help the project move forward.

Two weeks ago I traveled by road to Haiti from Santo Domingo, D.R., with Dominican and American colleagues.  The purpose was to review local conditions, seek opportunities for establishing small and medium enterprises, and to collaborate with Haitian-American colleagues, Haitians, Dominicans and others to help rebuild the devastated infrastructure and livelihoods.   Before traveling I met with people from the World Food Program and the UN High Commission for Refugees.

Map of Haiti

Our focus would be on Jacmel, on the southern coast, in collaboration with the Haitian-American investment group Société Immobilière de Agriculture, Commerce et Tourisme, Inc., (SImACT) .  Our team identified priorities and made initial preparations for a workshop on investment and commerce to revive Southern Haiti.  This is scheduled to take place in Jacmel in late June.      

En route we visited tent camps near the border and encountered the diversity of conditions we would see throughout the trip.   One camp dealing with post-operative care was well-equipped by Harvard University and USAID.   Another, for displaced families, run by the American Refugee Committee and assisted by UNICEF, was more basic.   A third was “do-it-yourself.”  

I wanted to learn how people were faring.   I was interested in how people were cooking their meals, and confirmed charcoal and wood had become more scarce and more expensive since the earthquake. I explained that one of our concerns was to promote better, clean cookstoves and ethanol fuel.  The ARC camp supervisor was delighted and the woman below gave me permission to take this photo of her using a charcoal stove.

Woman cooking on a charcoal stove

We traveled to Port-au-Prince, Leogane and Jacmel.  Many people remained in great distress; others at first sight appeared to be going about their daily lives.   In some cases destroyed and intact buildings were side-by-side.  One could see tents in front of houses and encampments in schoolyards, churchyards and public sites.  There were still people with little shelter from sun and rain – sometimes a bedsheet attached to sticks.  

Parts of Port-au-Prince were untouched; other parts were devastated.  The image of the demolished Presidential palace has become known worldwide.  Leogâne, with a population of about 150,000, suffered heavily.  Much was destroyed. Jacmel had been cut off by mountain landslides.  The route was reopened but still vulnerable in the coming rainy season.

Maternity Ward at Jacmel Hospital reduced to rubble

The charming port town of Jacmel, with a population of about 50,000, had been damaged.  Its hospital had been destroyed.  Sections of town had been flattened.  But we could also see early possibilities for economic and social reconstruction.  With the national policy focus on decentralization and the international attention coming to Haiti for rebuilding, we felt that Jacmel could be a center for recovery and improvement.   Jacmel has been known as a site for Haitian tourism and the arts.  Its historic district, much of which was slated for demolition after the earthquake, has been spared, at least for now. 

There is great need to strengthen the infrastructure and services people need – from the hospital to the schools to the port.  Then there is room for imagination and creativity.  SImACT and PPAF confirmed their intent to organize the workshop on investment and commerce, with topics that could include infrastructure, renewable energy, ethanol cookstoves, housing, agriculture and agribusiness, social venture capital, health, historic district, tourism and arts and artisans.  The outcomes of this workshop can help Haiti Build Back Better.

Historic building near port of Jacmel

David Stillman, PhD

Executive Director

Public-Private Alliance Foundation

Congratulations to Project Gaia, which plans to provide ethanol cookstoves to Haiti!

On March 16, Project Gaia received an award at the World Biofuels Markets 2010 Conference in Amsterdam, entitled the Sustainable Biofuels Award, for the theme of “Adoption–for a commercial project, a municipal fleet, or a new user.”  Project Gaia won out over two municipal fleet nominees, the Stockholm Clean Vehicles Program and the San Sebastian municipal Bus Company.

Boma Anga of Clean Fuels Development Company, Abuja, Nigeria, Project Gaia’s private sector partner in Nigeria, and Meghan Sapp, Executive Director of PANGEA, accepted the award on  behalf of Project Gaia.  PANGEA is Partners for Euro-African Green Energy

Harry Stokes, Executive Director of Project Gaia, said, “We will apply the cash prize toward buying CleanCook stoves for Haiti.”

According to David Stillman, “The Public-Private Alliance Foundation and Project Gaia are partners in the effort to introduce and ultimately commercialize the use of ethanol-burning cookstoves in Haiti and elsewhere.  This is especially relevant in the wake of the Haiti earthquake where cooking fuel has become very expensive and the traditional fuel of many, namely wood and charcoal, continues to denude the countryside.  And yet, sugar ethanol can be a successful local product.”

Project Gaia already has pledges of initial donations of cookstoves and ethanol from Brazil and other sources.  Project Gaia, PPAF and others are working to expand beyond the donation phase to create a regular supply of stoves and fuel.

The award will come with a cash prize and publicity and media attention at the conference and post conference until next year.  Information about Project Gaia will be included in the Conference proceedings and on the flash drive distributed to all members containing the conference materials.  The Conference MCs stressed the need for stoves for Haiti and the importance of emergency energy intervention there.

The panel of judges was composed of:

Raffaello Garofalo, Secretary General of EBB,

Rob Vierhout, Secretary General of Ebio, Ausillio Bauen, Director, E4 Tech,

Jonathan Kingsman, CEO, Kingsman,

Kevin McGeeney, CEO, Starsupply Renewables,

Marcos Sawaya Jank, CEO, UNICA,

Graeme Wallace, Director General, EFOA,

Jim Lane, Editor, Biofuels Digest, and

Suzanne Hunt, Principal, Hunt Green LLC.

See also an earlier blog article on ethanol cookstoves: http://ppafoundation.org/blog/2010/haiti-summit-outcomes/

The report for the Third Bioenergy International Debate, which took place from 7 – 9 October in the Dominican Republic,  is now available on the PPAF website in pdf format:   English version.  Espanol.

Opening remarks at the October 7-9 Bioenergy International Debate are now posted on PPAF’s YouTube channel. 

 Lic. Enrique Ramirez, President of the National Energy Commission, and Ambassador Federico Cuello, Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic to the United Nations spoke at the opening of the session. (These videos in Spanish) .   Other conference videos include David Stillman’s opening remarks (in English), an appearance by Ambassador Federico Cuello, Tom Kadala (President, ResearchPAYS, Inc.) and David Stillman on the Dominican TV program Sabado Agropecuario.   Also available is the excellent 9-minute video on the Bioenergy International Debate (English and Spanish) produced by Frank Minaya y Willmore and Dr. Dana F. Minaya of Samana College Research Center.

Christiana Sciaudone of Recharge News recently wrote a story featuring the Public-Private Alliance and their efforts to facilitate public-private investment in ethanol that was published on June 26, 2009.

The full article, Dominican Republic ripe for sugar-cane ethanol financing, can be found below:

With many of its sugar-cane fields lying fallow, the Dominican Republic is ideal for ethanol investment, and a non-governmental organisation (NGO) has launched a major initiative to make sure that happens.

The New York-based Public-Private Alliance Foundation (PPAF) is seeking ways to finance ethanol deals, It aims to “reach business deals in ethanol and related biofuels”, says David Stillman, PPAF executive director, PPAF says it has received calls from groups in places as diverse as Hong Kong and New Jersey that are interested in participating.

Sugar is currently grown in the Dominican Republic, but ethanol is not produced because Stillman says it considered that “the market was not right”. However, steps have been taken to improve market prospects, including a law that promotes renewable energy with favourable taxation and import-structure regulations.

PPAF held a major meeting last month, bringing together government, business, NGO and academic representatives,

Grupo Vicini, which has been growing and milling sugar cane in the Dominican Republic since the 19th Century, is participating in the PPAF discussions, and is analysing the potential of producing ethanol and co-generating electricity.

‘We are still going over the numbers,” explains Marino Incháustegui, industry and energy director at Vicini. The analysis should he done within the next four months.

He adds that while ethanol investments will be judged by the bottom line, “if the bottom line is there, we will be there”.

The export potential for the Dominican Republic is also promising, as it is not limited by trade barriers like those in Brazil, where the US imposes a $0.54 per gallon tax. Brazil is being consulted, due to its years of ethanol-production experience, and it is hoped Brazilian development bank BNDES will be interested in financing local production.

However, one possible problem specific to the Dominican Republic is that most of the cane-cutters are Haitian immigrants. There are long-standing issues regarding both illegal immigration in the country and their working conditions, which must be tackled if plans go ahead.

The article is available for download in PDF, Microsoft Word .DOC, and JPG.