Advancing bioelectricity in Latin America and the Caribbean

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Aug 092017
 

A new report reviews the first year of the LEDS GP’s Bioelectricity Community of Practice in Latin America and the Caribbean, and outlines its key activities and outcomes.

From: http://ledsgp.org/resource/advancing-bioelectricity-lac-one-year-on/

No. of pages: 27
Author(s): Alexander Ochs, Philip Killeen, Ana Maria Majano
Organisation(s): LEDS LAC, LEDS GP

The Bioelectricity Community of Practice, run by the Regional Platform for Latin America and the Caribbean (LEDS LAC) and Energy Working Group, brings together LAC government leaders in charge of designing and implementing bioelectricity policies and programs. It gives them the opportunity to share tools for gathering and processing bioelectricity data to support decision-making. This report describes the activities of the Community of Practice from its inception in July 2016, and identifies the primary areas for tapping into biomass for electricity generation.

During sessions, practitioners applied what they learned to their individual country contexts and had the opportunity to discuss their results and collaborate on shared challenges with supporting experts across several online forums, including private Dropbox and LinkedIn groups.

The Community of Practice addressed key questions such as:

  • How to assess a country’s bioelectricity potential?
  • What technical challenges exist and how can they be addressed?
  • What support policies and measures exist, and how can they be integrated in a country’s existing legal framework?
  • How to create effective and cost-efficient administrative procedures?
  • What do national and international commercial banks and public funders look for?
  • How to design fundable and attractive Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)?

Participants noted that governments in the LAC region often lack access to quality data and tools to evaluate alternative options for bioelectricity development. Some of the knowledge gaps identified included a lack of: information on developing effective communication and collaboration between government ministries; research on available technologies, regulations, and resource assessments for electricity generation from agricultural biomass; and case studies of successful bioelectricity generation in other countries. However, country members also felt that through bioelectricity is not only a low emission alternative to fossil fuels, but economically viable as well. Opportunities such as accessing private sector finance, aligning national and subnational energy policies, and building public consensus on NAMAs could help realize its potential.

Workshop facilitators collaborated with the attendees to design 2017 work plan for the Community of Practice to be supported by LEDS LAC and the Energy Working Group. The 2017 work plan picks out the following priority areas:

  • Designing a comprehensive process for bioelectricity policy development;
  • Assessing resource potentials for bioelectricity;
  • Understanding markets and tradeoffs; and
  • Creating attractive bioelectricity markets.

The work plan outlined in detail in the report provides a comprehensive starting point for Community of Practice members to more effectively communicate bioelectricity sector risks and opportunities to their home institutions. On its own, however, this framework cannot catalyze the transformative change that members hope to achieve. In order to  build on progress made in 2016, the report recommends continued group-oriented activities and country-specific technical assistance.

Explore the Community of Practice priority areas, online materials, and more essential information in the full report.

Read more about the benefits of bioelectricity and the background of the Bioelectricity Community of Practice.

New Africa Mini-grids Community of Practice Launched

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Aug 092017
 

The Africa LEDS Partnership (AfLP), in collaboration with the LEDS GP Energy Working Group (EWG), hosted the inaugural meeting for the new Africa Mini-grids Community of Practice (AMG-CoP) a day before the ninth Africa Carbon Forum commenced in Cotonou, Benin. The formation of the AMG-CoP is in response to the AfLP membership identifying mini-grid systems as a priority action area for the design of low-emissions development strategies.

Mini-grids present one of the most economical opportunities to achieving universal access to electricity. However, there are several multifaceted challenges to unlocking and catalysing investment into commercial and small scale mini-grids, most notably developing an enabling regulatory environment.

The AMG-CoP has been conceptualised as a country driven initiative, with the inaugural meeting serving as a starting point for countries to identify common challenges and barriers, agree on the priority areas for further development and share lessons and strategies for addressing mini-grid development and rural electrification. Key priorities identified at the meeting include governance and policy for an enabling regulatory environment, business models and unlocking finance for mini-grid development.

The EWG and AfLP are acting as “co-pilots” and have designed a conceptual framework that provides guidance and flexibility to a country-driven, peer-to-peer learning and collaboration platform. The inauguration workshop saw ten African countries convene to discuss the pertinence of mini-grids to their respective countries and national priorities, and formed a close-knit group of peers that will build on this relationship moving forward.

The AMG-CoP will convene for the second time at the AfLP Annual Event, and interested parties, including State and non-State actors, are encouraged to contact the AfLP Secretariat for further information on how to get involved.

The Energy Toolkit: Leading Instruments & Methodologies for Sustainable Energy Planning

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Dec 022016
 

Event Date: December 8, 2016 – 10:00am EST

Please register for the webinar here.

Please join us for the webinar launch of the newly updated Energy Toolkit produced by the Low Emissions Development Strategies Energy Working Group (LEDS EWG) of the Global Partnership (LEDS GP).

The LEDS Energy Toolkit is a collection of leading instruments and methodologies for sustainable energy planning. The Toolkit aims to provide energy practitionerspolicymakers, and experts a quick reference guide to some of the best established energy planning instruments that are available at no or low cost. The result is a compilation of 26 tools from agencies around the world. This webinar will present an overview of the newly updated publication of the toolkit and feature some of its leading tools: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)’s Jobs and Economic Development Impact Model (JEDI) and the Natural Resources Canada’s RETScreen Clean Energy Management Software.

Speakers

  • Alexander Ochs, Director of Climate and Energy, Worldwatch Institute | Chair of the LEDS EWG and Co-editor of the Energy Toolkit
  • Francisco Flores, Energy Analyst, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
  • Kevin Bourque, Project Engineer, Natural Resources Canada

About the LEDS EWG

The Low Emissions Development Strategies Energy Working Group (LEDS EWG) is a demand-driven network comprised of more than 500 energy sector practitioners representing national governments, multilateral institutions, private practitioners, and non-governmental organizations. The EWG supports the strategic deployment of innovative and climate compatible development strategies in the energy sector. The Group facilitates learning and information exchange, shares best practices, offers advisory services, and provides enhanced opportunities for collaboration on low emission strategy building and specific implementation activities.

Membership is open to all interested parties. Please contact us at energy@ledsgp.org

Please register for the webinar here.

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A Key Challenge for Governments in Advancing Sustainable Energy: How to De-risk Investments?

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Jun 282016
 

Presentation given at the Asia LEDS Forum on Mobilizing Finance for Priority Actions in Hanoi, Vietnam, Day 2 (June 28th, 2016), as introduction to Track 4: How to attract sustainable energy investments? I chaired this track with my colleague Xander van Tilburg from ECN.

ALP_Track4_Ochs_Final_160627

Innovative Tools for Advancing Low-Emission and Climate-Resilient Energy Planning in Asia

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Apr 182016
 

LEDS_GP_logo*Join us for our Second Webinar in our Webinar Series*

Hosted by the Asia LEDS Partnership and Energy Working Group of the LEDS Global Partnership

Session 2:  Assessing Renewable Energy Potential Using the Geospatial Toolkit (GsT): Applications in Vietnam’s Thanh Hoa Province

Date:                                April 21, 2016
Time:                               10:00 AM Indochina Time (ICT)

Speakers
Jon Duckworth, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
Donna Heimiller, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
Khanh Nguyen, USAID Low Emission Asian Development (LEAD) Program Country Coordinator

Moderators
Sandra Khananusit, Asia LEDS Partnership Secretariat
Alexander Ochs, LEDS GP Energy Working Group

Register here.

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WEBINAR RECORDING: Energy Low-Emissions Development Strategies: A Regional Overview of Africa and Experiences from Cape Verde and Kenya

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Jan 232015
 

LEDS_GP_logoRecording of the webinar from 22 January 2015:

webinar_image

 

 

 

 

 Introduction & Moderation

Alexander Ochs, Worldwatch Institute/EWG Chair

 Regional Overview: Low Emission Energy Development in Africa
John Yeboah, ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency/EWG co-Chair

 Learning from Cape Verde’s Renewable Energy Plan
Anildo Costa, Consultant to the Government of Cape Verde

 Learning from Kenya’s Renewable Energy Plan
Esther Wang’ombe, Government of Kenya

Q&A

 

Energy Low-Emissions Development Strategies: A Regional Overview of Africa and Experiences from Cape Verde and Kenya

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Jan 162015
 

LEDS_GP_logoDear Friends and Colleagues,

I am excited to announce the next webinar in our series on regional leaders in climate-compatible development and their innovative energy approaches from around the world.

Please join us on January 22 at 2 PM GMTfor an online sessionon Energy Low-Emissions Development Strategies: A Regional Overview of Africa and Experiences from Cape Verde and Kenya. Please register for free at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5131648729578459906.

Our regional leaders series is part of our work within the Low Emission Development Strategies – Global Partnership (LEDS-GP), an international initiative aiming to enhance information exchange and cooperation among countries, international programs and practitioners working to advance climate-compatible growth. Worldwatch, as host of the secretariat of the LEDS Energy Working Group (EWG), facilitates these webinars in cooperation with the LEDS Regional Platforms. Recordings of our previous sessions on Latin America/Caribbean and Asia, as well as other LEDS-EWG webinars, can be found here.

[Here] you can find a flyer. Please help us spread the news about this exciting series. Thank you!

Best,

Alexander Ochs
Director, Climate and Energy Program
Worldwatch Institute

Energy Low Emission Development Strategies: A Regional Overview of Latin America and the Caribbean and Experiences from Nicaragua

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Dec 012014
 

Overall, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has traditionally been a world leader in the use of renewable energy sources for power generation (mainly hydro power), with important sub-regional differences, but the use of fossil fuels grew rapidly in the late 1900s. There have been many initiatives on renewables and energy efficiency on the part of governments and local organizations, supported by multilateral development banks, UN organizations, international NGOs. 


The recent development of non-traditional renewable energies (wind, solar, geothermal, modern biomass) is helping meet important development goals (growth, access, affordability) with a lower impact on greenhouse gas emissions. There are still important challenges related to investment climate, business model financing, but there are many lessons to share, both on what works and what doesn´t work.

Webinar Announcement: Energy Low Emission Development Strategies: A Regional Overview of Latin America and the Caribbean and Experiences from Nicaragua

 webinar  Comments Off on Webinar Announcement: Energy Low Emission Development Strategies: A Regional Overview of Latin America and the Caribbean and Experiences from Nicaragua
Nov 192014
 

EWG Logo_Green text with no background color (3)LEDS_GP_logo

26 November 2014 9:00 AM EST

Check your local time.
Reserve your seat now.

 

The Regional Platform for Latin America and the Caribbean (LEDS LAC) and the Energy Working Group (EWG) of the Low Emission Development Strategies Global Partnership (LEDS-GP) are co-hosting a webinar on sustainable energy progress in Latin America and the Caribbean. The webinar offers both an overview of recent developments in clean energy policies, programs, and targets across the region and an in-depth case study on Nicaragua’s experience in facilitating private and public investments in climate-compatible energy development. The presentation details the mechanisms that Nicaragua’s investment promotion agency (ProNicaragua) has employed to attract private investment in order to meet the government’s national energy targets and policy objectives. The webinar will be in English and will feature the following presentations:

  • Introduction and moderation
    Ana Maria Majano, INCAE Business School/EWG Co-chair for LAC
  • Regional Overview: Renewable Energy in Latin America and the Caribbean
    Alexander Ochs, Worldwatch Institute/EWG Chair
  • Nicaragua: Promoting Private Investments towards National Sustainable Energy Goals
    Javier Chamorro, ProNicaragua
  • Q&A.

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