International Center for Sustainable Development (ICSD)

ICSD Gaithersburg:
22923 Wildcat Road Gaithersburg, Maryland 20882 U.S.A.

Phone: 1.301.428.1040 Fax: 1.301.916.8786 Email:info@solarcities.org

ICSD Baltimore:
111 S. Calvert Street,
Suite 2310
Baltimore, Maryland 21202 U.S.A.
Phone: 1.443.514.7122 | Fax: 1.443.451.8386



 

RENEWABLE ENERGY FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES PROJECT

The purpose of the Renewable Energy for Developing Countries (REDC) Project is to develop a consistent framework to approach Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency projects to support sustainable development in developing countries.

REDC consists of three (3) regional projects:

  • Renewable Energy for African Development Project (REFAD)
  • Renewable Energy for Latin American and the Caribbean Development Project (RELACD)
  • Renewable Energy for Asia-Pacific Region Project (REAPR)

The three regional projects ensure that diversity among the regions is appreciated and recognized. This is especially true when narrowing the strategic focus from a global view to a regional, country, and local focus for project planning and implementation.

REDC has been established under the International Center for Sustainable Development (ICSD), Inc., a 501.3(c) nonprofit chartered in Maryland. ICSD generates programs and social enterprises that link integrated technology solutions with financial and business solutions for sustainable infrastructure and habitat. ICSD has successfully developed projects in South Africa, China, Pakistan, Iraq, Granada, and U.S. The projects ranged from master planning sustainable villages in China to an initiative for electric recharging stations in the Eastern U.S. The objective of the REDC project is to leverage the expertise at the project level to developing and implementing a global and regional perspective in planning for renewable energy development in the host countries in the developing world. The REDC Project team represents over 50 years of expertise in the international energy efficiency, renewable energy, and climate change communities. Expertise spans designing sustainable communities, promoting exports of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies, participation in the U.S. Country Studies Program and U.S. Activities Implemented Jointly under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and program management.

The REDC project is sensitive to the different but complementary roles of the major players in renewable energy and energy efficiency development. As a nonprofit, REDC is uniquely situated to liaise among the public, government and the private sectors. REDC can enter into contracts for specific services and can receive grants and other forms of financial assistance. REDC can serve as a focal point for creating and conditioning renewable energy markets as well as training and creating networks. REDC is able to take a longer view than the private sector in conditioning new markets. The private sector produces the technologies, provides employment and can grow a newly created/conditioned market to improve the standard of living in the host country. The private sector's need to cover expenses with revenues works against its ability to establish an activity where the commercial success may be several years into the future. The REDC project is uniquely situated where it can serve to limit the exposure of the public and private sectors and perhaps the government sector by utilizing the funds provided to develop and implement a long term strategy which may span several years to create a viable market with manageable commercial risk. REDC is actively seeking relationships with donor and private sector groups.

For more information contact:
C. Harvey Major

Managing Director
Renewable Energy for Developing Countries Project/ICSD
Harvey@solarcities.org
www.solarcities.org

PHILOSOPHY AND OBJECTIVES

The Philosophy of REDC is to learn the lessons from previous attempts to promote Renewable Energy (RE) and Energy Efficiency (EE) Projects in developing countries and to outline an approach which builds upon these lessons in order to take RE development activities to the next level. The objective of the REDC is to improve host country and local community capacity to survive and thrive their economy and ecology.

The RE projects attempted over the past decades generally have been "one-off" activities. A team of experts went into a country, performed an assessment of the local climatic conditions for purposes of choosing the appropriate RE and EE technologies, provided a one-week training course in the RE technology to be demonstrated, installed the technology with ancillary equipment, and left the country. If funds were available, a follow up visit might occur to ascertain how the equipment was functioning and customer acceptance. Those projects which generated local support had a better chance of success. Another follow up visit might occur where an assessment of the technology was conducted to determine whether it functioned acceptably in the local environment, and a report was prepared for presentation. Generally, most funded projects did not have sufficient funds for follow up visits to perform the necessary maintenance on the project and to replicate in neighboring areas. After installation, the area would be considered electrified with RE technologies reducing the need for further support or additional projects.

REDC seeks to build upon the lessons learned from these earlier programs and to provide assistance to donor organizations and the private sector.

Several of these supporting activities would include, as examples, the following:

  • Understanding the goals and objectives to be achieved by the donor organization(s), and the resources available.
  • Supporting the prioritization of the activities envisioned and developing a set of objectives utilizing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and USAID Strategy, as examples.
  • Supporting the selection of the particular region of interest.
  • Supporting the identification of a specific country or set of countries within the region and the development of a rationale for the choices and priorities to match resources with needs.
  • Identifying groups within the host country who may have an interest in participating in the selected activities and initiating contact to assess interest, capacity, and requirements.
  • Identifying potential partners who might be interested in participating in and supporting the project.
  • Performing the analyses needed to support the decision making process and providing documentation of the steps taken and the outcomes to be achieved.
  • Developing a network among the project sponsors and host-country partners to strengthen the probability of success and to support additional market-conditioning activities.
  • Supporting the objective of developing sustainable markets for RE technologies.
  • Supporting efforts to stimulate growth in emerging markets to develop viable trading partners.

STRATEGY

While our most important objective would be assisting host countries progress toward a sustainable economy and ecology, there are a menu of products which would support its achievement. Such products might include needs assessment(s); program or project planning; program or project management; economic and environmental assessments; program or project assessments and evaluations; social marketing; cultural and market research; market transformation support; etc.

The Strategy is to implement its philosophy and objectives of taking Renewable Energy (RE) Projects to the next level and to assist developing countries in realizing the potential for sustainable markets. REDC seeks to utilize funding from governmental, public, and private groups to support its efforts in building human capital and institutional capacity in host countries by mining innovation, transferring technologies, supporting the development of networks and working relationships, and supporting the growth of trade between the U.S. and the host countries. In order to assist sponsors, there needs to be a commitment of three resources: financial, personnel and temporal. The development of sustainable markets for RE projects does not happen overnight. The REDC team is actively seeking partnerships with donor groups to support sustainable development in the developing world.

The strategy developed to assist a specific sponsor can be described by answering a series of questions, for example:

  • What is the overall objective that the project would support?
  • What is the purpose of the project? This question initiates the discussion concerning the nature of the project and seeks to articulate the project parameters and its rationale. These two questions are related and generally discussed together.
  • Is there a mandate for a particular approach, or can the approach flow from the preliminary activities? This is an important question because it delineates how REDC would approach project development.
  • Does a formal strategy exist? Does an overarching strategy exist or does the sponsor require the articulation of a strategy based upon its perspective(s) prior to project implementation? It would be most useful before proceeding to project design to make the effort to develop a strategy for the overall activity and drill down to the specific project. An overall strategy facilitates determining the purpose, goals, and objectives of the project and complementary activities. A programmatic strategy would be useful if there is no overall strategy.
  • How does the existing strategy support global objectives, such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)? The MDGs provide a common basis for rationalizing RE projects in developing countries because the goals include the eradication of extreme hunger and poverty; universal primary education; promoting gender equality and empowering women; reducing child mortality; improving maternal health; combating diseases; and ensuring environmental sustainability.
  • Has a particular region been identified? Has a particular country been identified for a project? If yes, an analysis of the country is needed to determine where it is on the development scale, to identify whether it possesses any natural resources of economic and environmental value, and to identify its "strategic position" in the region in order to determine the potential for a follow up activity such as the creation of an energy center. This center could be a "jumping point" for additional activities within the host country or in neighboring countries.
  • Does a network of host country organizations exist that can be tapped into, or does REDC need to create such a network? Where the network exists, utilizing it can make the project proceed more efficiently. Where a network does not exist, a network would need to be created. Some preliminary training of host country groups would be the first step, and some "hand holding" would be important as well during the early stages of the project.
  • What does one hope to accomplish as a result of the project? This question continues the discussion to the project's end point. It is useful to have an agreement about the end point.
  • What, if any, are the milestones for the project in order to measure progress? This question looks to identify points for interim accomplishments. These also can serve as decision points for "go-nogo decisions" and to determine whether the project should be continued.
  • What is the timetable? This question helps to determine the level and extent of the temporal resource.
  • What are the level of resources to be committed and would additional resources be available if necessary? This question helps to describe the project as a single project or as a part of a continuum of projects.
  • Will this project support capacity and network development? This question focuses the discussion on the need for human capital development and the cultivation of a network in the host country, either as a stand-alone project or as a component of a portfolio of projects.
  • Will this project lead to a demonstration of a particular technology in the host country? This question is usually asked in tandem with the previous question. Their purpose allows discussion of whether the project focuses on providing general training or training in the use of the technology to be demonstrated in order to determine the technology's applicability in a particular cultural setting.
  • What are the outputs desired from the project? This question focuses on what the sponsor wants from the project. This is necessary especially where the project may be a "social science experiment" testing alternative approaches. It also assists in defining the approach to the project and resource requirements.
  • Does the sponsor have a functioning network in the host country, or should REDC factor in the time and effort to develop and train such a network? The network is considered to be an important factor because the people in the local network will have the day-to-day responsibility for project performance once project development has commenced. If REDC is to provide staff for day-to-day project performance, sponsor costs would increase significantly.
  • Would REDC be required to provide ancillary support such as project/program planning, implementation, and monitoring? This question addresses the need to put boundaries around the level of activity being requested.

WHO WE ARE

The REDC Project was established under the International Center for Sustainable Development, Inc. (ICSD) to leverage expertise of the growing team. It consists of three project areas:

  • Renewable Energy for African Development Project (REFAD)
  • Renewable Energy for Latin American and the Caribbean Development Project (RELACD)
  • Renewable Energy for Asia-Pacific Region Project (REAPR)

REDC has been developed under the aegis of the ICSD to capitalize on the learning and expertise from several decades of experience of the team members who have worked on projects in countries throughout the world for various agencies of the U.S. Government. The REDC Project team represents over 50 years of expertise in the international energy efficiency, renewable energy, and climate change communities. The team's expertise spans designing sustainable communities, promoting exports of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies, and program and project management. The team has overseen projects under the mantle of the U.S. Country Studies Program, the U.S. Initiative for Joint Implementation, the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, USAID-sponsored activities, USDOE-sponsored activities, etc. Their primary focus has been on technology transfer of energy- and climate-related technologies and practices to developing countries for sustainable development and trade. The goal of the REDC is to improve host country and local community capacity to survive and thrive their economy and ecology. REDC provides a range of services to government agencies, private organizations, and communities seeking to achieve sustainable development goals related to technology transfer.

John Spears, President and CEO, ICSD, is a Certified Energy Manager (CEM) and was awarded the Environmental Professional of the Year in 1995. He has over 30 years experience in energy conservation, renewable energy systems, indoor air quality, and sustainable design. He is an architect who has designed sustainable villages for China, has built zero-energy homes in the U.S., and has participated in the designing of a project for "electric vehicle filling stations" for the State of Maryland. He has been involved in Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency issues for several decades. He has designed and constructed sustainable self-sufficient Earth Homes (tm) and has engineered integrated solar photovoltaic systems with passive solar designs incorporating energy conservation features for such homes.

C. Harvey Major, Managing Director, REDC Project, is a certified public accountant. He retired from the U.S. Department of Energy after 43 years where he served as the Team Lead, International Renewable Energy Program under the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. For over a decade, served as the Asia-Pacific Economic Coordination coordinator for the office and was the representative to expert groups on Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Previously, he worked as program coordinator for the Export Councils for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, and as program manager for: Renewable Energy for African Development (REFAD), the U.S. Country Studies Program and U.S. Activities Implemented Jointly under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Richard Moore, DM candidate, University of Maryland University College (UMUC) Graduate School, is in the process of setting up the Institute for Sustainability Research Action Development (ISRAD), and Syntropy Associates, a consulting practice, in Lewes, DE, and is developing 4th Sector initiatives. Left the U.S. Government (USG) in July 2011 after 37 years service where he was International Programs Liaison Officer in the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, coordinating across both DOE and USG interagency programs and activities under the aegis of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC). Covered all regions of the world with the U.S. Country Studies Program (USCSP), U.S. Initiative for Joint Implementation (USIJI), and the International Renewable Energy Program (IREP). Produced the last published report on Activities Implemented Jointly by the USIJI Secretariat to the UNFCC Secretariat.

John Millhone is presently President of Global Energy Metrics and Mosaics. Representing the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, he is the chair of the Energy Program project of the Inter-American Network of Academies of Sciences (IANAS). He retired from the U.S. Department of Energy in 2003 where he was the Program Manager for the Weatherization and Intergovernmental Program under the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, as well as the Director, Country Studies and Joint Implementation Programs, and Deputy Assistant Secretary, Building Technologies. Since retiring, he has served as a Visiting Scholar, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Energy and Climate Program and contributing writer for the Federation of American Scientists. Before joining DOE, he served as director of the Iowa and Minnesota State Energy Agencies.

Bruce Cranford Jr., PE, has over 30 years of experience in energy, environment and recycling issues, currently consulting in Energy and Environment. Past clients include: Naval Surface Warfare Center, VSE Corp, and Crystal Clean Corp. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and is Past Vice President of the Maryland Society of Professional Engineers (MDSPE). He served on the Montgomery County Energy Conservation Advisory Committee and Solid Waste Advisory Committee. He retired from the U.S. Department of Energy as a Senior Engineer and was the Chemical Industry Team Leader in the Office of Industrial Technologies, U.S. Department of Energy for four years. Additionally, he was the Program Manager for the Industrial Waste Program for 14 years, improving industrial competitiveness through research, development and commercialization of cost effective technologies that improve energy efficiency, and reduce or utilize industrial waste. He received the Distinguished Service Award.

Jai Bloyd has a Ph.D. in Mineral and Energy Economics and a M.S. in Development Economics. She has managed and participated in a wide range of projects in the areas of mineral resources, energy and environment, energy modeling and forecasting, economic development, and climate change issues. Currently she is a principal at Technology Development Partners, Inc. (TDP), a consulting firm that specializes in energy and environment and energy modeling research. TDP has conducted several multi-country studies on renewable energy technologies and implementation for the U.S. Department of Energy and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Energy Working Group. Prior positions include Special Term Appointment (STA) with Argonne National Laboratory, Senior Advisor at the International Sustainable Development Foundation, an NGO in Portland, Oregon, and research fellow at the Program on Resources: Energy and Minerals of the East-West Center, a US federal-funded research institute in Hawaii. Before moving to the U.S., Dr. Bloyd worked for NGOs in Thailand, initially as a research fellow at Thailand Development Research Institute and, later, as the Director of Energy and Environment Program at the Thailand Environment Institute, Thailand's premier research institute. Prior to her work at TEI, she served as a full-time lecturer at the Department of Agricultural and Resources Economics at Kasetsart University, a state university in Thailand, where she taught courses on Mathematical Economics and Natural Resource Economics.

Debora Ley has a BSc in Electromechanical Engineering, an MSc in Civil Engineering and is a DPhil Candidate in Geography and the Environment at the University of Oxford. For 5 years she managed the Clean Energy and Environment in Central America and Mexico Program and had multiple opportunities to increase access to energy services, integrating the different components that lead to sustainable development, such as energy, water, agriculture, climate change, culture and economics. She implemented pilot projects and assisted in capacity building and technical assistance for the development of larger-scale replication programs, implemented through multi-lateral development banks and other aid entities, and the implementation of safety and quality codes and standards. She has also dealt with the technical, policy, cultural, environmental, gender, social and economic elements of a project. She has contributed to policy reform proposals, including the development of a rural electrification strategy for Central America, advising the 2004 incoming government of Guatemala on the linkage between rural electrification and agriculture, and assisted in the development of a sustainable energy strategy for Central America until 2020 and a study of the importance of rural electrification for Central America to meet the Millennium Development Goals. Lastly, at Oxford, she's focused more on the role that rural renewable energy systems can play to increase the adaptive capacity of rural communities.

John Bascietto holds a Bachelor's and MS degree in Biology from New York University, and a J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law. He worked as a Wildlife Biologist for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for over 10 years, and as a Senior Environmental Protection Specialist for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for nearly 20 years where DOE facilities are home to a vast array of biological species and ecologically sensitive habitats. Mr. Bascietto created and managed the DOE's Natural Resource Trustee program needed to address energy pollution problems on the many hundreds of square miles of Federal Lands under DOE management. John wrote or had a hand in developing many the environmental protection policies and technical guides used by the DOE in managing its vast ecological resources. Having retired from Federal service in 2007, John is now practicing law as a member of a private Maryland law firm.