This White Paper "Climate Mitigation and Adaptation with Eco-Village Development (EVD) Solutions in South Asia" analyses and presents climate-effects of EVD solutions, using existing cases from villages in South Asia. EVD combines village-level developmental planning with local sustainable solutions to give villagers climate-resilient supplies of energy, water, agricultural products, and other necessities and livelihood improvements, depending upon the choices of the villagers.
The authors select six high-impact EVD solutions and describe the importance of each in mitigation of climate change and adaptation to climate change. Improved cookstoves, household biogas plants, solar home systems, renewable energy mini- and micro-grids, solar drying, and organic farming (including composting) have been found to reduce greenhouse-gas (GHG) and particle emissions considerably while improving quality of life.
The analysis covers all substantial greenhouse emissions that the authors could identify and quantify, gases as well as particles of black carbon. These are presented in a table in the summary of the publication. Adaptation benefits are identified as well, but not quantified. The selected high-impact EVD solutions are analysed in the chapters 3-8. Chapter 9 presents examples of total village-level GHG-emission reductions.
From the selected case studies, the authors find the following village-level climate mitigation effects:
• For every 100 households adopting the selected EVD solutions, emissions can be reduced by nearly 500 tons of CO2 - equivalent (CO2e)/year compared with a baseline of traditional provision of cooking and light, such as electricity from kerosene, diesel, or the Indian central power grid.
• In two examples based on actual villages with 50 and 70 families, EVD solutions reduce GHG emissions by respectively, 546 and 114 tons of CO2e/year, while helping the villagers with better energy and livelihoods.
• For a cluster of several villages, emission reductions with EVD solutions are estimated to be around 1800 tons CO2e/year by the end of the implementation, which provides improved cooking technologies and solar dryers to 250 households.
Analysis of the range of EVD solutions reveals that the greatest mitigation benefits and co-benefits come from improvements of cooking technologies. Of the cooking practices analysed, use of biogas delivers the highest GHG reductions. The next-highest potential for mitigation comes with changing to renewable energy use for electricity. In some villages, other energy uses, such as brick-making, give high emissions. Some of the emission reductions discussed here are recognised internationally today and are eligible for support from the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), Gold Standard, and other emission-reduction projects. This is particularly true of CO2 emission reductions from introduction of improved cooking technologies and of solar home systems. The GHG reductions that the authors identify in two of the three village case studies encompass and surpass these recognised benefits because they include all GHGs, such as black-carbon. Emissions of these previously overlooked greenhouse-effecting particles are considerably reduced with improved cooking solutions. A smaller but significant GHG reduction comes with the inclusion of solutions, which are normally not covered by CDM projects. In this analysis this is the case of the solar dryers. Importantly, this White Paper points out significant, verifiable, cumulative climate benefits from combined solutions with emphasis on climate mitigation as well as on climate adaptation benefits.
Author: Gunnar Boye Olesen, International Network for Sustainable Energy (INFORSE)
Main contributors:
• Grameen Shakti, Bangladesh, att. M. Mahmodul Hasan
• Integrated Sustainable Energy and Ecological Development Association (INSEDA), India, att. Raymond Myles
• Centre for Rural Technology, Nepal (CRT/N), att. Shovana Maharjan
• Integrated Development Association (IDEA), Sri Lanka, att. Dumindu Herath
• Climate Action Network South Asia (CANSA), att. Santosh Patnaik
• International Network for Sustainable Energy (INFORSE and INFORSE South Asia)
This publication was developed as part of the project ”Advocating for upscaling local climate solutions as Eco-Village Development as a mean to strengthen pro-poor climate Agenda in South Asia”, coordinated by DIB, Denmark and supported by the Climate and Environment Fund of Civil Society in Development (CISU), Denmark. Main partners are those listed above.
2nd. edition 2018. 1st. edition was launched at the UNFCCC SB48, Bonn Conference's Side Event, May 1, 2018.
Download: Full Report (45 pp. pdf) and Summary (4 pp. pdf). ISBN 978-87-970130-0-7.