RESEARCH
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Solar Lamp Initiative for Bangladesh (SOLIB)
CEA has conceived, designed and developed a solar LED lamp project which aims to replace kerosene lamps in poor households in Bangladesh. The project intends to make available a specially designed, high quality photovoltaic-powered solar lantern (PVSL) in a financial package that will put modern lighting energy within the financial reach of poor rural households. The project expects to achieve its objectives by removing technical, financial and delivery mechanism barriers that have hindered the large-scale deployment of PVSLs. These barriers mostly relate to issues regarding first costs and those associated with reaching the technology to the target population which is mainly the vulnerable low income group. Therefore, the main aspect of the project design concentrates on issues relating to PVSL affordability. To this end, a combination of subsidies and credit financing schemes are proposed to reduce transactions costs to the end consumers.
In Phase I of the project, GIZ will provide a ‘buy-down’ grant to increase market penetration of up to USD 2 million to bring down the cost of the lamps and, in Phase II, UNDP/GEF will provide an additional USD 4 million to reduce the transactions costs associated with providing micro financing for the lamps. The government has already provided its assent for the GEF project and it has now been submitted to the GEF Secretariat for final approval.
CEA also conducted the baseline surveys for this project. The objectives of the survey were to provide, through representative consumer samplings of rural households, data to determine the potential market for Solar Lanterns, household expenditure on kerosene used for lighting purposes and to obtain feedback on the best configurations of the lanterns and attitudes of the surveyed households towards solar lantern systems. Furthermore, based on the survey findings a quantitative estimate of avoided CO2 because of kerosene substitutions will be developed for CDM purposes. The survey focused on obtaining the following information:
- Current energy usage and expenditure for lighting and battery charging
- Desired service level for electrification;
- Household attitude towards solar PV electrification; and
- Preferred mode of service delivery
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GIZ Sustainable Energy for Development project: Promoting Hollow Bricks Use in Bangladesh
This project aspires to transform markets by removing barriers to the widespread use of hollow bricks and energy efficient practices in the construction industry in Bangladesh. This demand side management project aims to eliminate/reduce demand side barriers to promote the use of hollow bricks by focusing on areas such as awareness building, managerial and technical capacity development and the promotion of green housing codes. It is also aimed at stimulating a step-change carbon reduction in the lifetime carbon footprint of the brick industry and its associated downstream uses. Studies show that using hollow bricks, recycled waste and other new building materials instead of solid clay bricks can save as much as 47 percent of the energy in producing wall materials and 30-50% of the heating energy of dwellings. In addition to the abatement in carbon emissions, the use of hollow bricks will have large impacts on construction costs reducing them substantially, and also ease use of primary raw material - clay. The activities under this project are grouped into two categories.
- “Technology push” or activities that are focused on manufacturers: the “supply side” of the market transformation equation. Through worker training, business planning, technical assistance and technology transfer, the project will provide the enterprises with the flexibility in the production process to realign production to manufacture different classes and sizes of hollow bricks.
- “Demand pull” include a number of programs designed to reduce barriers to consumer acceptance and stakeholder awareness of the efficacy in using hollow bricks. Programs include study tours, feasibility analysis, pilot projects and introducing new national standards for bricks, housing and other construction standards.
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Assessment of Investment and Financial Flows (I&FF) to mitigate climate change effects in the energy sector of Bangladesh as part of UNDP Global Project: Capacity Development for Policy Makers to Address Climate Change (2011)
CEA’s report provided an assessment of the investment and financial flows that will be required to lower the carbon footprint of the energy sector in Bangladesh as it expands its supply. More specifically, the report analyzed the changes needed in the investment and physical assets and in the programmatic measures to mitigate greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted as result of increasing use of fossil fuels in different activities in the energy sector. In order to determine the extent and sources of funds that will be required to address climate change concerns at national level in the energy sector, the report produced the following outcomes:
- Consolidated information on investment and financial flows (I&FF) currently taking place in the energy sector;
- A projection of the business as usual I&FF scenario without carbon mitigation measures;
- Identification of measures to address climate change and projections of future I&FF associated with their implementation;
- Prepared least-cost GHG abatement projections
The time horizon chosen for the analysis is 25 years beginning with the “base year” 2005 and ending in the “framework year” 2030. The methodological approach of the national assessment of I&FF mitigation followed the eight steps outlined in the master methodological guide provided by UNDP:
- Establishing key assessment parameters
- Compiling Historical Data
- Defining the baseline
- Estimating the I&FF scenario in the baseline
- Defining potential mitigation scenarios
- Deriving detailed annual I&FF estimates
- Calculating changes in Investment Flows, Financial Flows, Operational & Management costs, and in subsidy costs if included explicitly, needed to implement mitigation
- Assessing policy implication
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Energy Consumption Survey to Assess the Potential for Energy Efficiency and Energy Conservation Programs in Bangladesh Households (2011)
This survey was undertaken to identify the main factors influencing household energy consumption growth, particularly per capita income growth, fuel shifts, demographic changes and consumption pattern by income. It is important to analyze household energy consumption patterns in order to formulate policies for the promotion of sustainable energy consumption. Thus, the objectives of the survey were to:
- Assess current energy efficiency levels and energy conservation potentials; and,
- Identify technically and financially feasible solutions for improving energy efficiency among grid-connected and off-grid households.
The time horizon chosen for the analysis is 25 years beginning with the “base year” 2005 and ending in the “framework year” 2030. The methodological approach of the national assessment of I&FF mitigation followed the eight steps outlined in the master methodological guide provided by UNDP:
Data from a total of 1,512 households were collected throughout the country, which for the survey was divided into three zones: Center, East and West in order to ensure that the data collected would pick up any regional differences and diversities. Within each zone, households were divided into six frames based on income levels and whether or not they were connected to the grid.
The survey was conducted during May-June 2011, and the data analysis and policy recommendation part of the project are still on-going.
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Preparatory Phase of Efficient Lighting Initiative for Bangladesh (ELIB)
CEA developed and prepared a demand side, end-use energy efficiency project by disseminating the use of Compact Fluorescent Light-bulbs (CFLs) to (i) Reduce peak demand for electricity; (ii) Mitigate impacts of high lighting load demand; and (iii) Reduce GHG emissions. The expected outcome from exchanging 27 million CFL for an equivalent number of Incandescent Light-bulbs is the reduction of annual lighting load by an estimated 397 GWh (equivalent to about 360 MW of generation capacity to the grid).
Specific objectives of the assignment were to:
- Prepare pre-feasibility study on the replacement of Incandescent Light bulbs (ILs) with CFLs to reduce peak generating load.
- Prepare a draft Development Project Proposal (DPP) for the Power Division of Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.
Since CDM revenues were expected to finance this project partially, the Pre-Feasibility Study and the draft DPP were framed in accordance with the CDM methodology relevant to lighting project. Specifically, the framework developed was guided by the baseline and monitoring methodologies specified by AMS.II.J/version 2. Phase II of that project is presently under implementation. This Program of Activities (PoA) was successfully registered by the CDM Executive Board in May 2011 (Ref. no.: PoA 4793).
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