Energy efficiency in households
Energy-efficiency projects in households in CDM and JI regions combine climate protection targets and an improvement to the quality of life, especially in developing countries. Such projects are particularly sustainable, since they contribute to a permanent and environmentally-friendly change in consumer behaviour.
RWE is playing a pioneering role in the development of energy-efficiency projects in households:
- Together with OSRAM, one of the three world-leading light-bulb makers, we are promoting the replacement of incandescent bulbs with energy-saving lamps, thus helping to save CO2.
- At the same time, we are playing a part in the first energy-efficiency project of a European energy utility in southern Africa.
RWE & OSRAM - CFL projects:
With our CFL projects, we are utilising modern technology to improve energy efficiency. Traditional light bulbs are being replaced with high-quality energy-efficient lamps, so-called CFLs. They use some 80% less energy than a standard incandescent bulb while offering 10 times longer life.
In three projects so far, we have exchanged a total of two million bulbs in the Indian federal states of Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Maharashtra, thus saving about 110,000 tons of CO2 per year. At the same time, the projects help alleviate poverty in the population thanks to reduced energy costs. They also improve the availability of electricity in countries that frequently have to cope with power shortages.
Lusaka Cookstoves Energy projects:
Jointly with the partner organizations Climate Interchange and local church communities, RWE has implemented a project in Zambia that reduces the use of non-renewable biomass. Innovative cooking systems replace the environmentally damaging production and use of charcoal with renewable biomass. In a first phase, 1,500 local households will be using these high-quality "Save80 cooking systems", which are financed by RWE, in the capital city of Lusaka. By the end of 2010, it is intended that 30,000 needy households and, hence, some 300,000 people, will be working with these innovative cooking systems.
The idea offers enormous benefits. Charcoal harbours health risks associated with the traditional methods of production and combustion, and large areas of native forest in Zambia are felled for this purpose. The highly efficient cooker manages with much less fuel than conventional wood stoves and replaces charcoal with sustainably produced biomass (twigs). Not only will the environment be spared some 1.5 million tons of CO2 by 2020, human health will also be improved and households' energy bills will be lower, too. So, our project participants will benefit directly from making the switch.
