Bob T
06-15-2004, 06:25 PM
* PORTLAND'S GREEN EMPOWERMENT HELPS INNOVATE
Feb 13, 2004
Dear Thirsters:
This item is just in from Thirster in Residence Susan Williams of Green Empowerment, a Portland-based NGO headed up by Thirster Michael Royce, dedicated to promoting environmentally sound, sustainable power at the local level in the less developed countries.
Cultures usually change more or less incrementally. Change agents have to start somewhere. Green Empowerment and its partners have started in Chel, Guatemala. The change reported here is a "first." It could set in train a tremendous number of similar events worldwide.
Green Empowerment is following a well established strategy among developmentists: Use the system in order to change reality, often including the system itself.
Congratulations, Michael and Susan!
Best,
Bob
##############################
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 6, 2004
Contact:
Anna Garwood Jeff Arsenych
anna@greenempowerment.org <mailto:michael@greenempowerment.org> energreen@energreen.org
phone: (503) 284-5774 (403) 531-2131
fax: (503) 460-0450 (403) 265-9219
Green Empowerment EnerGreen Foundation
2950 SE Stark St, Suite 100 # 800, 630-6th Ave SW
Portland OR, 97214 Calgary, Alberta T2P 0S8
www.greenempowerment.org <http://www.greenempowerment.org> www.energreen.org <http://www.energreen.org>
GUATEMALAN VILLAGE GETS PAID FOR REDUCING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
Mayan villagers in the Guatemalan highlands have just received funds in connection with greenhouse gas mitigation achieved through their community-owned micro-hydro power system. This is believed to be the first time that an indigenous people’s organization has benefited from the nascent global greenhouse gas emission market.
By building a renewable energy plant rather than a power plant fueled by natural gas or coal, the association in the small, isolated village of Chel is avoiding emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that contribute to global warming. The EnerGreen Foundation, a Canadian foundation dedicated to serving people and saving the environment with renewable energy, donated $25,000 (US) to the Chel Hydroelectric Association in Guatemala to support the cost of facilities and equipment for the project. In addition, EnerGreen will be entitled to any “carbon credits” or other emission reduction benefits created by building the first 55kW phase of their 165kW micro hydro plant. According to EnerGreen’s chairman, Jeff Arsenych , “This partnership with the Chel community is a new approach to renewable energy development that will be a model for future initiatives.”
The exchange was facilitated by Green Empowerment, a Portland, Oregon-based non-profit that promotes renewable energy in the developing world, and Fundacion Solar, a Guatemalan non-profit renewable energy organization. EnerGreen’s donation will fund the completion of a community-owned and operated micro hydro plant that will bring electricity to 2,258 people in an isolated Ixil-speaking community in Quiche, Guatemala, an area still recovering from the violent conflicts of the 1980s.
In this case, emission reduction credits are the 2147 tons of carbon dioxide that will not be generated as a result of constructing a micro hydro plant instead of a polluting fossil fuel sources for electricity. The private companies that sponsored EnerGreen for this purpose will receive proportional rights to any credits resulting from a portion of the Chel project.
This exchange sets a precedent for channeling the global CO2 emission credit market to small-scale community-based renewable energy projects for rural people in developing countries.
Feb 13, 2004
Dear Thirsters:
This item is just in from Thirster in Residence Susan Williams of Green Empowerment, a Portland-based NGO headed up by Thirster Michael Royce, dedicated to promoting environmentally sound, sustainable power at the local level in the less developed countries.
Cultures usually change more or less incrementally. Change agents have to start somewhere. Green Empowerment and its partners have started in Chel, Guatemala. The change reported here is a "first." It could set in train a tremendous number of similar events worldwide.
Green Empowerment is following a well established strategy among developmentists: Use the system in order to change reality, often including the system itself.
Congratulations, Michael and Susan!
Best,
Bob
##############################
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 6, 2004
Contact:
Anna Garwood Jeff Arsenych
anna@greenempowerment.org <mailto:michael@greenempowerment.org> energreen@energreen.org
phone: (503) 284-5774 (403) 531-2131
fax: (503) 460-0450 (403) 265-9219
Green Empowerment EnerGreen Foundation
2950 SE Stark St, Suite 100 # 800, 630-6th Ave SW
Portland OR, 97214 Calgary, Alberta T2P 0S8
www.greenempowerment.org <http://www.greenempowerment.org> www.energreen.org <http://www.energreen.org>
GUATEMALAN VILLAGE GETS PAID FOR REDUCING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
Mayan villagers in the Guatemalan highlands have just received funds in connection with greenhouse gas mitigation achieved through their community-owned micro-hydro power system. This is believed to be the first time that an indigenous people’s organization has benefited from the nascent global greenhouse gas emission market.
By building a renewable energy plant rather than a power plant fueled by natural gas or coal, the association in the small, isolated village of Chel is avoiding emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that contribute to global warming. The EnerGreen Foundation, a Canadian foundation dedicated to serving people and saving the environment with renewable energy, donated $25,000 (US) to the Chel Hydroelectric Association in Guatemala to support the cost of facilities and equipment for the project. In addition, EnerGreen will be entitled to any “carbon credits” or other emission reduction benefits created by building the first 55kW phase of their 165kW micro hydro plant. According to EnerGreen’s chairman, Jeff Arsenych , “This partnership with the Chel community is a new approach to renewable energy development that will be a model for future initiatives.”
The exchange was facilitated by Green Empowerment, a Portland, Oregon-based non-profit that promotes renewable energy in the developing world, and Fundacion Solar, a Guatemalan non-profit renewable energy organization. EnerGreen’s donation will fund the completion of a community-owned and operated micro hydro plant that will bring electricity to 2,258 people in an isolated Ixil-speaking community in Quiche, Guatemala, an area still recovering from the violent conflicts of the 1980s.
In this case, emission reduction credits are the 2147 tons of carbon dioxide that will not be generated as a result of constructing a micro hydro plant instead of a polluting fossil fuel sources for electricity. The private companies that sponsored EnerGreen for this purpose will receive proportional rights to any credits resulting from a portion of the Chel project.
This exchange sets a precedent for channeling the global CO2 emission credit market to small-scale community-based renewable energy projects for rural people in developing countries.