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Rural Energy Enterprise Development (REED) African Rural Energy Enterprise Development (AREED) Project UNEP's Rural Energy Enterprise Development Programme is an initiative offering enterprise development services and start-up financing to 'clean energy' enterprises in five African countries (AREED), in Brazil (B-REED) and in China (C-REED). Since beginning in 2000, REED has financed 44 enterprises that are now returning capital each year to an investment fund that is then re-invested in new enterprises. But the returns are also more than financial and are matched - and in many cases exceeded - by the non-financial returns of economic development, environmental improvement and better access to modern energy services for poorly-served communities. Although quantifying these returns is difficult, they are real and measurable to some degree. In 2004, an interim evaluation of non-financial impacts of REED investments was done on eight REED enterprises. One of the enterprises covered by this study is the Biomass Energy
Technology Limited (BETL). This company coordinates the sourcing
and supply of agricultural and other biomass wastes as fuel for
the Tanga Cement Company Ltd (TCCL), which displaces up to 15%
of the 44,000 tons of heavy fuel oil TCCL uses yearly to provide
heat for its cement kilns. This substitution saves TCCL money,
reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and generates a 43% gross profit
margin for BETL on monthly deliveries of up to 1200 tonnes at
$40-$60 per tonne. Income from collecting and transporting biomass
has been the most significant social impact of BETL's activities.
Each tonne of biomass supplied to TCCL also generates income for
a local provider of transport services. At the company level,
BETL has employed one new staff member who is currently undergoing
professional accountancy training. Women in urban areas earn $60
per month collecting 40 bags of charcoal residues a day for the
waste contractor used by BETL. This is 25% more than the minimum
wage in Tanzania and constitutes low-level job creation with a
genuine impact on poverty. Positive environmental impacts from
BETL operations include local benefits arising from a waste disposal
mechanism and the global benefit of reduced greenhouse gas emissions
that would otherwise be produced from the combustion of heavy
fuel oil at the cement processing facility. |
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