Bringing the green economy to the bottom of the pyramid

10 March, 2010

FR: J. Kim Chaix

RE: The case for The Charcoal Project (DRAFT)

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The Problem

About 2.4 billion people around the world depend on wood, charcoal, and
animal dung (biomass) as their primary fuel for cooking and heating, leading
to major environmental, public health, and poverty problems.

Using biomass for fuel is not bad in itself. But burning it indoors using
traditional three-stones-and-a-pot technology is directly tied to acute
respiratory illnesses, the leading cause of death for children under the age of
five in developing countries. The World Health Organization estimates that
each year 1.3 million people – mostly women and children – die from indoor
air pollution linked to biomass combustion. That’s more than die from malaria
or tuberculosis infections.

Energy poverty is more than just a health public health issue, however. For
the energy poor, the day ends much earlier than in richer countries for lack of
proper lighting. They struggle to read by candlelight. They lack refrigeration
to keep food and medicines fresh. A large share of their income is spent
purchasing batteries to power appliances, or charcoal, if they are urban
dwellers with no access to woodfuels.

Beyond the direct impact on public health, local environments, and poverty
alleviation, a growing number of atmospheric scientists are identifying
ordinary soot – or, black carbon, a byproduct of biomass combustion -- as a
major contributor to global and regional warming. Some scientists now
estimate that small, solid particles of black carbon are responsible for about
one-fifth of warming globally and, as such, constitute the second-largest
contributor to climate change, after carbon dioxide gas.

Meanwhile the consumption of woodfuels is set to increase between now and

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2030. This means more environmental degradation, more CO2 and black
carbon released, more desertification, more loss of water resources, more
floods and draughts, and more hardship all around.

The Solution

The negative impact of inefficient biomass combustion can be cheaply,

easily, and significantly reduced by vastly expanding the availability of
simple, inexpensive energy-efficient technologies, sustainable biofuels, and
sound policies.

For example, burning biomass in a basic, improved stove (which can be easily
made from a variety of locally available materials almost anywhere in the
world) can significantly increase energy-efficiency and reduce emissions.
Larger efficiency gains can be achieved with better-designed charcoal-
making kilns and the use of alternative biomass products made from
discarded agricultural waste, for example. Beyond the technological fixes,
communities can dramatically reduce their environmental impact and boost
their economic development by planting and managing woodlots for biomass
consumption.

What’s more, the emergence of a global carbon market, worth $136 billion in
2009, has spurred an array of financing opportunities for projects around the
world, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, where over 90 percent of families
depend on biomass as their primary fuel.

With better combustion, improved sustainable fuels, and reduced time spent
gathering wood, animal dung, or making charcoal, families can lead healthier
lives, dedicate time to more productive activities, and save money.

In short, improving biomass energy-efficiency for the energy-poor should be

seen as key to the emergence of a true green economy for the bottom of the
pyramid.

Unleashing the benefits of this green economy will, however, depend on

making biomass energy-efficiency a higher priority on the global
development agenda. To do so, the myriad biomass energy-efficient
programs scattered across the globe must connect and share a common
vision. Once joined, this aggregate community will vastly expand its ability to
communicate and market its cause. The fight against malaria, HIV-Aids, and
climate change can be seen as examples of global campaigns in this mould.

None of the solutions outlined above will be possible without stepped-up

commitments from the international development community and national
governments. Fortunately, however, the opportunity is real and the cost is
acceptable. From this effort will come tangible and immediate opportunities
for world’s energy poor.

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The Charcoal Project

The Mission
The mission of The Charcoal Project is to promote, facilitate, and advocate
for the widespread adoption of clean burning technologies, sustainable fuel
alternatives, and policies that support energy-poverty alleviation for those
who depend on biomass as their primary fuel around the world.

The Vision
The vision of The Charcoal Project is to significantly increase the use of
energy efficient stoves, improved kilns, and sustainable biomass fuels for the
world’s energy poor.

Executing the Mission

The Charcoal Project fulfills its mission by:

1. Building a global network among stakeholders in the bioenergy field and

by raising public awareness about the issue in ways that leads to meaningful
and measurable outcomes.

2. Becoming a stakeholder in projects that tangibly and significantly advance

the use of energy efficient technologies.

3. Engaging with the private sector, all levels of government, multi-lateral

agencies, and civil society in actions that lead to the formulation of
meaningful policies and legislation.

Strategies:

A. The Charcoal Project will become the leader in global marketing and
communications on the issue of biomass efficiency and sustainability by:
* Creating an online community that brings together direct and indirect
stakeholders
* Making the charcoalproject.org website the first stop for anyone
interested in the issue
* Crafting and implementing a coordinated and integrated marketing
and communications plan
* Becoming the go-to, public interlocutor about the issue
* Becoming a relevant actor in landmark actions that impact the issue

B. The Charcoal Project will facilitate the global expansion of biomass

efficiency and bioenergy programs by:
* Providing services and/or financial support to existing and future
programs that meet the established priority criteria. Advisory services
offered will include, but won’t be limited to, technical expertise, business
planning and implementation, marketing & communications support,
carbon market optimization.
* Working with partners to establish a suite of standards that will rate
individual projects based on their impact on specific areas. (I.e.: public

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 health, poverty alleviation, greenhouse gas emissions, and
externalities.)

C. The Charcoal Project will advocate for the passage of global and national
policies that enable the establishment of biomass and bionergy programs. It
will do so by:
* Engaging government and multi-lateral agencies in actions that result
in global policies and legislation supporting global expansion of
bioenergy technologies and energy poverty relief.

Measuring Results
Science informs the formulation of priorities at The Charcoal Project. By
adopting a science-based approach to problem solving, The Charcoal Project
can depend on established, recognized quantitative methods to measure the
impact of its work.

To determine the efficacy of individual programs supported by the

organization, The Charcoal Project will establish a certification scheme that
will rate projects based on range of parameters that could include: technical
specifications and standards of stoves, kilns, and briquettes, impacts on the
environment, public health, poverty alleviation, carbon footprint, and other
additionalities and externalities.

The Organization
The Structure
Established in October 2009, The Charcoal Project is a not-for-profit
organization incorporated in New York State. A Board of Trustees is being
recruited.

Leadership
A voluntary Advisory Board has been established to provide guidance during
the start-up phase. The Advisory Board’s membership and mandate will be
reviewed at the first meeting of the Board of Trustees.

The organization is presently led by its founder, Jean Kim Chaix, pending
incorporation and election of officers by the Board of Trustees.

Finances
The Charcoal Project is privately funded. We hope that, starting in Q3/2010,
a portion of The Charcoal Project’s operations and programs will be funded
through a variety of grants from foundations, corporations, individuals, and
other institutions.

The Charcoal Project may also receive income from services provided and
from partnerships with private and public sector entities.

The Team
J. Kim Chaix is the founder and director of The Charcoal Project. He is based
in Brooklyn, New York.

378 Clinton Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231 • (+1) 917.378.8670 •

http://charcoalproject.org 4
Nina Grigoriev guides The Charcoal Project’s global digital marketing and
communications initiative. She is based in Barcelona, Spain.
Christina Lutters is IT Director for The Charcoal Project. She is based in
Muscat, Oman.

The Charcoal Project offices are located at the following address:

The Charcoal Project

378 Clinton Street
Suite #1
Brooklyn, NY 11231
USA
T: +1 (917) 378-8670
http://charcoalproject.org
info@charcoalproject.org

For information, please contact: J. Kim Chaix, jkimchaix@charcoalproject.org,

(+1) 917.378.8670

Biographies

Jean Kim Chaix

In 2009 Kim founded The Charcoal Project, a New York-based global non-
profit. Prior to launching this venture, he was Director of Communications for
The Nature Conservancy in New York. In this capacity Kim oversaw marketing
and communications for one of the world’s largest environmental non-profits.
Kim’s efforts helped raise major funding for the Conservancy’s land and
marine environmental conservation priorities in Asia-Pacific, Latin America,
and his current state of residence, New York.

Prior to joining the Conservancy, Kim spent two decades reporting and
producing television news and documentary films for ABC News, Eurovision,
APTN, National Geographic, Discovery, Animal Planet, and PBS. His work
documenting the fate of ecosystems and impoverished communities
compelled him to dedicate himself to global sustainability issues. He is
currently project adviser for the National Academies of Science, a member of
the Society of Environmental Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic
Journalists, and the Writers Guild of America-East.

Kim has an undergraduate in biology and is an alumnus of Columbia’s

Graduate School of Journalism. He lives in Brooklyn with his family.

Nina Grigoriev
She has worked in online marketing and advertising since 2003, most
recently as the Director of Marketing for outside.in, a large aggregate website
for neighborhood news and discussions, where she was responsible for brand
strategy, public relations, events and customer acquisition.

Prior to joining outside.in, Nina was Marketing Director at TACODA, a pioneer

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in behavioral targeting, which was acquired by AOL June 2007. Before that,
she lead the marketing team at Viewpoint, one of the first rich media
companies to develop 3D and TV-quality online video ad formats.

Nina is currently a candidate for a Masters degree in Political and Social

Sciences at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, in Barcelona, Spain, where she
focuses on public healthcare and immigration issues.

Nina graduated from Cornell University with a double major in Public Policy
and Human Development.

Christina Lutters
The Charcoal Project could not call itself a truly global organization if our IT
Director was not based in Muscat, Oman.

378 Clinton Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231 • (+1) 917.378.8670 •

http://charcoalproject.org 6