The Clean Energy Initiative: Powering Sustainable Development from Village to Metropolis seeks to provide millions of people in the developing world with access to affordable, reliable, clean, healthy, and efficient energy services. This U.S.-led, multi-year, initiative has three programs to achieve key goals:

• The Global Village Energy Partnership will increase access to modern and affordable energy services in areas either not served or under-served by current energy delivery systems. (USG lead: USAID)

• Efficient Energy for Sustainable Development will improve the productivity and efficiency of energy systems, while reducing waste and pollution, saving money, improving reliability through more energy efficient processes, and production modernization. (USG lead: DOE)

• Healthy Homes and Communities will promote clean transportation fuels (e.g. unleaded gasoline, low sulfur fuels), and healthier indoor cooking and heating practices to reduce the estimated 3 million annual and readily preventable deaths associated with air pollution and unhealthy patterns of energy use. (USG lead: EPA)

The Global Village Energy Partnership (GVEP): As of March 2004, more than 300 organizations (government, industry, and civil society) have committed to the Global Village Energy Partnership’s Statement of Principles, thereby becoming GVEP partners. The partner breakdown includes 43% from the private sector, 34% from NGOs, 13% from bilateral and developing country governments, 7% consultants and 3% multilateral organizations. The GVEP website, www.gvep.org offers a complete listing of partners.

Efficient Energy for Sustainable Development (EESD): More than 70 organizations (government, industry, and civil society) have committed to the partnership for Efficient Energy for Sustainable Development. The partner breakdown includes 37 from the private sector, 17 from NGOs, 8 from bilateral and developing country governments, and 9 multilateral organizations. The EESD website, www.pi.energy.gov/clean_energy_initiative offers a complete listing of partners.

Healthy Homes and Communities (HHC): As of March 2004, more than 100 organizations (government, industry, and civil society) have committed to the two partnerships within the Healthy Homes and Communities Initiative (the Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles and the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air). More than 60 organizations have joined the Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles and more than 40 have joined the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air. A complete list of partners can be found at www.unep.org/pcfv/main/main.htm (Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles), and at www.epa.gov/iaq/pcia.html (Partnership for Clean Indoor Air).

Partnership Targets

The Global Village Energy Partnership: Targets established for the 10-year Partnership, to be accomplished by the year 2012, include over 30 countries with a National Action Plan for energy-poverty programs; over 300 million additional people with access to modern energy services; and over 50,000 communities serviced with electricity.

Efficient Energy for Sustainable Development: The EESD partnership seeks to achieve its objectives through activities along four tracks: promoting public leadership through community partnerships; facilitating both locally managed financial programs to attract affordable and long-term financing and the “scaling up” of efficiency projects; building host country capacity to access and adopt cleaner and more efficient technologies; and designing performance metrics and assessment methods. The partnership aims to achieve a 20% energy intensity reduction in up to 20 host countries over 10 years; establish U.S. community partnerships in up to 8 countries; and facilitate government energy management plans saving at least 20% of central budget overhead costs in up to 10 countries.

Healthy Homes and Communities:

• The Partnership for Clean Indoor Air is bringing together governments, industry, and non-governmental organizations to increase the use of affordable, reliable, clean, efficient, and safe home cooking and heating practices. Through the development of in-country networks of organizations working on home cooking and heating practices in high risk/high priority countries, sharing best practices, working together to further each other’s goals, and to leveraging resources to achieve more together than would be possible separately; we plan to reduce the mortality related to indoor air pollution in targeted areas by 50%.

• The Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles is focused on eliminating lead in gasoline worldwide; reducing sulfur in gasoline and diesel fuels, along with the adoption of cleaner vehicle technologies.

Progress Toward Targets

The U.S. Government is working with other governments, international financial institutions, industry and NGO partners to implement Clean Energy Initiative activities in a range of countries over the next calendar year. These activities will focus on increased access to modern energy services, energy efficiency, cleaner fuels and improved air quality. The U.S. Government has formed an interagency working group (including the Department of State, USAID, DOE, and EPA) that is coordinating its efforts with U.S. missions and embassies worldwide to identify appropriate development activities to be implemented in the coming year.

The Global Village Energy Partnership: In 16 months of operation GVEP has initiated National Action Plans and energy-poverty program development in 18 countries. These include Latin America (Bolivia, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico); Africa (Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia); and Asia (India and Sri Lanka). GVEP has developed training programs in energy services delivery for entrepreneurs, microfinance organizations and financial institution officers. A global risk mitigation facility is in development to leverage local financial capital markets and offer pre-investment support to developing country bankers to increase their investment in energy access projects. GVEP is working towards re-targeting host country government, USAID, World Bank and other donor funding from a focus on purely rural electrification programs to a focus on stakeholder-driven energy programs dealing with broader energy-poverty and modern energy service delivery issues in at least 10 countries.

Efficient Energy for Sustainable Development: The partnership sponsored the “Building Pathways of Progress” forum held in Washington, DC on November 10, 2003. This event showcased projects that are underway and sought to build partnerships by focusing on financing, peer-to-peer leadership and technology diffusion. Featured projects included a pooled financing mechanism being developed to aggregate energy efficiency projects in Mexico, Poland and the Philippines; successful partnerships in Uganda and India that are working with communities to develop solar water pumps and clean engine auto-rickshaws respectively; and the development of a “Sustainable Community Development” proposal with the Gas Technology Institute. APEC approved an EESD proposal to give priority to the financing of clean and more efficient energy technologies as part of its Energy Security Initiative Action Plan.

Healthy Homes and Communities:

• The Partnership for Clean Indoor Air is funding Pilot Projects in high risk, high potential regions throughout the world; establishing broad design and performance guidance for home cooking and heating practices; developing uniform design protocols for health and exposure assessments; focussing on expanding local market/business development; and overcoming social and cultural barriers to using improved cooking and heating practices.

• The Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles is assisting African countries to develop and implement lead phase-out action plans, and is providing technical assistance on public outreach, blood lead testing and monitoring, and policy options for refinery modifications. The Partnership is also sponsoring regional workshops, designed to help countries and regions toward clean fuel and vehicle options. In Mexico, the partnership has begun a project to demonstrate the benefits of retrofitting city buses with new emission control technologies and bringing in low-sulfur fuel.

Next Steps

The Global Village Energy Partnership: The partnership will finalize National Action Plans, secure funding and move to implementation in 18+ target countries and implement entrepreneur, microfinance and financial institution training, and risk mitigation facility to leverage millions of dollars of investment in energy-poverty investments in developing countries.

Efficient Energy for Sustainable Development: The partnership is developing a “Sustainable Community Development” proposal to enhance peer-to-peer alliances and to serve as an umbrella covering the 4 tracks of the partnership’s activites.. Other activities include coordinating potential U.S. participation in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) African Rift Valley Geothermal Development Facility (ARGeo), providing market development models to enhance bio-diesel production in Brazil and eco-industrial economic development projects for fossil and non-fossil energy sources in Africa.

Healthy Homes and Communities:

• The Partnership for Clean Indoor Air: In 2004 many partners will be funding pilot programs around the world to reduce people’s exposure to indoor air pollution. The United States will fund six to eight pilot projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America designed to increase the use of affordable, reliable, clean, efficient, and safe home cooking and heating practices. France is supporting similar projects in Africa and Asia; Italy’s efforts are focused in China; and the Shell Foundation is working on projects in India, Africa and Central America. By 2005, we will be measuring the number of: Countries implementing Partnership Initiatives; Homes using improved cooking and heating practices; and People with reduced exposure to combustion pollutants indoors.

• The Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles: In 2004, the partnership will produce publications on: Valve seat recession (May, 2004); Octane Requirements (Summer, 2004); and Sulfur and its Impacts on Emissions (Summer, 2004).

Calendar of Events:

• Mexico City Retrofit Project Kick-Off
• Middle East and North Africa Workshop (March 16 and 17, 2004)
• Central and West Africa Workshop (March 17-19, 2004)
• Central American Fuels Workshop (April 21 and 22, 2004)
• African Environment Ministerial on Lead Phase - Out (May 5-7, 2004)
• Mexico City Diesel Retrofit Program - Implementation (Summer, 2004)

Resources

The U.S. launched the Clean Energy Initiative at the World Summit on Sustainable Development with a commitment of $42 million. U.S. funds will leverage up to $400 million in additional resources from other partners, over the next several years.

The Global Village Energy Partnership: USAID’s GVEP related activities in fiscal year 2003 totalled $20 million and these funds leveraged approximately $92 million from other sources. Other bilateral institutions have provided direct contributions totalling approximately $12 million to the GVEP.

Efficient Energy for Sustainable Development: Through the Department of Energy’s program offices and laboratories, the EESD program leverages resources and expertise to improve efficient energy generation and use. To date the United States Government has committed $1.4 million and these funds leveraged approximately $1.5 million from partners and other sources.

Healthy Homes and Communities:

• The Partnership for Clean Indoor Air: Partners are contributing their resources and expertise to improve health, livelihood and quality of life by reducing exposure to indoor air pollution, primarily among women and children, from household energy use. To date the United States Government has committed $1.5 million. Other Partners, including Canada, France, Italy, and the Shell Foundation, among many others, have also pledged funds and resources to support Partnership activities.

• The Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles: To date, the U.S. has contributed $1.5 million to the partnership

U.S. Primary Points of Contact

Agency for International Development: Gordon Weynand (Telephone: 202/712-4169; E-mail: goweynand@usaid.gov)

Department of State: Griffin Thompson (Phone: 202-647-1139; E-mail: thompsongm@state.gov)

Department of Energy: Larisa Dobriansky (Phone: 202/586-1524; E-mail: larisa.dobriansky@hq.doe.gov)

Environmental Protection Agency: 

• Partnership for Clean Indoor Air: Brenda Doroski (Phone: 202/343-9764, E-Mail: doroksi.Brenda@epa.gov) and John Mitchell (Phone: 202/343-9031 E-Mail: mitchell.john@epa.gov)
• Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles: Jane Metcalfe (Phone; 202/564-6451; E-mail: Metcalfe.jane@epa.gov