WRI Features
A monthly features service on environment and development issues.

• Going for Green Power. The renewable energy market in the United States is heating up: a number of corporations just announced some of the country's largest green-power purchases.
• Water, Work, and Women in Rural India. In the desert district of Banaskantha in Gujarat, India, local women have taken control of the key resource they need for their livelihoods and their families' survival: water.
• Eating Worms and Protecting Parks. Protected areas can bring important benefits to communities living outside their boundaries.
• Green-Powered Corporate Citizenship. In the absence of government leadership, a number of major corporations are taking the lead on green energy in the United States.

Going for Green Power

by Curtis Runyan

(Washington, DC, September 2003) In the absence of government action on clean energy, a number of major U.S. companies have taken it upon themselves to jumpstart the renewable energy marketplace. In the past few years the U.S. government has taken concerted steps away from pushing for cleaner energy production -- loosening pollution standards, refusing to tighten fuel-efficiency requirements, and rejecting the Kyoto Protocol to fight global warming.

Despite this, 12 corporations announced in September that they had collectively purchased or signed contracts for a total of 97 megawatts (MW) of energy from renewable sources -- enough to power 73,000 homes. While that is a small share of U.S. energy consumption, it is a substantial boost for the country's fledgling green energy market.

Since 2000, the corporations -- Alcoa, Cargill Dow, Delphi, Dow Chemical, DuPont, General Motors, IBM, Interface, Johnson & Johnson, Kinko's, Pitney Bowes, and Staples -- have joined with the World Resources Institute (WRI) to jumpstart the green power market. The purchases are expected to have a significant impact on the market.

"We joined this partnership in 2003 to help us diversify our energy purchasing," said William Stavropoulos, president and CEO of Dow Chemical. "By working together, these 12 businesses can have a tremendous impact on supporting and developing renewable energy markets."

The group of companies, convened by WRI as the Green Power Market Development Group, has a goal of purchasing 1,000 MW of new green power by 2010 at a cost-competitive rate. That's equivalent to a coal-fired power plant.

Still, the recent purchases mark an important step for renewable energy in the United States. Three of the companies -- Staples, Pitney Bowes, and Kinko's -- are now purchasing 10 percent green power for their operations. "The Green Power Group is beginning to make green power markets work for corporate buyers," said Charles O. Holliday, Jr., DuPont chairman and CEO.

Members of the group are implementing green power deals at 250 facilities in 22 states and the District of Columbia. The companies have pursued an array of green energy solutions, from rooftop solar power to capturing methane leaking from landfills for use as fuel. The projects will eliminate 435,500 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, about the same as that absorbed in a year by 86 million trees -- or a forest the size of Shenandoah National Park in the United States.

"A lot of these companies are working on this to get ahead of the curve," said Jennifer Layke, senior associate at WRI. "They want to reduce emissions so that they are well-positioned to address global warming, and they want to reduce the risks of being entirely dependent on a volatile fossil fuel energy market."

September's announcement included the largest-ever purchase of electricity produced by fuel cells, one of the biggest contracts for wind-generated power in the United States, and the largest ever sale of renewable energy certificates.

Dow Chemical and General Motors are collaborating in the world’s largest hydrogen fuel cell deal: over several years Dow will purchase 500 GM fuel cells to generate electricity at its Freeport, Texas manufacturing plant. The Freeport facility produces hydrogen as a by-product, which the fuel cells will convert into electricity. Dow will be able to generate 35 MW of power by using the excess hydrogen, and GM will get to study its new fuel-cell technology in action.

The companies also made large wind power purchases, agreeing to buy 15 MW of wind-generated electricity. Johnson & Johnson, which is now one of the largest corporate users of wind power in the United States, purchased 11 MW of wind-generated electricity in Texas and the East Coast.

"Attractive alternatives include wind power, which is cost competitive in some locations, and solar photovoltaic, which is the most effective during the peak energy requirement periods of the day," said Harry Kauffman, corporate energy director at Johnson & Johnson. "To support the communities in which we work and live, we make these purchases locally where possible."

WRI and members of the Green Power Group also purchased 36 MW of renewable energy certificates (RECs) -- the largest purchase to date in the United States. A major obstacle to purchasing green power has been that companies may not be located near a wind farm or another source of renewable energy. So when a company buys a REC, it pays for renewable energy to be produced and sent onto the power grid. Because the national power grid pools energy from all sources together, the company may not get the actual green electricity, but it gets credit for the pollution emissions averted by putting clean electricity into the system.

"These companies may not have taken this step on their own," said Layke. "But having the opportunity to share strategies and experience has helped accelerate their movement toward renewable energy." (WRI Features, 747 words)

Water, Work, and Women in Rural India

by Aditi Kapoor

(New Delhi, India, September 2003) Fetching and carrying water is women's work in rural India. In the villages of the desert district of Banaskantha, women spend up to six hours a day bringing water from distant sources to their homes. They carry up to 15 liters on their heads on each trip, often walking barefoot.

Banaskantha, which is in the country's western state of Gujarat, receives less than 7 inches of rainfall each year. The water table has dropped by 6.5 feet a year, as withdrawals exceed natural replenishment. Over 75 percent of the district's villages no longer have reliable, year-round sources of fresh water.

It was not until the last decade that the federal government formally recognized the need to involve rural communities in managing water resources, and only in 1999 did it establish guidelines for involving women. However, the women of Gujarat began taking their first steps toward self-governance in water issues long before then.

Guided by an all-women trade union -- the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) -- Gujarati women began to exert their influence over state authorities and secured a greater voice for themselves not only within the community but also inside their own homes.

The underlying strategy behind this success has been to link protecting the environment with improving livelihoods. For rural women, economic benefits often depend on the health of the natural resources they rely on. Governments, however, often treat the environment and economic development as mutually exclusive.

For example, Gujarat is home to the massive Sardar Sarovar dam, which is now under construction. It is part of a network of more than 3,000 dams that will make up one of the world's largest water projects with an extensive canal and irrigation system. Despite the project's goal of alleviating water shortages in rural communities, an independent review commissioned by the World Bank found that plans for the delivery of water to villagers in the drought-prone regions of Gujarat are not on track and they are not likely to happen any time soon, if at all.

In 1986, the State Water Board of Gujarat invited SEWA to increase its participation in village-level water committees. After three consecutive years of drought, the water board believed that proactive local communities might succeed where more centralized management had failed. The water works in many regions were in complete disarray. SEWA held a number of meetings where villagers expressed two urgent needs: The need to conserve water, revive traditional sources like surface wells and ponds, and create alternative water sources like roof rainwater harvesting structures. The second need was to find non-water based work, as seasonal water shortages caused a loss of jobs.

To push for these changes, SEWA encouraged women to join local water committees, called pani samities. SEWA had already organized women into about 50 business-development groups -- with activities from embroidery to timber and rainwater harvesting -- to help them earn more money. Getting women a voice on local water committees was the next logical step because women are primarily responsible for fetching and using water.

At first, however, women were reluctant to come forward because water infrastructure was regarded as male territory. Most men were critical of women's participation, and several went so far as to say they would not drink water from a source created by women. But women slowly gained confidence as they began to lead water activities, raise their productivity, and see their incomes increase. While a lot of women were initially reluctant, said Poonamben of Bharvad village, "now we've learned so much about measurements, maps, and surveying methods that everyone wants to become a member and know about these things."

The initial 42 pani samities were to take over maintenance of the piped water system in the Santhalpur and Radhanpur sub-districts, including collecting user fees. But the state government reversed its position. So the village women turned to reviving and maintaining their traditional community sources of water. Pani samities began constructing check dams, deepening existing ponds, and lining ponds with plastic sheeting to prevent salination of the water from the region's salty soils.

By 1995 the women's association had accumulated a great deal of experience in the water sector throughout Gujarat, and its projects were yielding tangible economic, social, and environmental benefits throughout the state.

The state government, recognizing SEWA's successes, invited the group to lead and implement a state-wide watershed development program. SEWA used this unprecedented opportunity to launch a more comprehensive program than the state had envisioned, one that not only promoted ecological regeneration, but fostered economic development as well.

The Water, Women, and Work Millennium Campaign, as it has been called, integrates erosion controls, water conservation measures, tree-planting and forestry initiatives, dryland agriculture, and education, training, and capacity building for communities.

Between 1995 and 2001, the water campaign spread to a total of 502 villages in 9 districts. Women comprised 80 percent or more of the membership of most of the new water users committees, and committee activities revolved around issues of particular interest to women -- fodder growing, nursery plantations, improved agriculture, rainwater harvesting and capacity-building.

Results of the water campaign in Banaskantha have been impressive. Aquifers in 18 villages have been recharged. A total of 150 wells, including surface wells, tube wells, and farm wells, have been recharged in eight villages. In the Porana village alone, a total of 25 wells have been recharged. Salinity has decreased in the treated land thanks to various innovative and low-cost mechanisms for sweetening and recharging the groundwater. Groundwater is lifted with a water pump for irrigation and farmers are able to grow three crops annually instead of one. The investment was just Rs 5,000 (US$106) for each pump system.

SEWA's success has prompted villagers and civil society groups to question India's trend toward privatizing water distribution services. There is some sign that government agencies are beginning to trust the "people's sector" to handle water supply activities, despite skepticism that poor, illiterate women could prove competent. The Gujarat Water Board has recently decided to give low priority to its private sector contract for managing piped water supply systems in Surendranagar, and handed responsibility directly to a community organization. (WRI Features, 1,050 words)

Eating Worms and Protecting Parks

By Emmanuel Koro

(Durban, South Africa, September 2003) The mopane worm -- Imbrassia belina to entomologists -- is a large caterpillar that feeds on the leaves of the mopane tree in southern Africa. It is also high in fat and protein, has a gritty texture and a slightly meaty taste when fried, and is considered a delicacy by many people in Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.

The worm is a traditional source of cheap protein. It is an important part of the market for edible insects in the region, which is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.

The future of the caterpillar is tied into a larger tug-of-war between community rights and conservation over how to best manage resources. In some forests it is becoming difficult to find these once-abundant caterpillars due to over-harvesting. Meanwhile, the mopane worm is flourishing in some parks and nature preserves where harvesting is not permitted.

Chenai Chibhememe is from Chiredzi, a community close to Zimbabwe's Gonarezhou National Park. She is hoping to take advantage of the mopane forests in the park to help boost the protein base for people in her community, some of whom suffer from malnutrition. "I wish to benefit from sustainable harvest of mopane worms which we eat as relish, if the government of Zimbabwe introduces a law to allow us to benefit from resources inside Gonarezhou," she said.

But most conservationists oppose this idea. Gauging sustainable levels of harvest is no simple task. And opening the park to harvesting could further decimate the population by degrading some of the remaining refuges for the caterpillar, which help replenish populations outside the park. An expert on the mopane worm, entomologist Rob Toms of the Transvaal Museum in South Africa, has recommended that communities farm the caterpillar on cultivated trees as a sustainable solution to feeding communities and protecting the edible bug's wild populations.

A few hundred miles away, these types of issues were being discussed by park officials from around the world in Durban, South Africa, at the Fifth World Parks Congress in September. The theme of the congress --"benefits beyond boundaries" -- spurred significant interest from communities living near the large parks and preserves in southern Africa.

"We need to recognize, as a community of professional managers, that non-profit groups, local communities, indigenous peoples, and other groups are a crucial part of preserving and managing parklands," said Dr. Kenton Miller, head of the parks congress steering committee and vice president for conservation at the World Resources Institute. Parks and protected areas are vital sources of human livelihoods, he said, and they bring important benefits to those living beyond their boundaries, from crucial ecosystem services like storing water to providing revenue from tourism.

"Right now, many potential allies have not been recognized for their actual or potential contribution to this vast job," said Dr. Miller. "But if we include these people, the work of managing protected areas becomes much more manageable."

South Africa's Makuleke community, settled next to Kruger National Park, is cashing in on its proximity to the massive game preserve. In 2002, the Makuleke finished building the "Makuleke Outpost," a lodge built inside the park after the community successfully pushed for the return of 25,000 hectares of ancestral lands. The Makuleke had been forcibly removed from the land 33 years ago to make way for the establishment of the park.

Tourists visiting the lodge pay an all-inclusive US$428 a day, which covers lodge fees, food, drinks, and tours that bring them in touch with the wild. About 10 percent of the funds go to support the community.

The Makuleke have already signed a contract with Wilderness Safaris, a leading tourism company in Southern Africa, to build and operate three more lodges. While this means more jobs and more tourism dollars to be used for community projects, conservationists are increasingly concerned about the impacts of tourism on parks.

Finding a balance between community benefits and conservation priorities is a work in progress. But the parks congress "marked a growing maturity in our understanding of the values and benefits of protected areas to broader society," said Achim Steiner, director general of the World Conservation Union (IUCN). The action plan from the congress calls for greater participation from local communities in making decisions about park management and the benefits that are derived from parks.

At the conclusion of the parks congress representatives from rural communities throughout the world came together to emphasize the need that their communities receive benefits from national parks and protected areas. Parks "will remain meaningless as long as they are managed as islands of wealth in a sea of rural poverty," said Messias Langa, one of the Mozambican community representatives at the congress.

"We can't have our protected areas and exploit them to death too," said Dr. Miller. "If biodiversity is important to us, as well as all of the other services that parks provide, then we cannot open up every place to extraction. The issue is to get the benefits from parks to reach and help people living out beyond the boundaries." (WRI Features, 851 words)

Green-Powered Corporate Citizenship

Commentary by Jonathan Lash

The energy sector in the United States -- plagued by unprecedented blackouts, bankruptcies, fluctuating prices, and record levels of pollution emissions -- would do well to look at making some innovative and sustainable changes. The U.S. Congress is currently debating an energy bill that could offer a long-term vision for addressing these problems. But it falls far short of the mark, favoring giveaways and pork-barrel projects over pursuing serious solutions.

In the absence of leadership from Washington, however, a number of corporations have begun to pursue projects that are forging the way toward a more sustainable U.S. energy economy.

It all began three years ago when 10 major U.S. companies agreed to work with us at the World Resources Institute to do something about their power emissions. This month those efforts began to bear significant fruit: we just announced some of the largest green power purchases in U.S. history -- 97 megawatts (MW) in all, enough to power 73,000 homes with electricity from renewable sources.

Things got started in 2000 when WRI decided that we should "walk our talk." We pledged to reduce our net carbon dioxide emissions to zero by 2005 (which we achieved this month). We also formed the Green Power Market Development Group, which brought together a set of prominent corporations and challenged them to begin to make similar advances that would help find ways to lower the climate impact of U.S. energy use.

The group -- Alcoa, Cargill Dow, Delphi, DuPont, General Motors, IBM, Interface, Johnson & Johnson, Kinko's, and Pitney Bowes (Dow Chemical and Staples joined later) -- set the goal of creating 1,000 MW of new, cost-competitive green power by 2010. That's enough electricity to power 750,000 homes or eliminate the need for a coal-fired power plant.

It has not been easy to find the right green power suppliers and products and structure workable deals. But we are confident that we have created a solid business model for green power and partner companies now look for green power when they make energy sourcing decisions.

Promoting the use of green power has taught us that if done well, good corporate citizenship not only solves environmental and social problems but also provides business benefits. Some companies are reducing costs; others are reducing their exposure to volatile fossil fuel prices.

And the purchases are starting to make an impact. By the end of September WRI and its 12 corporate partners will have purchased a total of more than 110 MW of green power. These purchases will reduce approximately 500,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, which is equivalent to taking more than 95,000 cars off the road. Some of these green power projects include:

Dow Chemical and General Motors are collaborating in the world's largest hydrogen fuel-cell deal in history. Dow will use 500 GM fuel cell units at its Freeport, Texas manufacturing facilities to generate up to 35 MW of power. The hydrogen fuel is already generated as a by-product from chemical processing at the manufacturing plant.

Johnson & Johnson is now using more than 11 MW of wind and 1.5 MW of solar electricity, making it the largest corporate user of solar photovoltaic panels in the United States and one of the largest users of wind power.

General Motors and Interface carpeting are now using landfill gas as an energy source at their manufacturing facilities, shifting away from their reliance on increasingly expensive natural gas.

Staples, Pitney Bowes, and Kinko's are now purchasing green power for 10 percent of their annual U.S. electricity consumption.

While we are working to blaze the trail with large corporations, smaller organizations can reap the benefits as well. WRI is a nonprofit organization with a budget under $20 million, but we partnered with our building owner and manager to purchase green power for our energy-efficient offices. With additional purchases, we are now one of the first nonprofit organizations in the country -- and certainly the biggest in metropolitan Washington, DC -- that purchases 100 percent green energy.

The Green Power Market Development Group is creating a model for good corporate citizenship, but it cannot be a substitute for government leadership. The group recently took this message to Capitol Hill, meeting with congressional leaders to discuss climate change and the future of green power.

The private sector cannot solve the problem of climate change by itself. In the United States, Congress should set renewables-friendly mandatory CO2 targets. A cap-and-trade system would create incentives for reductions and guarantee a level playing field for all corporations. Then companies can make smart long-term investments and the green power markets will take off. (WRI Features, 789 words)