After the dust settled following the UN Climate report, and António Guterres declared it a ‘code red’ and calling for green economies, and solidarity from all; it was made very clear that the climate crisis is real.
At Firstpoint we strive to fight against global warming. That being the case, we are aware of the issues surrounding logistics and the CO2 expelled by the industry – So what’ve we done? These past 6 months we’ve been involved with multiple projects to reduce the carbon offset into the atmosphere. Here are three projects we supported this month alone:
1.Producing energy from waste rice husks in India
With its agricultural sector making up for half the population’s jobs, India is the world’s second-largest producer of rice. It accounts for 22.5% of the world’s rice production and provides half of the Indian population’s income. The agricultural regions in India are supplied by rudimentary coal power plants that emit co2 and contaminate local water sources – not ideal for locals or the environment.
This small project sought to implement a 5MW cogeneration power plant to be powered by waste rice husks. Rather than being discarded, the husks go to the nearby plant for combustion in a boiler. This process creates high-pressures used to power turbines, which, in turn, drives a generator to make electricity.
Yes, this is a biomass power and waste-to-energy solution, however, small projects like this provide not only reduce emissions of roughly
28,400 tonnes of CO2 annually, but they also facilitate funding for sustainable development in the region and worldwide.
2.Cleaner cookstoves in Zambia and Ghana
Believe it or not, but families in Ghana don’t have access to the BOSCH Series 4 electric ovens. Instead, they use rudimentary cooking stoves that produce greenhouse gases from non-renewable fuels such as wood and coal – damaging to the environment and the user’s health
To help better the environment and the living conditions for those cooking in the household, we supported two projects at the same time: Toyola in Ghana and 3 Rocks in Zambia.
Toyola replaced carbon-intensive charcoal stoves with fuel-efficient stoves that are 33% more efficient than traditional methods and reduce charcoal used. 3 Rock sought to replace the traditional ‘three rock’ cooking methods in households with cleaner stoves that reduced biomass usage by 66%. These two projects have cut down on over 100,000 tonnes of CO2 while improving the living standards of those included.
3.Producing electricity from solar energy in Vietnam
Around 65% of the energy produced in Vietnam was by coal and oil in 2015. With its plentiful hours of sunshine and high solar radiation intensity, the country has vast potential for solar power, yet, it only accounts for 1% of the electricity generated in the country.
The Quang Minh solar project is the last supported by Firstpoint this month. The plant outputs 50MW, cutting emissions by 60,00 tonnes of CO2 each year by replacing fossil fuel-generated electricity with solar power.
The power generated at this solar plant will provide 36,000 locals with green energy while also providing well-paid jobs within the plant that roughly pay 2.5 times more than the local salary.
Visit the Firstpoint Forest
To check out our progress so far, visit the Firstpoint Forest to see how many trees we’ve planted and find out about the latest projects we’ve been supporting through our donations! Better still, book a consignment with Firstpoint and plant your very own tree in our forest – after all, every tree counts! Check it out here.
Want to learn more about these projects?
5MW Biomass-based cogeneration project at Sainsons
Improved household stoves in Ghana