Smoke Free Nepal

Lucy Stevens

Traditional cooking fires are still used in more than half the households in Nepal. But they are a silent killer, with their smoky fumes responsible for the deaths of nearly 23,000 people every year. The Government of Nepal was one of the first to recognize this problem and has a target to eradicate...

Measuring Energy Access in India

Lucy Stevens

This briefing paper reports on the largest energy access survey ever conducted in India, covering a representative sample of the rural poor across six states with interviews in 8,566 households. It adapts the World Bank’s multi-tier framework to measure access to household electricity and clean cook...

Poor People's Energy Outlook 2016

What do poor people in the developing world identify as their most pressing energy needs – electric lighting, modern cookstoves, power for health clinics? Drawing on in-depth consultations with selected energy-poor communities in Bangladesh, Kenya and Togo, the PPEO 2016 shines a light on the energy...

Real-time Monitoring, Control and Payment Technologies for Mini-grids

This brief discusses the factors of mini-grid economic viability revenue, tariffs and costs - and introduces technologies and approaches for enhancing viability through real-time monitoring, control and payments. It introduces the benefits of integrated monitoring, control and payment systems and pr...

Developing Mini-grids in Zambia

Up to now, mini-grids have struggled to grow beyond pilot projects. Today, raising awareness about the main hurdles and learning from successful experiences is imperative in order for mini-grids to make a meaningful contribution to electricity access. ENEA and Practical Action are convinced that bui...

Making a Manual Fuel Briquette Press

This brief describes the process of making and using a simple low-pressure manual press for fuel briquette production. This press can also be used for other purposes, such as vegetable oil extraction. In this brief however we will concentrate on fuel briquette making only.

Le nexus énergie-eau-alimentation à des échelles décentralisées

Lucy Stevens, Mary Gallagher

Ce document s’appuie sur l’expérience de Practical Action en matière de programmes de microcentrales hydroélectriques et vise à établir un lien entre les débats mondiaux sur le nexus (liens) et les solutions et expériences des communautés isolées hors réseau et des petits exploitants agricoles. Par...

The Energy–Water–Food Nexus at Decentralized Scales

Lucy Stevens, Mary Gallagher

The Energy–Water–Food Nexus at Decentralized Scales uses Practical Action’s experiences with micro-hydro schemes to connect global nexus debates to the experiences of and solutions for remote off-grid communities and smallholder farmers. Through examples in Peru, Nepal, and Zimbabwe it exemplifies t...

Solid Waste Management

An introduction to solid waste management.

Mechanical waste plastic recycling

This technical brief describes the process of plastic recycling.