Gasifier Stoves

Advanced biomass stoves covers improvements developed over recent years for household cooking in developing countries. They are often referred to as gasifier stoves although not all of these stoves strictly gasify the fuel.

Poor People's Energy Outlook 2013

In many countries poor people’s energy access is yet to be given sufficient priority and fails to be acknowledged as a key enabler in improving health, education, and other community services. As a contribution to creating a new energy narrative, the Poor people’s energy outlook (PPEO) highlights wh...

Low-Cost Civil works for Micro-Hydro Schemes

Civil works can suffer from cracking and significant scour damage. This document looks at some of the approaches that were taken to combat these problems in hydro schemes in the Cajamarca region of Peru.

Cable Selection in Small Off-grid Solar energy Installations

Ideally, voltage drop in a solar energy installation should be

Solar Photovoltaic Water Pumping

The advantages and disadvantages of solar water pumping are outlined in this document.

A Handbook of Small-scale Energy Technologies

Neil Noble

Gaining access to modern forms of energy remains a crucial but under-recognised aspect of poverty reduction in the Global South. Practical Action has long been recognised as a leading authority on energy access, with decades of development programme and project experience worldwide upon which to bas...

Climate Change and Threatened Communities

A. Peter Castro, Dan Taylor, David W. Brokensha

Global climate change disproportionately affects rural people and indigenous groups, but their rights, knowledge, and interests concerning it are generally unacknowledged. Shifts in precipitation, cloud cover, temperature, and other climatic patterns alter their livelihood pursuits and cultural land...

Natural resource management and the importance of gender

Taking into account the different roles and responsibilities of men and women is critical to the sustainable management of natural resources as well as the success of NRM policies and programmes. We need to be aware that NRM programmes may affect women and men differently due to their rights, roles...

Small-scale Off grid Solar PV Installation Manual

A complete installation guide for Solar PV systems up to 235W (or one solar panel.) Written in collaboration with Quetsol, primarily for applications in Guatemala.

Decentralized Energy Access and the Millennium Development Goals

Gwénaëlle Legros, Kamal Rijal, Bahareh Seyedi

Decentralized, off-grid power supplies such as micro hydropower can be perceived as expensive investments by poor countries like Nepal. Can these investments be justified by the benefits that electricity brings to villages in remote mountainous regions? This book describes research into the developm...