June 28-29, 2007
TECHNICAL CONFERENCE ON THE THEME:
“FIREWOOD AND ITS IMPLICATIONS IN THE AREAS OF ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH”

 Biomass energy constitutes an important source of energy for the country. The Ministry of Energy and Mines with the financial support of the World Bank, is implementing the Technical Assistence program ¨The Offering of Energy on a Small Scale,¨which forms part of the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP).

The Program is integrated and developed through three components: Biomass, Pico-Hydro and Pico-Photovoltaic, that at the same time contains two complementary groups:strengthening of MEM PERZA and World Bank Supervision for 18 months (2007-2008), with an assigned budget for ESMAP-World Bank in donation quality.  ESMAP executes through the Rural Electrification Project for Isolated Zones (PERZAS)

At the national and international levels, through means of different government and non-government organisms, we have developed and executed different projects and programs that have to be followed up with research on efficient use of energy, through the dissemination of improved cookstoves and reforestation with the focus on health and the environment.

The Ministry of Energy and Mines is attempting to modernize energy policies and technology with the end result of Improving the Offer of Energy at the Small Scale, to influence this method in the bettering of living conditions of rural families and the urban marginalized.

Within this context, the Ministry of Energy and Mines proposed in this event to share the successful experiences from small-scale energy service suppliers, with the intent for participants to identify the links between the public and private sectors that allow increased access to services in zones most removed and with less economic resources in the country.

  New Firefly Project :

Winrock has been working on the Firefly Project since August of 2006.
The Firefly project is intended to provide a lower cost, cleaner way of cooking and to bring electricity to rural homes, utilizing technology and integrating a thermoelectric generator (TEG) in the improved cookstove (Ecofogon) that consumes less firewood and reduces gaseous emissions.

This project is a collaboration between Winrock International, Colorado State University (CSU) and Proleña / Nicaragua. Winrock proposed the pilot project and the methodology including the selection of the community. CSU provided engineering support to develop the TEG units and adapt them to the Ecogofon, while Proleña constructed, installed and carried out monitoring activities of their usage.

The community selected was Tempisque, where four families are beneficiary participants.  Each family received a TEG-installed cookstove and a 10-watt lamp, and training on how to use the stoves. 

 The technology was well accepted by the rural familias, in addition they bought new black and white new televisions.
However, there are complications to the performance of the TEG, with parts of the stove not operating in sync with the battery. In other words, the thermoenergy of the stove is not transmitted well to the battery

In conclusion, Proleña continues monitoring this Project.  In addition other organizations have expressed their interest in the Firefly Ecofogons, such as the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE), the Ministry of Energy and Mines of Nicaragua, and the Ministry of Environment in Brazil.