Investing in all our futures

Behind every project there is a human story that tells so much more. Our aim is not just to reduce carbon emissions but also to provide sustainable benefits to the communities where our low carbon technologies have been introduced. When you buy our carbon offsets, your money is invested directly into projects like these:

• Treadle Pumps in India
• The Russian power station
• The first wind farm in Turkey
• Stoves in rural Mexico

Treadle Pumps in India

"I save money because I used to hire the diesel pump for 80 rupees an hour. Now I can irrigate whenever I want because I can operate this pump myself. Now I'm independent." Sumen.

In the sun-baked earth of the Jharkhand state in India, Sumen would struggle to get more than one harvest. He and his family, like so many of his neighbours, would either migrate to the city to find work or hire expensive polluting diesel pumps to try and irrigate the land.

Our human treadle pump project has had an amazing effect on more than just reducing carbon emissions. Instead of leaving the land fallow, Sumen and others like him are getting two and in some cases three harvests a year! This has significantly increased farmers’ incomes. This simple idea is changing thousands of lives and now that families don't have to leave their land to look for work in the cities their children attend school regularly too. Find out how the pump works.

Read Acumen's report on the effects of the treadle pump upon children's welfare in the community. Their findings highlighted four major benefits.

VIDEO: Walking On Water, 2 mins
(Plays on Windows Media Player)

Replacing dirty diesel...	with the 'human-powered' pump...
provides cheap access to water...	for crops all year.

The Russian Power Station

“Without the project, the whole population of the town of Onega would be without heat. Previously the town was heated by the coal driven boiler house of a hydrolysis plant, which went bankrupt, so there was a huge problem to for the administration of Onega to find new district heating sources.” Source: http://www.pravdasevera.ru/?id=26700, Arkhangelsk Regional Newspaper, Vadim Rykusov, 17.02.2007
For Uri and his neighbours in the town of Onega, replacing the old coal-fired power station with a new energy efficient one has meant that they and 12,000 residents will now receive heating for their homes and water from bio-fuel.

Using waste wood biomass from the large industrial stockpile of wood produced by the Onega sawmill is a lot more efficient and reliable. An important factor to consider when temperatures in winter fall below -35oC. And as well as the stockpile becoming smaller and presenting less of an environmental hazard, the local farmers can use the ash by-product as a useful fertiliser.

• The modernisation of the thermal plant will eliminate the serious health hazards associated with working at a coal plant - smoke emissions, dust & noise.
• The project will also result in the avoidance of noxious SO2 that previously stemmed from the coal burning.
• Local wood fuel will also replace the well travelled coal (1,500- 4,000km transportation distance), reducing further emissions.
• The use of biomass will reduce methane emissions from anaerobic digestion of wood stockpiles & avoid environmental impacts associated with leaching into groundwater.
  

“This project substantially improves the ecological situation in the town and allows it to stabilise heat supply to the populations, as this was a big problem in recent years.“

Source: http://www.regnum.ru/news/757245.html, Information Agency REGNUM, Ivan Sinitsyn, press-secretary of Onega Municipality. Find out more about bio-fuels.

The first wind farm in Turkey

Murat Seren travels from his village to town along the route that passes by the BARES2 wind farm. He used to dream that everything, even his future home, lay in the green pastures with a little garden where he would have his fruit trees and his beloved farm animals. In his dream he was getting his water from the river next to the house and he would light his lamp by a mini wind turbine like one he’d seen in Germany.

And then one day as he passed by the same site he realised that the first wind power plant was rising there. And the windmills were not only providing electricity for his little house but also for the entire town including Bandırma's Industry.

He now describes each of these turbines as “white lilies” powering his home town and he is proud of living near the first wind farm in Turkey...Read more about wind power.

Stoves in rural Mexico

Deep in rural Mexico, the traditional cooking of tortillas necessitates wood collection from the surrounding area. This causes deforestation and subsequent soil erosion in the local environment, but the stoves also release hazardous smoke into the kitchens and homes of all who use them. This is a major health risk for women and children.

The new Patsari stove has been developed which boosts efficiency of fuel use and heat, whilst maintaining the way traditional tortillas are cooked.

A practical alternative to the traditional cook stove, the Patsari stove features the use of a chimney to manage harmful fumes, and uses local materials in its production. In order to maintain the engineered efficiency of each stove, a mould is produced from which to build each one.

The Patsari achieves a 60% cut in fuel wood and a staggering 70% cut in indoor pollution, reducing the major health risk these people are exposed to daily. Read more about efficient stoves.

VIDEO: No Smoking, 2 mins
(Plays on Windows Media Player)