Carbon Reduction & Renewable Energy

During the 6-month bone-chilling winters, temperatures can dip as low as -30 degrees in the cold deserts of Spiti – climate conditions that bring a host of adversity and challenges for the communities living here.

One is compelled to burn large quantities of wood,
dung and other bushes to keep warm,cook food and to heat water

Vegetation is however sparse due to the high-altitudes and cold temperature, making easy availability of fuel-wood extremely difficult. Hence most of the winter supply of fuel-woods comes from outside the region which the local community has to buy.

This is not only a heavy expense for them, but the burning of these materials leads to high emissions of greenhouse gases. This creates pressure on the local ecology and contributes to the hazards of global warming and climate change.

The summers are a short but very busy time in Spiti. During this short window, the community – especially the women – also need to devote a significant part of their time to collect 4 to 5 tons of fuel (mostly dung & bushes) required for the winter. When every pair of hands counts during the agricultural season, collecting fuel puts additional burden on the communities.

Moreover the burning of wood and dung in energy-inefficient and poor-quality stoves emits a lot of smoke. Since the winter rooms are not well-ventilated due to the extreme cold temperatures, the ambient air inside can get very smoky, causing irritation in the eyes and leads to lung diseases in the long run.

The good news is, although Spiti is extremely cold in the winters it has an abundance of sunny days.

Interventions

Our endeavor is to reduce:

Greenhouse gas emissions emitted while burning and transportation (as a large chunk of the fuel wood is brought in from outside)
Deforestation and extraction of shrubs
Associated health problems from inhalation of smoke over long periods of time
Money spent on purchasing fuel and time spent on collection of local sources of fuel

Solar Rooms

IMPACT

550+ winter rooms modified
60% reduction in fuel consumption
2.5 tons of CO2 + Black Carbon reduced/ household/ annum

To keep warm during the cold winters, families in Spiti shift into one room where the entire family huddles together to stay warm burning fuel almost 24×7.

With simple architectural enhancements to gain solar heat and with better thermal insulation to retain heat, indoor room temperatures remain above 10°C without external heating, drastically reducing the use of fuel to stay warm.

This has improved access to reliable, sustainable, and affordable energy for local communities and reduced dependence on expensive carbon-emitting fossil fuels and fuel wood, which apart from the environmental benefits has also enabled a huge monetary saving for them since they no longer need to purchase large quantities of fuelwood.

This also leads to the reduction of cold and smoke-related illnesses as indoor air remains smokeless and households are able to take on income-generating activities such as handicrafts – doubling their production and enhancing income.

Make a Difference

Join us in reducing harmful carbon emissions, cutting of trees for fuel and enhancing health and incomes of communities in Spiti!

Your contribution will help build more solar rooms in Spiti.

Solar Lights

IMPACT

10 Solar Power Microgrids.

Spiti, like many far-flung Himalayan valleys receives electricity intermittently, and at times no electricity over long periods. It is not uncommon in Spiti to go for days and at times months with no electricity! Times are especially difficult in the winters when power lines are easily disrupted by snowfall. During the long winters, daylight hours are short and electricity is critical for household and educational activities.

To address this concern we have set up decentralised micro-grids in villages and institutions across Spiti with the aim to –

Provide reliable and renewable energy for lighting in homes and institutions that is decentralised and can be self-managed
Increase light hours especially in the winter months to enhance the livelihood and income potential of local communities especially the women from handicrafts (primarily a winter activity)
Help children in pursuing their studies uninterrupted during evening hours.

These micro-grids are managed by the village community and a monthly maintenance charge is collected from each home. This is deposited into a community account in the local bank for future replacements and general maintenance.

Make a Difference

Join us in lighting up lives in Spiti!

Your contribution will help in providing renewable and consistent electricity to more and more households in Spiti.

Fuel Efficient Stoves & Solar Cookers

IMPACT

75+ Fuel Efficient Stoves
6+ Solar Mud Cookers

Wood stoves and LPG gas cylinders are the cooking mediums in the high altitudes of Spiti. Wood stoves have a dual purpose of keeping the room warm in the winters. However this becomes an expensive proposition here, with ever-rising LPG costs and high transport costs for LPG cylinders and fuelwood to remote villages of Spiti. Moreover the local wood stoves are not fuel efficient, consuming a lot of wood and emitting a ton of carbon.

To address this we have introduced the Himalayan Rocket Stove, a fuel efficient stove that cuts down 50% of wood and reduces carbon emissions by over 90%. This ensures that the indoor air is smoke free reducing associated illnesses and enhancing health. Moreover the further reduction in wood helps reduce expenditure and time spent on collecting wood and dung to a bare minimum.

We have also been experimenting with mud solar cookers, made from locally available material – mud for building and straw for insulation – enabling the sun to more effectively heat up the structure and to retain the heat long enough to cook the food.

Make a Difference

Join us in reducing harmful carbon emissions, cutting of trees for fuel and enhancing health and incomes of communities in Spiti !

Your contribution will help provide a family with a cleaner and more fuel efficient way of cooking and heating water.

Solar Baths

IMPACT

25+ Solar Water Geysers
9 Solar Bathing Facilities

The seemingly ordinary task of bathing is not so simple here in Spiti. There is limited availability of fuel wood to heat water for the household. For the women, it is doubly challenging as there are no bathrooms in the houses.

Using solar geysers to heat water, we have set up bathing facilities at a community level in villages, monasteries and nunneries. These facilities follow solar passive design principles providing a warm space to have a bath. The easy availability of hot water means people can have baths more often leading to overall enhanced personal hygiene.

This has also helped reduce the burning of fuelwood to heat water and the associated carbon emissions. The reduction in fuelwood and fossil fuels is also a great revenue saver for the local community and has decreased incomes spent per annum on buying fuel to heat water.