Voices from the Field

Roey Rosenblith, co-founder of Village Energy (Uganda) Ltd, talks with host Paul Rippey about his start-up solar lighting company (http://tinyurl.com/VillageEnergy) which seeks to add maximum local value by assembling products in country. Roey also shares about his recent experiences as a passenger on NorthWest Flight 253 on Christmas day, which barely escaped being blown up, and reads part of his blog post on that experience, which appeared on the Huffington Post (http://tinyurl.com/DetroitSkies).

Asif Dowla talks with host Paul Rippey about the new paper, sponsored by Grameen Foundation and Oxfam USA, on Climate Change and Microfinance. Professor Dowla discusses how MFIs can “climate proof” their financial products, and of the importance of remittances and savings in a changing climate. The report is available at:

http://www.oxfamamerica.org/press/pressreleases/grameen-foundation-and-o...

In this 13th episode, Paul Rippey interviews Jacob Moss of the EPA, who has led the effort to create the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air. Jacob and Paul talk about stoves, including some breakthrough models that might change everything! Check out the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air at www.pciaonline.org.

Nick Sowden of ToughStuff talks about their success selling solar lamps in Madagascar and other countries using existing distributors, and a business in a box model. He also talks and about, well, how tough their solar lamps are. But they still haven't put one in a blender... Get more information at http://www.toughstuffonline.org/

Patricio Boyd, the Director for Rural Operations at Emprenda in Argentina, talks about how their MFI has installed over 1000 home lighting systems, all driven by consumer demand, and of their plans to expand in the region. Our first podcast from Latin America! Contact Patricio at pboyd@emprenda.com.ar.

In this special podcast, Paul Rippey interviews poet Jay Thompson, who discusses a poem by Robert Hass, the former Poet Laureate of the United States. The poems seems to have something to do with decentralized energy production in the developing world. Now, that was unexpected! Jay and Paul go on to discuss how poetry sometimes has a long term unanticipated impact on laws and attitudes. Give this one a listen...

Paul Breloff, Vice President for Business Development and Strategy at SKS Microfinance in India, talks about SKS’s support of solar lamps. SKS has been called the Starbuck’s of microfinance, and Paul explains why!

In this 8th episode of the Energy Links Podcast series, Dr Ibrahim Togola of Mali Folkecenter talks about the activities of MFC, and about why they have set up both a for-profit company, and a microfinance institution. www.malifolkecenter.org

The seventh episode in the Energy Links Podcast Series, this interview with Gaurav Gupta, Director of The Climate Project - India provides listeners with an inside perspective on climate change issues in India and efforts to address them. Gupta discusses his work supporting 120 civic leaders across the country as they promote the messages in Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth and develop tailored approaches to addressing them.

In this 6th episode of the Energy Links Podcast Series, April Allderdice and James Dailey of MicroEnergy Credits talk about carbon credits for small scale energy products, and also the innovative idea of MDG credits! www.microenergycredits.com