Appropriate Energy-Saving TechnologiesIncreasing household access to clean energy and clean cooking solutions
Appropriate Energy Saving Technologies LTD (AEST) utilises local resources like agricultural bio-waste to manufacture charcoal briquettes. It markets its products in combination with fuel-efficient cook stoves, modified by the enterprise for household use. Local women and youth are employed to help produce, market and sell the goods.
AEST hopes to transition to a more decentralised production model by contracting farmers to supply biochar which will be processed further by the enterprise to ensure briquette quality.
Increasing community access to sustainable energy and improved cooking solutions has multiple benefits. Socially, the enterprise is helping to reduce illnesses related to smoke inhalation. It is also providing an alternative solution to women and children walking long distances to find fuel.
Partners
Teso Women Development Initiative (TEWDI) is a Ugandan non-profit organisation formed by a group of women concerned about the region’s deforestation, scarcity of sustainable energy, gender-based violence and human rights abuses.
Appropriate Energy Saving Technologies LTD (AEST) was incorporated in 2012 and is the for-profit arm of TEWDI. Briquettes and cook stoves are the enterprise’s core products.
Harvest Fuel Initiative is a New York-based non-profit organisation that has provided USD 25,000 of seed funding to help grow the enterprise and provide technical production and business management assistance.
Shine Africa Foundation - Teso assists the enterprise locally by providing community education on deforestation, helping market AEST’s products, and garnering community feedback on their use.
SEED Library
Supporters
The 2014 SEED Awards in Ethiopia, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania and Uganda are largely supported by the European Union, which is made up of 28 Member States who have decided to gradually link together their know-how, resources and destinies.
