A Letter from the Executive Director: This is Just the Beginning
A whirlwind of a year is wrapping up for the clean cooking sector, for bioethanol, for Pivot, and for myself! Having been in the bioethanol industry since 2011, I am certainly no stranger to the constant innovation, education, and ongoing policy work that fuels the sector. However, closing out my first year with Pivot, I am astonished and encouraged after observing the pace of advancement for bioethanol within a relatively new sector.
This growth was particularly highlighted at the Clean Cooking Alliance Form (CCF) held in Accra, Ghana in October. With over 700 attendees, it was the largest Forum that has been held to date, and one of the only events dedicated solely to clean cooking. I won’t elaborate on the challenges globally that arise from the cooking methods most often available to individuals, but I can assure you, they are numerous and almost unbelievable. (Head over to www.pivotcleanenergy.org if you want to learn more!) Instead, I want to take this opportunity to expand on the positive things I saw at CCF, and how they are harbingers of a brighter future for everyone - not just those directly impacted by access to clean cooking technology.
The first thing that caught my attention actually happened prior to the start of the CCF. Bioethanol was an agenda item for 2022! Because bioethanol is a relatively new solution in the marketplace, it had never been a focus at the Forum before. This year, there were operators from multiple geographies in the expo showcasing their bioethanol stove technology and fuel, and Pivot was asked to moderate a break-out session discussing bioethanol and biogas as emerging markets. It was encouraging to see how much exposure bioethanol has received in the clean cooking world over the last few years.
The Forum also featured multiple break-out sessions that focused on sector specific challenges and opportunities. Investment and carbon finance were two topics that received a great deal of attention because of their importance in enabling progress. The clean cooking sector is notoriously short on investment, with the 2022 Clean Cooking Industry Snapshot putting investment at only tens of millions of dollars annually, when 4.5 billion is what is actually required to see growth in the sector and open access to clean energy. It is incredibly important for the clean cooking sector to be able to communicate clearly and with consistency what the needs are in order to attract investment. It has often been viewed as a charitable endeavor, but successful stove and fuel businesses are proving that there is a business case to be made. The Forum enabled these finance discussions, including how government can unlock investment by establishing robust clean cooking mandates, the blended finance mechanisms that are now available, innovative options such as results-based financing, unit economics and their impact on business models, data tracking to improve performance and optimize costs, and leveraging carbon finance and nature-based solutions to sustain and build responsible businesses.
The third impression from the CCF was the common energy and passion emanating from the hundreds of individuals that gathered in Ghana. After having interacted with so many partners and collaborators through virtual means for the whole year, it was refreshing to meet and dialogue face to face, not to mention build new connections and collaborations. Regardless of whether an individual worked in academia, finance, climate solutions, stove technology, multi-lateral organizations - everyone was passionate about opening access to clean energy globally. One of the things that is so compelling about a simple thing like cooking is that not only can everyone relate to the topic, but a transition to clean energy carries with it so many positive benefits. I could talk for days about the co-benefits that result in huge positive impacts for a household, community, or city when clean fuel options are available: health dramatically improves when household air pollution is reduced, women and children see incredible time savings and can put effort into education or work, deforestation decreases and vulnerable ecosystems are preserved, carbon emissions diminish, including harmful black carbon - much of which is produced by household energy, green jobs are created that boost local economies, and on and on. In fact, at COP 27, cooking was declared a ‘critical breakthrough’ to achieve a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. Cooking technology can quickly affect thousands of individuals, and a transition can be done within a relatively short timeframe. The fact that a simple household change can have so many residual impacts is, I think, part of what makes the clean cooking sector so engaged in seeing Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) become a reality.
Suffice it to say that even with the daunting amount of funding needed to put modern energy in every household, my attitude is optimistic and energized. There is increasing attention being drawn to the challenge; the attendance at the CCF, attention on the global stage at COP 27, and number of new technologies and business models are beacons of how clean cooking is starting to shine as an economic, health, and climate solution around the world. And bioethanol has not been left behind. It is becoming a larger part of the household energy conversation, creatively finding ways to gain investment and build revenue through business, and educating around the dramatic outcomes that occur with a transition to the clean, renewable fuel. I’m thrilled to have been able to lead Pivot this year, with the help of many dedicated partners and an engaged board. I am looking forward with anticipation to see how Pivot continues to engage with the bioethanol industry, clean cooking, and adjacent sector organizations to change millions of households, one stove at a time.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Alicia ElMamouni
