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International Activities

Global problems demand global responses. While the efforts of each individual country to control its own greenhouse gas emissions are important, it is clear that no single country or even group of countries can alone eliminate the threat of climate change.

So far, the international community has responded energetically, gathering ever more accurate scientific data, striving to achieve the goals set forth in the Framework Convention on Climate Change, and beginning negotiations toward new commitments for the post-2000 period. The United States has played a leading role in these efforts by actively participating in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Climate Convention's Ad Hoc Group on the Berlin Mandate, and the Global Environment Facility. The United States has also used its influence in other multilateral fora--notably, the multilateral development banks, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the International Energy Agency (IEA)--to place the climate change issue squarely on the agenda and to foster policies that can help to mitigate climate change.

Perhaps the greatest opportunity for cooperation lies in the assistance developed countries can provide to developing countries and countries with economies in transition. Although developed countries have historically had the highest greenhouse gas emissions, the emissions of other countries are growing rapidly and will most likely surpass those of developed countries during the first few decades of the twenty-first century.

Effectively addressing global climate issues will require a strong commitment from developed nations to help developing countries limit their greenhouse gas emissions. Accordingly, the United States has included climate change-related projects in its foreign assistance effort. Many of these projects directly help to limit current emissions, while others build the institutional capacity to address future emissions. Because these activities most likely will not be undertaken in the absence of U.S. aid, they represent an important aspect of the total U.S. response strategy described in this communication.

U.S. climate change projects are based on the core principles of the U.S. development assistance strategy. These principles support economic growth and social development that:

This chapter begins with summaries of the many programs implemented bilaterally, and ends with descriptions of the broad spectrum of multilateral organizations that have undertaken climate change activities.

Bilateral Technical Assistance and Technology Transfer

In defining its climate change strategy for bilateral assistance, the United States decided to focus on mitigation rather than adaptation. Thus, the purpose of most of the projects described here is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or sequester greenhouse gases. In many cases, projects combine elements of mitigation with information sharing, technology transfer, and trade facilitation. Generally speaking, the mitigation projects described in this chapter include efforts in the following categories, although an individual project may incorporate more than one of these areas:

U.S. bilateral assistance is conducted primarily through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Several other U.S. government departments and agencies are involved in climate change issues as well--notably, the Department of Energy (DOE), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA). Partnerships among various government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, private industry, and international organizations characterize many of these projects.

USAID has made the mitigation of climate change one of two global environmental priorities. It has identified nine key climate change countries (Mexico, Brazil, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Kazakstan) and one key region (Central Africa) in which it works that are, or will become, significant contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions. USAID is forming partnerships to enable these countries to reduce the growth of net greenhouse gas emissions through approaches that also contribute to economic growth and local environmental protection.

In addition to these specific programs, USAID's broader portfolio of energy-efficiency, renewable-energy, and forestry activities contributes to mitigation and sequestration efforts in other countries, while other programs build capacity for countries to adapt to the adverse effects of changing climates.

U.S. Country Studies Program

The Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) requires all signatory countries to provide to the Convention Parties a national inventory of greenhouse gas emissions by sources and removals by sinks, and to describe the steps they are taking to implement the Convention, including adaptation and mitigation measures. To help developing countries and countries with economies in transition (the New Independent States and Eastern Europe) meet this commitment, and to fulfill in part its own obligations under the Convention to provide additional financial resources to developing countries, the United States initiated the Country Studies Program (CSP) in 1992.

The primary objectives of the CSP are to:

Ten U.S. government agencies have pooled their resources to implement the CSP. A Country Studies Management Team, with full-time personnel drawn from the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, Agency for International Development, Department of State, and Department of Commerce/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration conducts the day-to-day operations and oversees projects in conjunction with individual U.S. agency project officers.

The CSP complements global climate change mitigation and sequestration activities implemented by other agencies, such as USAID and multilateral donors (e.g., the United Nations Development Program, the United Nations Environment Program, the Global Environment Facility, and individual OECD countries). The United States coordinates financial and technical support activities with other donors through several venues, including the CC:FORUM project of the FCCC Secretariat.

Progress Toward Completing Country Studies

The CSP is currently helping fifty-five countries build the human and institutional capacities necessary to assess their vulnerability to climate change and opportunities to mitigate it. Most of the countries have completed major elements of their country studies and have disseminated their results to the international community. The CSP has issued three major synthesis reports that document the results of these studies:

The CSP plans to publish a synthesis report on mitigation assessment in 1997.

To give countries an opportunity to share their results and learn from each other's experiences, the CSP has co-sponsored several regional and global workshops with other countries and international institutions. The published proceedings document the country results, methods, and common assessment issues. The program's synthesis reports and handbooks on climate change assessment methods and steps in preparing climate change action plans have also made important contributions to the work of the Global Environment Facility, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and the Subsidiary Bodies to the Convention and other international organizations.

Next Phase: Support for National Action Plans

At the first Conference of the Parties, the United States announced the next phase of the CSP--Support for National Action Plans (SNAP). During 1995 and 1996, the CSP began assisting eighteen countries with preparing their national action plans. Most of these countries have established specific priorities for mitigation and adaptation measures and are currently working with U.S. and international experts on developing their measures and implementation plans.

More than twenty-five additional countries have requested assistance from the CSP for preparing their action plans. In 1997 and 1998, the CSP will complete its technical support to the original eighteen countries and will initiate support for a number of new countries. Other goals for these two years include assisting with the design and financing of technology projects, preparing reports for the Third and Fourth Conferences of the Parties on the progress and achievements of the program, and convening further workshops that highlight country commitments in their action plans, technology transfer, and financing successes.

U.S. Initiative on Joint Implementation

Article 4.2(a) of the Framework Convention on Climate Change provides for Parties to meet their obligation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions jointly with other Parties. Thus, joint implementation refers to cooperative efforts among countries or entities to meet this goal. In April 1995, the first Conference of the Parties to the FCCC further advanced this concept by initiating an international pilot phase, called Activities Implemented Jointly.

The United States announced the U.S. Initiative on Joint Implementation (USIJI) pilot program in October 1993 as part of the U.S. Climate Change Action Plan. To date, the USIJI has accepted twenty-five projects in eleven countries that apply a diverse set of energy-related and land-use technologies and practices. Chapter 4 of this report describes USIJI in greater detail.

Worldwide Projects

Some of the U.S. development assistance programs related to climate change have partners around the world. Most programs are in the areas of sustainable energy or land use. The funding figures provided for each project represent only those expenditures that have been obligated by the date of this report's publication.

Energy Efficiency Project

EEP mitigates greenhouse gas emissions by introducing to the power and commercial sectors environmentally sound, energy-efficient technologies and by promoting related policy reforms, investment incentives, and energy management and planning tools. Specifically, EEP helps host countries design and implement innovative demand-side management projects and pilot programs, address energy-sector policy and institutional reform issues, promote private-sector involvement in energy efficiency, expand U.S. technology transfer, and promote energy information dissemination through outreach and training. EEP works cooperatively with universities, research centers, trade associations, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) both inside the United States and in developing countries and countries with economies in transition.

EEP emphasizes three strategic elements: (1) building institutional partnerships, (2) promoting technology cooperation between U.S. and in-country firms, and (3) leveraging financing for energy-efficiency projects. To build local capacity, which is critical to sustaining development efforts, all EEP activities involving specific countries have an institutional counterpart to assist in carrying out the project's objectives. On the technology front, EEP promotes innovative, market-driven technology cooperation between U.S. and developing country organizations. In the financing arena, EEP leverages funding from private and multilateral development banks by providing initial design and start-up efforts that will lead to projects being funded by these institutions.

Energy Technology Innovation Project

ETIP introduces innovative and environmentally sound technologies and management techniques that promote efficient, sustainable, and cost-effective electricity generation, transmission, and distribution in developing countries. The project focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power-generation and landfill facilities, as well as from the transportation sector.

ETIP has supported such activities as a clean-coal technology mission, technology transfer to the Energy Authority in Thailand to reduce atmospheric emissions at its Mae Moh power station, and an engineering assessment for the Philippines National Power Corporation on the rehabilitation of existing power-generation facilities. In Mexico, ETIP has brokered a successful cost-sharing arrangement between a U.S.-based municipal utility and a highly polluting power station to reduce smokestack emissions and increase burner efficiency.

Energy Training Project

The ETP provides a unique opportunity for qualified energy and environmental professionals and policymakers from developing countries to receive hands-on training in the United States or in the host country. The resulting increase in local institutional capacity to resolve energy-sector problems has led to improvements in energy efficiency, increased deployment of renewable-energy technologies, and more effective management of utilities and energy resources, while increasing the potential for economic growth.

U.S.-based courses are designed to provide mid-level engineers, planners, and other specialists with the skills needed to implement new technologies, policies, or procedures. In-country courses are custom-designed to provide senior-level policymakers and executives with the information they need to make informed decisions on new energy and environmental technologies, policies, and procedures. A study tour program brings senior-level energy-sector professionals to the United States to observe new energy technologies, policies, and procedures in action. Over four thousand developing country professionals have participated in the ETP.

In addition, the ETP's Utility Partnership Program has initiated successful twinning relationships between senior technical U.S. and in-country utility staff in ten countries worldwide.

Renewable Energy Applications and Training

The REAT program funds global, regional, and country-specific activities to increase the commercialization of renewable-energy technologies. It focuses on removing obstacles to the use of commercially proven technologies that use wind, solar, biomass, small hydro, and geothermal resources. REAT emphasizes information and skills transfer, policy reform, private-sector involvement, project identification and design, and identification of financing mechanisms.

Focus countries/regions for REAT include the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Central America, Brazil, Mexico, and Southern Africa. USAID is funding in-country Renewable Energy Project Support Offices in the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Central America, and Brazil. These offices provide technical and financial assistance to help identify and evaluate renewable-energy projects.

Biomass Energy Systems and Technology

BEST reduces the technical, financial, economic, and institutional risks associated with biomass energy systems so that public- and private-sector interests (both U.S. and indigenous) will invest in commercially proven energy-conversion systems in target countries. The BEST project has been dedicated to promoting the use of certain biomass fuels (namely, crops and crop residues) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. For example, biogas technologies can be used to increase the efficiency of energy production, while cogeneration technologies can turn biomass waste products into energy.

Private-Sector Energy Development Project

PSED promotes the private ownership, financing, and operation of electric-power facilities in selected developing countries. Because private power developers operate more efficiently than government-owned and -subsidized utilities, their operations consume less fuel to satisfy current demand levels, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, opening existing power-grid systems to sales from private producers is often the most effective incentive for developing unconventional renewable-energy resources.

PSED originally concentrated on familiarizing U.S. companies and foreign governments with the benefits and opportunities of private power-sector development. Current PSED activities include helping private power companies develop and implement environmentally acceptable, economically sound power-generation technologies. About 70 percent of the projects approved under the PSED Feasibility Study Fund use alternative or renewable fuels.

Committee on Energy Efficiency Commerce and Trade

COEECT is an interagency project that facilitates the export of U.S. energy-efficient products and services worldwide by bringing together potential foreign customers and decision makers, funding sources, and U.S. industry.

Committee on Renewable Energy Commerce and Trade

CORECT is an interagency working group whose primary objective is to forge an effective partnership between the U.S. private sector and the federal government to mobilize the resources of CORECT member agencies and help the renewable-energy industry find foreign customers.

Each market presents barriers to the transfer of these technologies, such as unfamiliarity with the capabilities of renewable-energy technology, lack of renewable-energy resource data, difficulties in obtaining financing, and regulations impeding the establishment of private power operations that use renewable sources of energy. CORECT works with industry to determine where it is unable to overcome these barriers without specialized assistance from the U.S. government. CORECT also seeks to identify sources of lending that emphasize commercial, rather than federal, financing.

Forestry Support Program II

This project aims to ensure a sustainable forest and natural resource base in developing countries. It promotes the contribution of trees to sustainable development and strengthens the capacity of institutions that manage forestry and natural resources in developing countries. It also provides technical assistance and training, private enterprise development, and facilitation of donor collaboration.

Ruminant Livestock Methane Reduction Projects

EPA has conducted ruminant livestock studies in several countries, including India, China, Bangladesh, Nepal, Brazil, Ukraine, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. The studies focus on cost-effective opportunities for improving the diets and productivity of large ruminant animals, and simultaneously reducing methane emissions per unit of meat or milk produced.

International Fund for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency

IFREE uses in-country experts to foster sustainable-energy projects in emerging markets and to facilitate partnerships between U.S. and foreign energy companies. For qualifying projects, IFREE loans up to $50,000 to share the cost of preinvestment work, and acts as a broker to financial institutions.

Transfer of Voluntary Programs

EPA has awarded a grant to the International Institute for Energy Conservation to explore opportunities for transferring to Asian, Latin American, and Central and Eastern European countries the approaches of selected U.S. voluntary programs, including ENERGY STAR® and Green Lights. This effort will identify similarities and differences between the energy-use patterns of these countries and those of the United States, as well as the types of incentives for assisting and the barriers that may hinder different voluntary program approaches.

Regional Projects

As a component of the U.S. contribution to the international Climate Technology Initiative announced by OECD countries in April 1995, USAID developed four new climate change initiatives, totaling nearly $80 million:

To support these regional initiatives and to advance the implementation of its Global Climate Change Strategy, USAID devoted an additional $8.5 million in fiscal 1995 to a Global Climate Change Initiative. The initiative works with USAID missions to support (1) national climate change action planning efforts; (2) climate change technology needs assessments; (3) projects to help countries begin to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency, renewable-energy, transport, and urban infrastructure activities; (4) activities to enhance existing and create new carbon sinks; and (5) outreach, education, and institutional capacity building. Following are descriptions of these four and additional projects related to the regional climate change activities of USAID and other agencies. The funding figures provided for each project represent only those expenditures that have been obligated by the date of this report's publication.

Asia Sustainable Energy Initiative

The ASEI is designed to foster the development and implementation of energy-production and -distribution strategies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support economic growth while minimizing economic and environmental costs. The initiative provides a sustainable approach to meeting the growing demand for energy services by supporting (1) increased institutional capacity for integrated resource planning, (2) pilot investment projects in energy-efficiency and renewable-energy technologies, (3) innovative financing mechanisms for energy-efficiency and renewable-energy activities, and (4) technology partnerships between U.S. and host country institutions.

The program focuses on three countries in Asia--India, Indonesia, and the Philippines--and has five primary components: (1) placement of resident Sustainable Energy Advisors in the USAID mission in each country, (2) implementation grants to identify and support pilot energy-efficiency and renewable-energy activities, (3) a training and technical assistance program with representatives from the three countries to build capacity to implement sustainable-energy programs, (4) utility partnerships to match senior technical staff from U.S. and in-country utilities for short-term technical assistance, and (5) environmental exchanges to bring senior policymakers and technical representatives to the United States for relevant training and course work.

In India, for example, the ASEI is assisting efforts toward reforming energy policy. It builds on earlier demonstrations of sugar-cane bagasse cogeneration. Using reform in one state, the program will demonstrate the impact of policy reform in encouraging expanded access to private-sector energy sources, opening markets, and creating opportunities for the use of new renewable-energy technologies. The program will also explore and demonstrate cogeneration options from biomass and other renewables, such as wind, hydro, and solar power.

Environmental Initiative for the Americas

The EIA addresses global climate change in Mexico, Central America, and Brazil, as well as environmental pollution and related issues in the region. It helps disseminate and build markets for U.S. environmental technology in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) through partnerships in the energy-efficiency and renewable-energy fields among U.S. and regional governments, private-sector companies, and nongovernmental organizations.

EIA's four main components are: (1) to produce and use sustainable energy. (2) to integrate trade and environmental regulations, (3) to mitigate and prevent urban and industrial pollution, and (4) to conserve coastal and marine ecosystems. Primary activities include leveraging multilateral and private sources of capital to facilitate technology investment, establishing in-country advisors to support technical assistance efforts, supporting training and information dissemination to build implementation and enforcement capacity, and promoting institutional policy reform to standardize regulation and policy enforcement levels to encourage more sustainable development.

EIA's global climate change component highlights the links of sustainable energy production and use with the growth of LAC economies, the demand for energy services of rapidly growing urban populations, the need to reduce the poverty of marginalized rural and indigenous peoples, and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel use and unsustainable wood burning.

Building Measurement and Verification Protocol

The present low level of energy-efficiency investments is an important market failure. Barriers to energy-efficiency financing include the unreliability of energy savings, high transactions costs (because most transactions are conducted differently), and the inability to bundle transactions because there is no standard approach to developing energy-efficiency investments.

To overcome these barriers, in 1994 DOE initiated a public-private partnership among U.S., Canadian, and Mexican industry and energy organizations and several finance firms to develop a national and international standard on how to implement, measure, and verify efficiency savings. Published in early 1996, the result of this collaboration--the Building Measurement and Verification Protocol--has been widely adopted in the United States, Canada, and Mexico and is being translated into Russian, Portuguese, French, Spanish, and Hungarian.

A growing range of governments, businesses, and NGOs is joining the protocol development process to refine and extend its application. Recently, DOE has helped the World Bank structure $350 million in new financing for large-scale efficiency projects that require use of the protocol, and is developing other joint projects.

Environmental Improvement Through Increased Energy Efficiency, Market Reform, and Improved Natural Resource Management

USAID energy assistance programs in Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States help countries reduce greenhouse gas emissions by improving the efficiency of energy production and consumption and by supporting market reforms. Technical assistance and training support power sector restructuring, energy efficiency, and nuclear power plant safety. Highlights of the project's activities include:

Also, a series of workshops is under way to improve the institutional capability of Kazakstan and its four neighbors in the region (Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan) to trade electricity--and, ultimately, other energy commodities--on a more internationally accepted commercial basis. Such trading will allow cleaner and more cost-effective fuels to come to the market. Central African Regional Program for the Environment

CARPE is aimed at reducing deforestation of tropical forests in the Congo Basin by establishing conditions and practices necessary for conservation and sustainable use. Through such activities as testing and demonstration of conservation approaches, capacity-building for key institutions in the region, training, technical support, and information dissemination, CARPE seeks to improve understanding of the overall ecology and biodiversity of the Congo Basin and to develop long-term strategies for addressing climate change and biodiversity problems. CARPE is also designed to create policy environments conducive to conservation and to develop a cadre of trained African specialists who can effectively impress on governments and the general public in the region the value and importance of conservation.

Energy Efficiency and Market Reform Project

This project seeks to (1) improve efficiency and performance in the electricity, refining, industrial, and building sectors; (2) support energy-sector privatization and market reform; and (3) reduce safety risks at nuclear power plants. Energy-efficiency and demand-side management efforts are under way in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Armenia, Kazakstan, and Kyrgyzstan in cooperation with the multilateral development banks and through U.S. private-sector contracts. These efficiency improvements, using state-of-the-art U.S. technologies, have resulted in annual energy savings of $4.5 million when calculated at world energy prices. The Energy Efficiency and Market Reform Project is also engaged in cooperative efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from natural gas flaring in Russia, rehabilitate gas distribution system designs in four major Russian cities, and develop a strategy for restructuring Russia's electric utility sector.

Regional Energy Efficiency

REE provides technical assistance, training, and equipment to accomplish three strategic objectives in Central and Eastern Europe: (1) improve energy efficiency and pricing; (2) support energy-sector restructuring, privatization, and modernization; and (3) improve nuclear safety. Through this project, U.S. government agencies and private organizations, in coordination with the World Bank and other donors, are working to improve the climate for private investment in the modernization and increased efficiency of energy systems, as well as to establish local private energy service and equipment supply companies.

Specific program components include: a grant to the International Energy Agency to carry out regional and country-by-country energy policy reviews in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, and the Baltic countries to improve energy efficiency; regional technical assistance to promote policy and institutional reform within the energy industry, develop rational and environmentally sound energy investment programs, and enhance the business climate for energy industries and infrastructure in Central and Eastern Europe; an Electric Utility Partnership program that links U.S. electric utilities and industries with counterparts in Central and Eastern Europe to facilitate economic and technical reform of national utility systems, introduce modern management concepts, and expose Central and Eastern European industrial leaders to U.S. energy and environmental technologies and practices with a view to future technology transfer; and a Technology Cooperation program that takes advantage of specific DOE capabilities with respect to renewable-energy, energy-efficiency, and clean-coal technologies and to nuclear safety.

Improved Public-Sector Environmental Services

This project provides technical assistance and training and technology transfer opportunities to improve environmental quality in Eastern Europe and to strengthen East European governments' capacity to provide public-sector environmental services. Although targeted primarily at industrial and municipal pollution reduction and regulation, and at environment risk assessment, the project has also reduced greenhouse gas emissions and encouraged energy efficiency improvements.

Through the application of "low-cost or no-cost" process changes, environmental audits, recycling, waste minimization, and efficient use of raw materials and natural resources, this project is promoting pollution prevention and is installing equipment at specific industrial facilities. It is also enhancing carbon sinks in the region through private-sector approaches to reforestation in Albania. Environmental Management Training Centers are being established in Bulgaria and Poland, and a "twinning" program is fostering long-term relationships between government ministries and EPA's regional offices in the United States for information exchange and technical assistance.

Coalbed Methane Projects in Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine

Several ongoing projects reduce emissions of methane from coal mines by identifying and assessing profitable opportunities for coal mines to expand methane recovery in conjunction with coal mining. The efforts include assessments of coalbed methane resources, specific project opportunities, and the applicability of different U.S. technologies for methane recovery under local mining conditions, and establishment of Coalbed Methane Centers to disseminate information about investment opportunities to recover coalbed methane.

Environment/Global Climate Change

This project promotes policy reforms and encourages environmentally sound technologies and practices for the sustainable, efficient use of forest and energy resources, especially in Brazil and Mexico. Because the primary source of greenhouse gases in the region stems from the destruction of tropical forests, this project focuses heavily on the sustainable use of forest resources.

In Brazil, the project is providing training, management assistance, and basic infrastructure needs to local NGOs in the region. This assistance aims to increase NGO capacity to influence policy by working with government research agencies and carrying out demonstration field projects. To give added value to the existing forests, the project is supporting research and pilot demonstration activities for new nontimber forest products and for improving the cultivation of traditional products, such as Brazil nuts and rubber. The activities also include environmental education, environmental impact assessments, and components to improve timber management and management of protected areas.

Working with NGO partners, the Environment/Global Climate Change project has used $2 million to purchase and conserve critical forested areas in Belize and Paraguay. In Mexico, it is helping the government analyze its policies and legal and institutional structures that encourage destruction of tropical and temperate forests. It is also working to consolidate and manage eight protected areas and their buffer zones, covering more than ten million acres in southern Mexico.

Renewable Energy for Rural Chile and Argentina

This project aims to demonstrate renewable-energy technologies for delivery of clean power in remote areas. It will also create project models and explore financial tools that can facilitate widespread replication of similar projects.

Americas' 21st Century Program

As the initial implementation of CORECT's regional strategy for the Western Hemisphere, "A21" was aimed at building a strong business and industrial capacity through renewable-energy products and services. It sought to identify and evaluate project opportunities and technical assistance needs to develop a framework to conduct sustainable-energy projects, to provide limited cost-sharing of project expenses, and to aggregate projects into portfolios for financing by multilateral development banks and commercial banks.

Sustainable Energy Cooperation in the Western Hemisphere

Following up on the 1994 Summit of the Americas hosted by the United States, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Venezuelan Ministry of Energy and Mines established a cooperative process to implement the Summit of the Americas energy action plan. The action plan outlines commitments designed to promote increased sustainable energy development in the Hemisphere, including increased investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and cleaner conventional energy sources. Eight working groups were established, each with a country or organizational lead.

The working group on energy efficiency, led by Brazil, has established a framework for information exchange, including a Hemispheric Efficiency Homepage. DOE and Natural Resources Canada have encouraged a focus on standards, labeling, and codes, with potential to move toward harmonization. Canada will host a Hemispheric conference on harmonization early in 1997 to further the dialogue toward regional cooperation on standards for energy efficiency. Harmonization will facilitate trade and equipment compatibility, and standards are the easiest and least-cost first step to increase energy efficiency.

The World Bank, United Nations Development Program, and the Inter-American Development Bank signed a joint statement at the October 1995 Hemispheric Energy Symposium outlining their commitment to support the activities of the Hemispheric Energy Ministers in promoting sustainable energy development. As the lead for the financing working group, and at the request of the energy ministers, DOE is currently summarizing the available funds for clean-energy technologies, so that partner governments can more readily access funding for clean energy projects.

In addition to the Hemispheric cooperation, bilateral and regional partnerships are helping to lead to policy and regulatory changes to provide a level playing field to more environmentally sound energy technologies, including renewable-energy and energy-efficiency investments. Increased awareness among countries in the Hemisphere, falling prices of relevant technologies, and greater private-sector interest and engagement have all encouraged governmental leadership to promote more environmentally sound energy development.

U.S.-Asia Environmental Partnership

This joint effort among eleven U.S. government agencies, trade associations, the Asia Foundation, and the Biodiversity Conservation Network seeks to establish energy-efficient and less polluting industrial regimes throughout Asia by mobilizing U.S. environmental experience, technology, and practice and linking them with the needs of private industry and governments in Asia and the Pacific. US-AEP develops these links in a variety of ways, including helping U.S. firms introduce their products, technology, and services to the rapidly growing Asian market; providing assistance in waste reduction to industries in six ASEAN countries; and sponsoring conferences and training workshops on environmental management and pollution-prevention technologies.

Another creation of US-AEP--the Environmental Technology Fund--awards grants to small- and medium-sized U.S. firms to stimulate demand for and facilitate the transfer of energy-efficiency and other environmental technologies to Asia and the Pacific. The Partnership's NGO-Business Environmental Partnership awards grants to Asian NGOs working collaboratively with business, public utilities, or local government in addressing environmental problems.

Asia-Pacific Initiative for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency

This partnership among EPA, DOE, the Export Council for Renewable Energy, the Export Council for Energy Efficiency, and the International Institute for Energy Conservation will do market assessments, including such activities as matching buyers and suppliers of renewable-energy and energy-efficiency technologies. It will be capped by a major international conference in 1997 in Indonesia.

Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Development Centers

This project has established centers in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, China, and Ukraine to facilitate the transfer of U.S. renewable-energy and energy-efficiency technologies. The centers arrange contacts with regional energy decision makers and provide marketing assistance for U.S. business representatives, while serving as local centers of expertise and information. These nonprofit, independent local organizations promote economic policy reform and transfer of technologies through their advocacy work, demonstration projects, sectoral studies, seminars, business partnership events, and other activities.

Coal and Technology Export Program

This program helps coal-dependent countries reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, while continuing to meet their energy needs, by developing efficient, economic, and environmentally acceptable projects using U.S. clean-coal technologies. By producing comparable amounts of power using less fuel, these technologies can reduce CO2 emissions by 20-25 percent, while cutting acid-rain emissions that can degrade forest carbon sinks.

Famine Early-Warning Systems

These systems aim to ensure food security in famine-prone African countries by developing famine early-warning systems within USAID, improving early-warning capacity in host countries, and increasing cooperation among international donors. Institutional capacities being developed, including surveillance and reporting methods, would be important adaptive mechanisms under a changed climate, especially one with lower and less reliable rainfall.

The current project will reinforce existing African early-warning programs for food and nutrition problems and famine and will develop or expand warning systems in semi-arid and drought-prone countries outside the Sahel. It will also explore ways to link and apply early-warning technology and experience to food security and other agricultural development issues.

Southern African Regional Power Pooling Project

This project supports the Southern African Development Community's (SADC's) efforts to provide electric power through an efficient regional power pool. Improving regional access to electric power will yield significant reductions in carbon dioxide emissions and will improve the viability of existing sinks by decreasing the rate of uncontrolled burning of fossil fuels, wood, and biomass. The results will be decreased deforestation and improved conditions for afforestation.

There is a considerable body of U.S. expertise and "lessons learned" that can be capitalized upon by the twelve nations of the SADC. Initially, the project will be embodied in a regional power-pooling workshop, to be convened in southern Africa, to address the governance, institutional, technical, and financial issues that must be resolved.

Renewable Energy for Africa Development Training

In the summer of 1994, DOE and Texas Southern University sponsored training sessions of approximately twenty-five faculty members from several southern African nations on applied renewable-energy technologies. The training was facilitated through the efforts of Renewable Energy for African Development, or REFAD, an NGO dedicated to the sustainable development of renewable-energy technologies in Africa.

A second session was held in the summer of 1996. The program will continue to train cadres of renewable-energy trainers to serve as cores of programs in secondary and post-secondary educational institutions in Africa.

Sahel Water Data and Management III and IV

This project aims to improve the management of water resources in the Sahel, which had below-normal rainfall in the 1980s and early 1990s. It provides computer hardware and software, technical assistance, and training to enable the regional Agrometeorological/Hydrological program to collect, analyze, and disseminate climatic, hydrologic, and meteorologic information to forecast crop production.

Current areas of concentration are: (1) institutional capacity leading to Sahelianization; (2) new products and applications in famine early warning, agricultural production, and natural resource management; and (3) pilot activities, especially using geographic information system (GIS) applications. The region-wide water resource monitoring, data gathering, and dissemination capabilities built up by this long-term project constitute an important underpinning for observing and coping with future climate change and attendant weather variability.

Individual Country Projects

The following projects were designed to respond to the individual socioeconomic, environmental and other related needs of developing countries and countries with economies in transition. The funding figures provided for each project represent only those expenditures that have been obligated by the date of this report's publication.

Electrification for Sustainable Development, USAID/GEF Renewable Energy Component

This project is designed to improve rural electrification systems by promoting productive electricity uses and new system construction, providing technical assistance in system operation and maintenance, and supporting the creation of a rural electric cooperative finance company. The USAID/GEF component promotes the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through the use of renewable-energy systems in rural areas. The project demonstrates innovative mechanisms for sustainable financing and integration of renewable-energy systems in the electrification of Bolivia, including solar, wind, small hydro, and biomass energy projects.

Brazil Integrated Environmental Management Project

Building upon Brazil's Environment/ Global Climate Change project, this project aims to increase the protection and sustainable use of natural resources in Brazil's critical regions for carbon sequestration and biodiversity, especially the Amazon and the Atlantic Coastal Rain Forest, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and wasteful energy use.

The project's major components include: (1) policy analysis resulting in policy reform to reduce economic incentives to deforestation; (2) introduction of practices to increase the long-term economic benefits that local people receive from forests; (3) improved conservation in protected areas; (4) demonstration of techniques (e.g., agroforestry) and technologies (e.g., solar power, efficient light bulbs) that provide economic alternatives to deforestation or wasteful energy use; (5) training and research in improved forest management, park protection, environmental law, and modern energy technologies; (6) leveraging multilateral funding for forest protection and clean energy use; and (7) institutional strengthening of NGOs.

Santiago Clean Cities Project

Issued from the Hemispheric Energy Symposium, this project involves collaboration between DOE and the Chilean National Energy Commission to explore the possibility of introducing natural gas buses into the transportation mix for the city of Santiago. The city and its stakeholders will form a task force that will develop a strategy for improving Santiago's air quality.

Beijing Energy Efficiency Center

EPA and DOE cooperated with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to establish this quasi-nongovernmental policy and technology research institute affiliated with the Energy Research Institute of the State Planning Commission. The Center is implementing a number of high-profile initiatives, including integrated resource planning and demand-side management training and pilot projects, China's Green Lighting program, and a Global Environment Facility (GEF) project to develop energy service companies.

Industrial End-Use Energy Efficiency Studies

EPA will provide funding to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to conduct detailed studies of industrial end-use energy-efficiency paths for certain industrial sectors in China, beginning with building materials (due to the high carbon dioxide emissions of cement production) and buildings. Studies will include costs, energy conservation benefits, local environmental benefits, and greenhouse gas impacts.

Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle Power Generation Deployment to China

This project will conduct environmental benefits and feasibility studies to support a demonstration of Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (clean coal) technology. This technology provides up to 23 percent reductions of carbon dioxide emissions through efficiency gains.

U.S.-China Center for Energy and Environment Technology

Located at Tsinghua University in Beijing, the Center is a focal point for cooperative projects. Working in partnership with Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, the project is initially focusing on energy-related environmental technology.

China Energy-Efficient, CFC-Free Refrigerator Project

This project aims to transform the Chinese refrigerator industry to effectively produce and market CFC-free, energy-efficient refrigerators. As a first step in this process, EPA, the China National Environmental Protection Agency, and the China National Council for Light Industry have worked together to develop a prototype CFC-free refrigerator that uses substantially less electricity than comparable baseline models. Funded by the Montreal Protocol Multilateral Fund, this work was undertaken in the context of CFC phaseout at a Chinese factory.

Further activities include energy-efficiency labeling, manufacturers' incentive programs, consumer education, training for refrigerator producers, technical assistance for increasing compressor efficiency, and technical support to factories for conversion to energy-efficient refrigerator production.

Coalbed Methane Project in China

In cooperation with the GEF and the Chinese Ministry of Coal, EPA conducted assessments and pilot projects for capturing abundant gas resources at Chinese mines, with concurrent mine safety, power production, and climate benefits. A Coalbed Methane Information Clearinghouse is housed at the Ministry of Coal and has conducted considerable outreach to U.S. and other companies interested in this market. The Clearinghouse publishes a journal in Chinese and English, has hosted several domestic and international seminars, and has developed with EPA an economic analysis model to identify profitable projects to reduce methane emissions.

Mobile Sources

EPA is actively engaged with the Chinese government at several levels to pursue vehicle emission controls, environmentally sound vehicle production, and the elimination of lead in gasoline. In cooperation with the Chinese government and the International Institute of Energy Conservation, EPA delivered workshops in Shanghai and Xiamen on controlling air pollution from mobile sources and phasing out lead in gasoline. Future activities are now under discussion with the Chinese government.

Wind Energy Assessment

This project seeks to accelerate the large-scale use of wind-energy technology in China by conducting wind mapping and site-specific monitoring. It will demonstrate at the national and provincial levels that wind energy can provide clean, cost-effective, electric-generating capacity.

Forest Conservation and Management

Known as BOSCOSA, this project promoted the sustainable development of forest and agricultural resources in the buffer zone surrounding Costa Rica's Corcovado National Park. Activities included the establishment of a research, training, and extension center; regional conservation planning and management; and various subprojects involving local groups. In this way, BOSCOSA helped to develop and demonstrate alternatives to deforestation to a local economy long based on resource extraction.

Forest Resources for a Sustainable Environment

FORESTA sought to improve forest resource management in Costa Rica's Central Cordillera through conservation, sustainable forestry, and reforestation activities. This project provided support for the development of guidelines and regulations for logging controls, tree harvesting, logging roads, and silviculture practices; encouraged the reforestation of cleared land under a forest management plan; and conducted a feasibility study for a regional timber marketing center to help develop an integrated, sustainable forest industry.

Power Sector Support Program

This program aims to rehabilitate electricity-generating capacity, increase efficiency, and stimulate investments in energy efficiency. It is reducing greenhouse gas emissions through infrastructure investments and technical and policy assistance. The modernization of the Cairo West thermal power station's boilers and turbine generators, as well as the modification of the boilers to burn both natural gas and mazout oil, are expected to increase the plant's capacity from 300 to 350 megawatts, while decreasing its fuel consumption rate from 275 grams to 260 grams per kilowatt hour, thereby greatly reducing its greenhouse gas emissions.

The program is also assisting the Egyptian government in its efforts to adopt environmentally sound practices and reduce electricity subsidies that discourage conservation. In partnership with the World Bank, the government developed a national Environmental Master Plan identifying Egypt's environmental problems and outlining an action plan to address them. The New and Renewable Energy Authority, recently established under the Power Sector Support program, will help carry out the government's action plan and meet future demands for environmentally sound energy by promoting new and renewable sources. The program is also helping to expand the operating data collection capability of the National Energy Control Center, which will enhance the reliability and efficiency of the overall national power system.

Energy Conservation and Environment Project

ECEP is designed to (1) promote and accelerate the adoption of improved commercial technologies, processes, and practices to increase energy efficiency and (2) enhance Egyptian institutional capability to implement energy-efficiency measures. The project is thus demonstrating proven energy-efficient technologies that can help private- and public-sector enterprises adjust to the higher energy costs that will emerge as the Egyptian government deregulates prices.

ECEP focuses on ten different technology applications: cogeneration, waste heat recovery, combustion control, power factor correction, high-efficiency lighting, high-efficiency motors, energy management systems, process controls, solid fuel boilers, and insulation and refractors. Forty demonstrations of these technologies are planned during the life of the project, at an equipment cost of roughly $23 million. The remaining funds cover technical assistance, training, and promotion.

Program for the Acceleration of Commercial Energy Research

This USAID/India program is helping to overcome the energy constraints in India's economic development by promoting the development of new or innovative products or processes relevant to the Indian power sector. PACER promotes commercialization of emerging energy technologies, administers a revolving fund for research awards and grants, and encourages Indo-U.S. joint ventures. PACER also provides grant assistance for policy analyses and studies related to energy use in India.

Since its inception in 1987, PACER has assisted more than twenty-five projects in developing and validating energy technologies, including technologies for renewables and energy efficiency. For example, PACER is providing matching funds totaling $2 million for an Indo-U.S. joint venture in energy-efficiency technology with industrial applications. PACER also has ongoing projects in energy-efficient regenerative burner development, a 500-kilowatt biomass gasifier-based power-generation system, and continuous fluidized-bed furnaces for heat treatment.

India Private Power Initiative

Through close cooperation with the Indian government, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and other lending institutions, IPPI is working to achieve its goal to establish a sustainable, environmentally conscious private power industry in India. Over $5.5 billion in potential U.S. investments in India's power sector have been facilitated through IPPI's successful leveraging of technical assistance and training to the State Electricity Boards.

IPPI provides hands-on technical assistance to State Electricity Boards and the Indian government to build in-country capabilities to evaluate and process the numerous project proposals now pending before the government, as well as to help with the formulation of the project contract documentation necessary to attract international financing. It also provides countrywide training on the fundamental aspects of private participation in the power sector.

Renewable Energy Commercialization Project

The RECOMM project is designed to commercialize renewable-energy systems across a wide range of technologies, applications, and services. This activity is specifically intended to: (1) catalyze the commercialization for high-potential renewable-energy technologies; (2) help develop commercially successful, replicable models of renewable-energy products and services; (3) improve access to financing and capital for renewable-energy development; (4) facilitate renewable-energy partnerships between U.S. and Indian companies; and (5) strengthen the overall environment in India for renewable energy. The project also includes funds for commercializing rural photovoltaic energy, for developing a bagasse cogeneration program, and for supporting a wind energy mapping activity.

Energy Management Consultation and Training

Through four major components, EMCAT promotes a systems approach to improving energy efficiency in the Indian electric power sector. Two energy supply components provide technical assistance and training to enable the Power Finance Corporation to effectively use funds from multilateral development banks to modernize, rehabilitate, and improve management for existing energy systems and enhance the environment for private power development. And two end-use components have provided funds to the Industrial Development Bank of India to study the feasibility of investments to enhance energy-efficiency and private power-generation projects.

Greenhouse Gas Pollution Prevention Project

This collaborative project between USAID/India and the GEF represents a two-part strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from energy generation. Both components are designed to address the major market, financial, and institutional obstacles to introducing these technologies and, thereby, to demonstrate their competitiveness with other sources.

The first component is a near-term strategy to increase the efficiency of coal use by introducing coal-conversion efficiency measures and state-of-the-art coal-conversion technologies at existing power plants. U.S. technical advisors are assisting the National Thermal Power Corporation and other state utilities in promoting efficiency in thermal power generation and installing advanced environmental monitoring and control techniques to reduce pollution.

The second component is part of a longer-term strategy to reduce dependence on greenhouse gas-emitting fossil fuels by promoting more efficient bagasse (sugar cane waste) cogeneration technologies, which produce no net greenhouse gas emissions, to exploit currently unused biomass resources. The plants use efficient, high-pressure multi-fuel boilers and high-efficiency turbines and rely on supplemental biomass fuel, rather than fossil fuels during the off season when sugar cane is not available. This component will provide incremental cost support for six demonstration projects in additional to technical assistance, training, and cost-shared research grants for developing cane trash and other viable biomass fuels.

Natural Resources Management Project

The NRMP provides support for managing Indonesia's protected areas and forests through technical assistance, training of field staff, and policy analysis. The project is studying major policy and market failures that result in resource depletion, and national accounting methods for natural resources. It also supports a pilot effort to develop viable, multi-purpose management approaches for selected protected areas, as well as applied research on priority management needs for natural production forests and protected areas.

CLEAN/Energy Project

USAID/Jakarta has developed the Coordinated Local Environmental Action Networks Project (CLEAN/Energy) to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency. Currently in the initial stage of its implementation, CLEAN/Energy will achieve its goals through four primary areas of activity: (1) creation of an enabling regulatory environment for energy efficiency and renewable energy, (2) development of cleaner energy supplies through the promotion of renewable-energy technologies, (3) improvement in the efficiency of conventional energy generation and transmission, and (4) improvement in end-use efficiency. Assuming that coal is the marginal supply source, the project estimates that potential carbon dioxide emissions could be reduced by as much as 1.2 million tons in the first year.

Windpower for Islands and Nongovernment Development

This project identifies favorable wind areas in Indonesia's eastern islands and demonstrates the commercial feasibility of wind systems in at least ten locations for water pumping, battery charging, electrification, and communication. By working with nongovernment organizations and community representatives, the project is teaching local people how to set up and manage small-scale, nonfossil-fuel energy activities; operate and maintain wind-powered generating systems; and build self-sustaining local enterprises.

Environment/Global Climate Change, Mexico Renewable Energy Component

This USAID project, in collaboration with DOE, is supporting the expansion of the government of Mexico's nonconventional rural electrification program and other renewable-energy activities. It focuses on socially productive uses of renewable energy, including water pumping for potable water supply, livestock watering, and small-scale irrigation. The principal renewable-energy technologies will be photovoltaics, wind-power-driven electric turbines, and hybrid systems combining these two technologies. Installation of off-grid renewable-energy systems will avoid the greenhouse gas emissions of the equivalent fossil fuel-generated electricity, while providing for sustainable development in Mexico.

Energy Demand Management Project

This project focused on reducing energy waste and improving the efficiency of energy use in Morocco by introducing energy-demand management techniques into important sectors of the Moroccan economy, including agro-industry, construction materials, and hotels. It combined hands-on energy and environmental audits of forty-six large and medium-sized firms in four key industrial sectors, links with Moroccan engineering training institutions, and information dissemination on the benefits and techniques of energy conservation targeted to technical professionals and company and plant managers.

The energy and other plant audits recommended measures that led to more than $4 million in annual savings. In terms of greenhouse gas reductions, these audits are estimated to have prevented annual emissions of approximately 140,000 tons of carbon dioxide. Overall, the EDM project succeeded in developing a demand for sophisticated energy and environmental audits and associated energy-efficiency services in Morocco's rapidly growing private sector.

Philippines Demand-Side Management Project

The overall goal of the Philippines DSM project is to eliminate or defer the need for new fossil fuel-based power-generation facilities, and to eliminate the need for inefficient back-up systems, thus reducing the corresponding greenhouse gas emissions. The project comprises a three-pronged strategy of (1) assessing the potential for utility demand-side resources; (2) providing technical assistance to help establish legislation, policies, and regulations in support of DSM and integrated resource planning; and (3) demonstrating the technical, economic, and market viability of DSM through the design and implementation of an industrial-sector DSM pilot program. The Philippine Department of Energy estimates that through the project's reduction in marginal generation capacity, 1.5-5 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions will be avoided annually by 2010.

To maximize the program's impact, USAID and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are conducting a coordinated effort whereby USAID provides grant-funded technical assistance and technical services, and the ADB provides specialized project finance for Philippine DSM investments. The project was partly supported by a portion of the U.S. funding commitment to support the Global Environment Facility.

Philippines Assistance Support Project, USAID/GEF Renewable Energy Component

This project is a multi-donor effort to help the Philippine government develop economic infrastructure and stimulate investment. Project activities include studies, operational support to the Committee on Official Development, and funding of a private-sector pre-investment facility. The USAID/GEF renewable-energy component will help the Philippines demonstrate and test innovative financing approaches for renewable energy in economic development. This program helped to finance projects to supplant some 15-18 megawatts of fossil energy systems directly and will help with indirect assistance for another estimated 20-25 megawatts, with corresponding reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

Renewable Energy Financing and Technical Assistance

REFTA seeks (1) to reduce the technical, financial, economic, and institutional risks associated with the developing renewable-energy technologies in the Philippines and (2) to use proven mechanisms to encourage public- and private-sector investment in this field. USAID is conducting this project with funding from the U.S. commitment to the Global Environment Facility and from Winrock International.

Environment and Natural Resources Management

This USAID/Philippines project promoted the sustainable management of the Philippines' tropical forests by focusing on policy reforms, natural resource protection, and incentives for long-term stewardship of public lands. Project members worked with the Philippine government to empower local communities to protect and manage many of the country's forest estates, ban logging of primary forests, and develop and implement site-specific plans to conserve and develop natural forests. The project also promoted economic efficiency in the forest products industry, which is managing existing natural forests more productively and sustainably, ensuring their continued survival as carbon sinks.

Polish Coalbed Methane Project

Two U.S. agencies, in cooperation with the Polish Ministry of Environmental Protection, are jointly funding a $1.1 million project to demonstrate a new technology to use methane from coal mines as fuel for a brine-water treatment facility. The submerged evaporation technology began as a DOE/SBIR effort in the early 1990s and has since led to multiple applications.

Phase I field testing was conducted at a southern Poland mine site. The Phase II field demonstration successfully demonstrated the system's technical feasibility. Upon its completion, this project is expected to significantly reduce coal mine methane emissions as well as provide a source of clean water for the region.

Environmental Policy and Technology, Russian Air Management Program

Part of an overall environmental policy project, RAMP is designed to demonstrate how improved institutions, policies, and practices in air-quality management can help solve air pollution problems in Russian cities. RAMP also aims to identify activities that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The program has begun by assisting Russian officials in a short-term study of Volgograd's air-quality problems and in identifying low- and no-cost emission-reduction measures. Using experience gained in Volgograd, RAMP will then help Russia define and implement appropriate changes to national, regional, and local approaches to air-quality management. Through training, technology transfer, and policy development, RAMP will assist Russia in drafting air-quality legislation and regulations, establishing standards, and setting emission limits and permit requirements.

GAZPROM Working Group

This working group aims to identify and assess project opportunities to reduce methane emissions from Russia's natural gas system through the application of U.S. technologies. Approximately seventy U.S. companies are participating in this effort, together with DOE, EPA, and GAZPROM, the Russian natural gas company. Working group members have identified a number of potentially profitable projects that could improve the efficiency of Russia's natural gas system and reduce methane emissions, and several demonstration projects have been successfully completed. A recent achievement was the first actual measurement of leaks in the GAZPROM pipeline system.

Russian-American Fuel Cell Consortium

This joint U.S.-Russian consortium will draw on the scientific and engineering expertise of the United States and in Russia to advance the development of commercially viable fuel cell technologies and promote defense conversion goals. American industry is expected to play a pivotal role in the consortium's projects and has committed to cost-sharing projects. Seven initial projects dealing with key technological impediments to speedy commercialization have already been identified.

Promoting Energy Efficiency in Russian Buildings

EPA is helping Russia develop new building codes to improve the energy efficiency of its buildings. Annual energy consumption in Russian buildings amounts to the equivalent of over 370 million tons of coal. These buildings are also much less efficient than buildings found in western Europe or North America, so there is a large potential for emission reductions through energy efficiency.

Integrated Resource Planning

EPA has worked with an NGO and private-sector consultants to introduce integrated resource planning tools in the Moscow and North Caucasus regions of Russia. Project achievements include the preparation of an investment package that raised up to $24 million for the Mosenergo electric utility company, and the development of energy regulatory bodies in the North Caucasus. The project is also engaged in consumer education about energy efficiency.

Senegalese Southern Zone Water Management

Below-average rainfall in the 1980s in Senegal resulted in extended tidal flooding of low-lying deltaic rice farms. The coastal wetlands, which normally were saturated with rainwater and thus kept the sea at bay, absorbed the sea water. This scenario could become widespread in West Africa with sea level rise and, in semi-arid areas, less rainfall.

This project aims to increase cereal production in southern Senegal by improving farmer recovery of land and use of water for agricultural production. It includes environmental monitoring and construction of water-retention structures and tidal barrages in cooperation with village water-management committees. Activities such as these may be required on a more general basis to protect coastal deltas in the face of drier climates and sea level rise.

Community-Based Natural Resources Management

This project aims to improve forest resource management in Senegal through direct participation by rural communities and the private sector in land-use planning and conservation. Building on a 1991 reforestation project in which 43,000 participants planted trees on 1,300 hectares (3,200 acres) of land, the follow-on project includes continued tree-planting and forest-regeneration activities to instill in the population a sense of stewardship for natural resources. The project aims to work with community groups and farmers to plant three million trees, and to protect and manage natural forest regeneration on 200,000 hectares (494,000 acres) of land. A related policy and institution-strengthening component will work through Senegal's national environmental plan process to ensure that these gains are sustained.

Bilateral Agreements for Cooperation on Energy Efficiency

China

In February 1995, DOE and the China State Science and Technology Commission signed a Protocol for Cooperation in the Fields of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Technology Development and Utilization. In October 1996, they signed the Energy Efficiency Annex to this Protocol. Activities under the Annex encompass energy-efficiency policy, information exchange and business outreach, district heating, cogeneration, energy-efficient building demonstration, energy-efficient motor systems, industrial process control, lighting, energy-efficient electrical transformers, and finance.

Ghana

In the spring of 1995, DOE and the Ghanaian Ministry of Mines and Energy signed an agreement on Cooperation in Energy Policy, Science and Technology, and Development. The areas of cooperation under this agreement include energy efficiency and renewable energy; fossil energy, including clean coal technology; environmental management; and independent power project development. During a 1996 U.S. visit, a Ghanaian delegation learned about the operation and management of DOE's Industrial Assessment Center program. In this program, university centers conduct energy and waste assessments in small and medium-size companies to reveal opportunities to improve energy efficiency and reduce waste. Ghana is establishing a similar center at the University of Science and Technology in Kumasi.

India

Upon signing a Memorandum of Understanding in July 1994, DOE and the government of India agreed to cooperate in the following areas: industrial process efficiency of the pulp and paper, mini-steel, and chlor-alkali industries; utility programs; electric motors and motor systems; cogeneration; transmission and distribution of electricity; energy-efficiency labeling, standards, and testing; education and training; finance; and sustainable cities. To execute this cooperation, the United States and India agreed to form teams in each of these areas and to draft action plans. Some team activities are under way. For example, the Electric Motors team is cooperating with the Indian team in implementing showcase demonstration projects in India. Successful replication of these demonstration projects will reduce energy consumption and emissions of greenhouse gases.

Mexico

On May 7, 1996, representatives from DOE and the Mexican Secretariat of Energy signed an Agreement for Energy Cooperation. Among the agreement's objectives are to develop a framework for cooperation between the two parties to facilitate the establishment of collaborative activities in the fields of research, development, and commercialization to promote improved use of renewable-energy, energy-efficiency, and fossil-energy technologies.

Renewable Energy for South Africa

DOE and USAID have been instrumental in developing business plans for the solar home system market in South Africa, with the initial pilot of 2,500 solar systems being installed in late 1996 or early 1997. Approximately 20 percent of South Africa's rural population is expected to remain unconnected to the electricity grid for at least twenty years. The South African government has elected to shoulder the costs to electrify 2,000 clinics and 16,800 schools through photovoltaics, but is seeking long-term sustainable solutions for electrifying an estimated 2.5 million homes and 100,000 small businesses.

PV Manufacturing Facility

Through DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the United States helped facilitate the first investment in Suncorp Systems. This sister company of U.S. Suncorp Manufacturing intends to sell solar home systems throughout South Africa and possibly Southern Africa via a network of franchises. The photovoltaic manufacturing facility Suncorp Systems opened in August 1995 in South Africa and has maintained a positive cash flow since November 1995. When the plant reaches full capacity, it will produce 1.4 megawatts annually.

Continuation of 8. International Activities