Sustainable production

Energy
Inhabitants of remote islands are mostly dependent on costly resources for their supply of energy. Diesel is mostly used for the production of electricity, which needs to be shipped to the islands. This is expensive and cumbersome. Wouldn’t power generated by the sun, water and wind be much better and inexpensive?
 
Sustainable Island
Sumba is an island of Indonesia where over 650,000 inhabitants only have access to dirty energy or no access at all. Hivos strives to supply these people with 100% sustainable energy, which they can generate locally through sun, water, wind and biomass. Access to energy is an important condition for more prosperity and development. And it would be more desirable if that can be achieved in a sustainable manner.
 
The initiative for an ‘Iconic Island’ was started by Eco Matser, a climate- and energy specialist at Hivos, who has been working on this ambitious project since 2009.  But the idea did not come out of thin air. Hivos has years of experience working with partner organisations to establish access to sustainable energy in developing countries. Hivos is convinced that converting to sustainable energy while combining poverty reduction, is possible on a large scale. If Iconic Island Sumba can prove to be a success, then this can be an example for the rest of the world. Hivos will invite the people of Sumba, researchers, investors, local partners and energy experts to participate in this project, to be achieved as a collaborative effort.
 
The search
Indonesia has many islands. Hivos has selected Sumba as the Iconic Island because it has a wide variety of sustainable resources available and many people there do not have access to energy. The Indonesian Island should become a model for other islands in the world where people do not have access to energy. First and foremost are the interests of the people of Sumba. The next few years the island and its people will become the icon of sustainable poverty reduction and 100% green energy.

Sumba as Iconic Island
Sumba was not chosen without reason to become the Iconic Island. Sumba is one of the poorest areas of Indonesia. Inhabitants have virtually no prospect to economic advancement. Access to sustainable energy can lead to change.
 
Sumba is a fairly large island. With an area of 210 km by 40 km, the island is quarter of the size of the Netherlands. It is located east of Java and south of Flores at a 400 km distance of Bali. According to research conducted for Hivos by Winrock International, there are enough suitable resources for sustainable energy, such as wind energy, hydro electric power plants and energy generated by biogas plants. The key requirement: energy must be generated on the island itself without the usage of fossil energy sources such as oil and coal. And it has to provide advantages for the local population.
 
Reliable partners
In Indonesia, Hivos has worked for years with partner organisations who successfully build biogas installations and hydro electric power plants in impoverished communities. They will also play a role on Sumba. In addition, in the next few years efforts will be made to create new forms of collaboration. Hivos hopes that the island will act as a stimulator in developing sustainable initiatives in the Netherlands itself.

Why 100% sustainable?
Access to energy is of vital importance for people in developing countries to build a good life for themselves. Without electricity there is no lamp to do homework at night, or to keep medication in the refrigerator. On Sumba, the majority of the population still has no access to energy.
 
For Indonesia the usage of diesel oil for the production of energy is very expensive. As such, electricity has to be subsidized in order to keep it affordable for the population. Even kerosene (petroleum) used by people who do not have access to electricity, is subsidized. But the quantities of the more affordable kerosene are insufficient. Particularly people who live in isolated areas are unable to obtain affordable energy. As oil and gas become more and more scarce, mainly the poorest people bear the brunt of the price increase.

Exemplary function
In addition to being independent, by generating sustainable energy the people of Sumba could serve as an example to the rest of the world. They will be able to show that it is no longer necessary to use expensive, polluting fossil fuels. If 100% sustainable becomes reality on a large scale, there will be less CO-2 emissions and therefore less climate change. And particularly in developing countries the consequences of climate change are disastrous.
 
Generating energy from water, wind, sun and biomass (for example cow dung), requires hydro electric power plants, windmills, solar panels and biogas plants. In impoverished areas the population will need support to realise those investments. And that is exactly what Hivos intends to make possible while collaborating with the people of Sumba: investing in projects to give people access to energy from hydraulic-wind, solar power and biomass. In other words, small scale energy production from which families, schools and small businesses can benefit.

But Hivos will also collaborate with national and local governments and the national energy company to make existing electricity production more sustainable. Hivos doesn’t have a ‘blue print’, or exact way to go about it. Together with other organisations involved and with the population of Sumba, Hivos will look for better solutions. The start of the project is described in the following report.

Sumba
In 2011 Hivos will start with the first projects on Iconic Island. In Indonesia local partners and politicians are already enthusiastic to participate in the project. The Dutch Embassy and Agentschap NL also support the initiative. Add: In March 2011 (local) governments and the State Energy company (PLN) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to express their support and involvement in the Iconic Island Initiative.

Not only should Sumba become 100% sustainable, solutions have to be found for people with no access to energy, who still cook on smoldering wood fires that are damaging and hazardous to their health. One set solution won’t be found overnight. The ambition is to have made the green transformation in 5 to 10 years.

The following steps have been determined to make 100% sustainable energy cost efficient on Sumba.
 
1. Area’s that have no access to energy should obtain access to sustainable energy. Think of small scale hydraulic power, biogas plants and solar power. This will mean that for the first time, the people of Sumba will have access to energy and the additional advantages to their living conditions that this entails;

2.  Area’s that are hooked up to an energy network should be transferred to energy from sustainable sources. This ensures that people are no longer dependent on oil deliveries, which may be unreliable or are subject to price increases;

3. The transportation sector should be transferred to sustainable energy sources. For example, in some Asian cities, gasoline mopeds have already been replaced with cleaner electrical ones. This offers perspectives in terms of switching to sustainable energy. The transfer to sustainable sources still requires research and preparation, for which Hivos looks to collaborate with other parties.