July 6, 2011 – Addis Ababa
Ethiopian non-profit organization Gaia Association showcased its commercial ethanol cookstove and fuel initiative at the “Go Green Africa Fair” held from June 23 to 26, 2011, at the Addis Ababa Exhibition Center. The Fair was organized by Initiative Africa and its partners, the African Renewable Energy Alliance, Cordaid, the Heinrich Böll Stiftung, the Horn of Africa Regional Environment Centre and Network and the World Future Council. The Fair aimed to showcase some of the world’s top sustainable technologies, products, and services and to engage governments, the private sector, and civil society in finding solutions to fight climate change. The Fair had a large audience from representatives of African and international businesses, non-profits as well as policy makers and the general public.
Gaia Association participated in the exhibition promoting its commercial projects to produce and sell the CleanCook stove and ethanol fuel in Addis. Gaia staff executed stove demonstrations and educated a wide and varied audience about its experience with clean cooking technology, ethanol production, improving indoor air quality and fighting deforestation and environmental degradation in Ethiopia. Gaia introduced its efficient microdistillery (EMD) project in partnership with the Ethiopian Environmental Protection Authority which will assess the source and install EMDs in three rural Ethiopian communities, integrating food and fuel by utilizing unharvested feedstocks.
The Fair hosted over 100 exhibitors from across Africa including distributors and manufacturers of green technologies promoting the development of renewable energy and sustainable products, as well as organizations engaged in environmental protection. Also in attendance were initiatives advocating and advancing the fields of sustainable agriculture, recycling, waste and wastewater technology, transport alternatives and a variety of organic products. The Go Green Africa Fair offered 20 workshops and trainings, panel discussions and film screenings. The Fair’s sponsors include Vergnet, Selam, Adal, GIZ and Ecopia.
Compared to other high-emission countries, Africa disproportionately suffers the environmental burdens of climate change. Millions of Africans cooking with traditional, polluting fuels involuntarily contribute to black carbon emissions. Replacing these stoves with efficient fuels and technologies is one of the quickest ways to ease climate change. Sustainable initiatives such as Gaia’s EMD approach utilize local feedstocks and resources and can improve livelihoods by enabling communities to become self-sufficient.
Gaia Association has been working since 2005 to provide clean-burning stoves and alcohol fuels to Ethiopian families and refugees hosted in Ethiopia.
Contacts:
Wubshet Tadele – Managing Director, Gaia Association
+251-116-183540 | wubshett@projectgaia.com
www.projectgaia.com
Gulce Askin – Project Coordinator, Project Gaia Inc.
+1(717) 334-5594 | gulce.askin@projectgaia.com