In late August, the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program-ESMAP launched its new website, which provides  access to information on  ESMAP’s programs, activities, knowledge products and achievements. The EnergyThe ability to perform work, mainly kinetic, potential, thermal energy, but also in forms of gravitational, sound, elastic and electromagnetic energy. Sector Management Assistance Program is a global, multidonor technical assistance program aimed at promoting environmentally sustainable energy solutions for poverty reduction and economic growthIdeally, economic growth is decoupled from energy consumption. This can be achieved through different measures, one of them being energy efficiency or a shift towards less energy intensive sectors, such as services.. Their new Web site (http://www.esmap.org) focuses on assisting low- and middle-income countries to increase know-how and institutional capacity in order to achieve environmentally sustainable energy solutions for poverty reduction and economic growth.

While reviewing the new website I found a lot of interesting articles and studies, which I thought are worth sharing with you. I am planning to highlight their thoughts on how Geothermal EnergyAlso known as geothermal power. Heat that is stored inside the earth is transformed into electrical energy by geothermal power plants. This form of energy is considered to be cost-effective, reliable and friendly to the environement. could help to diversify the global energy mix in an separate article later today … in the meantime feel free to review their E-Bulletin or take a look into their latest publications:

Recent ESMAP Publications:

• Managing an Electricity Shortfall: A Guide for Policymakers:
  This document summarizes the framework for action and a broad menu of options available to policymakers to bridge a supply demand gap in the short- to medium-term.
• Review of Policy Framework for Increased Reliance on Wind Energy in Colombia: Options for Market Entry of Wind Power in Colombia’s Energy Mix:
  The purpose of this report is to provide decision makers in Colombia (and by extension other countries or regions), who are considering the deployment or consolidation of wind powerWind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form, such as electricity, using wind turbines. By 2010, a single wind turbine can produce several MW of electric power., with a set of options to promote its use.1 The options presented are the result of an analysis of the Colombian market which included simulations and modeling of the country’s powerUseful energy can be mechanical energy, for example powering a fan. sector, and extensive consultations with operators, managers and agents.
• Monitoring Performance of Electric Utilities: Indicators and Benchmarking in Sub-Saharan Africa:
  This publication is an outcome of the initiative “Electric Utility – Capacity Assistance Project for Africa” (EUCAP), which was developed in the Africa Energy Group of the World Bank and financed by the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP). The initiative was prepared as a component of the Regional strategy plan to expand capacity in key African institutions and sectors. The core of the initiative is creation of a knowledge-based information-sharing network of African electric utilities to pursue the goal of improved utility efficiencyUsing less energy/electricity to perform the same function. Programs designed to use electricity more efficiently - doing the same with less..
• Restoring Balance-Bangladesh’s Rural Energy Realities:
  Just less than one-half of the people in developing countries have no access to electricityA form of energy having magnetic, radiant and chemical effects. Electric current is created by a flow of electrons., and a similar number are reliant on biomassEnergy resources derived from organic matter. These include wood, agricultural waste and other living-cell material that can be burned to produce heat energy. They also include algae, sewage and other organic substances that may be used to make energy through chemical processes.
  Biomass, a ... energy for cooking and heating. As a consequence, they are deprived of the means of moving out of poverty. Greater access to modern energy services can improve poor people’s income through enhancement of productive use of energy and it can also increase their quality of life by providing quality lighting, communication, and other important services.
• Low Carbon Development for Mexico:
  Low-Carbon Development for Mexico or México: Estudio Sobre la Disminución de Emisiones de Carbono (MEDEC)1, was two years in the making based on a study by the World Bank for the Mexican government, with the help of the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP). It evaluates the potential for GHG reduction in Mexico over the coming decades. A common methodology is used to evaluate low-carbon interventions across key emissionEmissions of greenhouse gases, greenhouse gas precursors, and aerosols associated with human activities, including the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, land-use changes, livestock, fertilisation, etc. (IPCC) sectors that form the basis for a low-carbon scenario to the year 2030. Analysis is presented using reader-friendly charts, graphs, and annotations organized in chapters according to the key emission sectors, allowing for a quick overview of priority issues.
• Brazil Low Carbon Country Case Study:
  The Brazil Low Carbon Country Case Study identifies opportunities to reduce GHG emissionsGreenhouse gas emissions cause dangerous anthropogenic climate change. Emissions include CO2, fluoridated gases, methane which are emitted by human activity such as deforestation and burning fossil fuels, and water vapour. while fostering economic development. It provides technical inputs on ways to assess mitigation potentialIn the context of climate change mitigation, the mitigation potential is the amount of mitigation that could be – but is not yet – realised over time. (IPCC) and conditions for low carbon development in key GHG emitting sectors of the economy.