Find below the most interesting news from the last months from South East Asia and the Pacific:

Microfinance to promote renewable – Reducing fossil fuel dependence in the Pacific Islands
The Pacific Renewable Energy and Microfinance (PREM) Project is looking for a small victory – to wean Pacific Islanders off kerosene. Although many poor people are not well placed to invest in new technology, a solution in many of these areas is being provided by microfinance institutions (MFIs) that are keen to take on lending for energy services. Have a look on the REEEP webseite for more details.

Tonga Energy Roadmap website goes live
The Government of Tonga has set up a website for the Tonga Energy Roadmap, to which REEEP is a partner. The website contains information relating to the background of the roadmap, the technical studies that have been produced as part of the roadmap and the detail of the process as Tonga moves to a final approved plan for Tonga’s future energy needs and how they will be met.

Pacific renewable energy kerosene replacement project
This successful REEEP project has come to an end. The project, implemented by Barefoot Power, aimed to reduce the key financial and technical barriers to the uptake of small renewable energy systems by rural villages in the Pacific with a goal to develop a strategy to transfer existing kerosene expenditure towards new investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. The project raised awareness of the market size for small-scale renewable energy projects in the Pacific, the different technological alternatives to kerosene and the positive returns possible when investing in these projects. >> download the final report

REEEP releases new report: Renewable Revolution: Low-Carbon Energy by 2030
An enormous amount of energy is wasted when converting fossil fuels to energy services such as light, heat, and mobility. Due to the inherent efficiency of most renewable energy technologies relative to fossil fuels, renewable energy does not need to replace fossil fuels on a one to one basis. The energy losses associated with fossil fuels can be side-stepped through the use of renewable energy, providing the same level of energy services with far less primary energy. In turn, improvements in energy efficiency make it easier, cheaper, and faster for renewables to achieve a large share of total energy production, while also rapidly reducing greenhouse gases and other emissions associated with energy use. >> download the report “Renewable Revolution: Low-Carbon Energy by 2030″

Access to Sustainable Energy Services via Innovative Financing
REEEP releases 7 case studies exemplifying the possibilities of pro-poor financing mechanisms for renewable energy and energy efficiency. These case studies provide examples of how small amounts of well targeted REEEP funding can be used to transform the lives of the poor. >> download the case studies

REEEP outlines low-carbon regulation challenges at the World Future Energy Summit
Developing countries face a particular set of challenges in regulating low-carbon energy. In most countries, the public sector is the major energy player, and their energy reforms are generally incomplete. This is compounded by a lack of human and institutional capacity. Off-grid solutions, the best hope for the 1.46 billion people estimated to have no energy access in 2008, are hampered by the fact that regulation focuses heavily on on-grid, electricity regulation. >> read more