publications

PISCES Publications

		The Kenya Charcoal Policy Handbook: Current Regulations for a Sustainable Charcoal Sector. This charcoal policy handbook is a first step in communicating the new charcoal legislation that supports sustainable charcoal production in Kenya. It is part of a larger programme of work being developed by PISCES, aimed at improving the performance of the charcoal market system by increasing its efficiency and productivity, leading to improved livelihoods and enhanced environmental protection. The handbook has been developed through a consultative process and is aimed at empowering marginalized workers and other stakeholders to contribute to a sustainable charcoal sector in Kenya.
		Liquid Biofuels Strategies and Policies in selected African Countries A review of some of the challenges. This report reviews current debates, policies and challenges surrounding liquid biofuels in a number of African countries. It provides a global biofuels context and also highlights the situation of energy poverty in Africa before considering what can be gained or lost from developing the biofuels market as a means of meeting domestic energy needs.

		Bioenergy Resource Status in India, This report attempts to analyze the trends of biomass production and consumption in the country. The recent developments in the liquid biofuel sector find a place in the sector. Though the share of liquid biofuels such as biodiesel and bioethanol in household energy consumption is marginal, the report makes and attempt to outline what liquid biofuel could mean to the rural energy sector.

		Fuelwood Report, Though fuel wood remains the principal energy service provider to 70 per cent of Indian population, a knowledge gap still remains in understanding the fuel wood station. Because of the difficulties associated with wood energy data collection and the decentralized nature of wood energy systems, consumption of wood energy is not monitored regularly in the same way as that of commercial energy sources.

		Working Brief No 3: Biofuels and Sustainability. A case Study from Tanzania,Biofuels are emerging as a valuable part of many governments' renewable energy policies, driven by motives to decelerate human-induced climate change through reduced green houses GAS(ghg) EMISSIONS ( unfccc,2010), improve the energy security of net oil-importing countries ( Lee et al, 2008).

		Laws and Policies Enabling the Production of Biofuels in Malawi,African countries have historically often had challenges ensuring that effective regulatory structures are in place to deal with the new technologies.( Molony and Smith, 2010).In the case of biofuels, the rising interest in this technology in African countries in the absence of effective laws and policies governing the sector is detrimental as policy instruments are recognized as vital to the development of robust biofuel industries.

		Gender and Equity in Bioenergy Access and Delivery in Kenya, April 2008: A comprehensive assessment of gender as it relates to bioenergy access, delivery, supply, and production. Policy dimensions and other issues are also considered. 269KB

		E-NET Magazine July:, e-net is a magazine produced and managed by Practical Action for the dissemination of information on decentralised and renewable energy technologies, implemented using a community based approach.

		Bioenergy and Land: A review of linkages and impacts with a focus on Africa, Over recent decades, biofuel production has emerged as a new and significant factor competing for land and water resources and creating a potential conflict with food production. Following the scoping study produced for the PISCES Research Consortium in November 2008 into the impacts of bioenergy development on food security (Clements, 2008), the present paper analyses the impacts of bioenergy development on land, with a particular focus on current impacts in Africa where large areas of land are being bought up, largely by private investors, for energy crop plantations.

		Bioenergy Market System Development Comparing Participatory Approaches in Kenya and Sri Lanka, Biomass is the most commonly consumed form of energy in Kenya at about 68% of the national energy consumption. The charcoal industry employs over 700,000 people and represents the second largest rural industry in the country (ES DA, 2005).

		Bioenergy in Sri Lanka: Resources, Applications, Initiatives, Sri Lanka to this day suffers from poverty and inequality, with over 23% of the population living below the national poverty line. Being a tropical county however, it benefits from extensive vegetation and biodiversity, making bioresources, bioresidues and biofuels is a highly favorable source of energy.Bioenergy has the potential to help meet the country's energy demand sustainability, while reducing the financial burden caused by a 43% dependency on imported petroleum. It would help increase decentralized energy production thus increasing regional and national energy security and would promote decentralized economic development in Sri Lanka.

		Bioenergy Policy Review in Tanzania, In Recent Years there has been a growing interest in the bio fuel sector in Tanzania.Local and multilateral companies are acquiring big portions of land some in the range of 400,000 hectares in many parts of the country. It is believed that the country has a reserve of 88 million hectares for Agriculture. This report is a result of review work done on policies, laws and strategies related to bio energy. 882KB

		Bioenergy Advance Market Commitments (AMCs) in Sri Lanka, Over the last decade feed-in tariffs offering a stable and favorable price for electricity generated from renewable sources over that generated from fossil-fuels have been employed in support of renewable energy sectors in several European countries. Feed in tariffs were initially criticized by more market-oriented countries which favored more complex renewable obligations and tradable certification schemes. Nonetheless, they have become widely recognized for their effectiveness in creation of renewable markets, and have also been taken up by several low and middle-income countries, including Sri-Lanka, which introduced such a measure in its energy policy of 2006. More recently, feed-in tariffs have been grouped under the wider heading of Advance Market Commitments. 524KB
		Bioenergy and Poverty in Kenya:Attitudes, Actors and Activities, This report presents the findings of socio-economic baseline surveys carried out by the Eastern Africa office of Practical Action Consulting in Kenya between March and December 2008. This was part of a broader baseline data creation exercise carried out across the respective PISCES countries around the same period to help provide a better understanding of some of the current issues relating to bioenergy use, access and delivery at the community level. 1.7MB

		Scale-Up and Commercialisation of Improved Cookstoves in Sri Lanka, Interest in cook stove improvement in Sri Lanka started in the early 1950s. These activities were initiated among the migrant South Indian community that worked in tea plantations concentrated in the central part of the country who had been influenced by the interest generated in the South India. However, these were not replicated in other parts of the country, possibly due to the abudance of the fuel-wood in those areas and also due to a lack of wider interest and awareness of the significance if Improved Cook Stoves (ICS). 2.7MB

		Analysis of the Value Chain for Biogas in Tanzania Northern Zone, This study aimed at exploring weaknesses in the biogas value chain that hinder wider dissemination of the technology in Tanzania. The research included assessment of processes and activities carried out by the players, the influencers and business supporters of the biogas value chain. The methodology used is holistic, combining literature review with focus group discussions and interviews with actors and observations of processes across the value chain in Arusha and Kilimanjaro regions, where biogas has the longest history in Tanzania.

		Sustainable Biofuels Crops and Access in Developing Countries , The rising Demand for biofuels has sparked a debate over the threat that energy security poses to food security, but there are few available studies into the the impact of biofuel production on the availability of food deomestically. 718KB

		Policies and Regulations Affecting Biomass-Related Energy Sector Development in Sri Lanka , So as to make biomass energy a sustainable alternative, a holistic approach is needed. This includes consideration of the full biomass supply chain, the quality and quantity of biomass production, conversation of biomass into other energy forms, and management of bioenergy production systems in a sustainable manner with minimal impact on the environment. 884KB

		Pisces Food Security Scoping Study, In recent months, rising food prices and food supply shortages have led to unprecendented riots across the developing world. Primarily driven by the Western world, the on-going push to source and produce biofuel for transportation has been strongly linked to growing concerns for food security and has given fresh impetus and renewed vigour to the so-called 'food vs fuel' debate. 567KB

		FAO - PISCES Case Studies: Small-Scale Bioenergy Initiatives Final Report (Updated 2 April 2009 with corrections to Case Study 9 summary and Case Studies 6 and 15) Fifteen case studies from Africa, Asia, and Latin America were undertaken to assess the impacts that different types of local-level bioenergy initiatives can have on rural livelihoods. The report concludes with preliminary lessons and recommendations for further work. 2.4MB

		Policies and Regulations Affecting Biofuel Development in Kenya, PISCES Policy Brief No. 1 December 2008: An assessment of government initiatives to encourage biofuel development finds the industry is hampered by a lack of policy frameworks. 444KB

		Choosing Stakeholders for a Policy Consultative Process, PISCES Policy Brief No. 2 December 2008: Demonstrates how a market mapping approach provides a systematic method of identifying stakeholders, and carrying out an analysis of the critical role stakeholders play when dealing with biofuels products and services. 92KB

		Policy Innovation Systems for Clean Energy Security (PISCES) Terms of Reference (ToR) Consortium Advisory Group (CAG). 70KB

		View Point - An interview with Benard Muok 73KB

		New Knowledge for Sustainable Bioenergy (PISCES brochure) 2MB