Reducing CO₂ emissions!

Argentina has a wealth of renewable energy resources at its disposal, with year-round sunshine in the northwestern region where this project is located. However, the country is lagging behind its smaller neighbours when it comes to transforming these resources into a reliable source of energy. Instead, Argentina is dependent on electricity from fossil fuels to a great extent and the capacity of the national electricity grid is nearly exhausted, meaning that Buenos Aires and other cities are susceptible to power outages. The project aims to make a contribution to combating these problems by installing more than 280,000 solar panels in three large solar farms in Argentina’s western region of San Juan. Thanks to these panels, the limitless energy contained in the sun’s brilliant light will be converted to clean and renewable power for the country’s national electricity grid.

Because solar energy still makes up only 2% of the country’s power generation, this pioneering project blazes the way into a clean and sustainable energy future. The project reduces dependence on fossil fuels and decreases the emissions of harmful greenhouse gases while at the same time increasing the reliability of the country’s energy supply and creating green growth potentials.

The "Sichuan household biogas program" supports low-income, small farmers in the province of Sichuan by providing them with biogas plants and cooking stoves. The biogas plants are distributed to all small farmers with cattle who can use them for gathering and storing cow dung. The methane emissions generated in this way can be captured and employed as a renewable energy source. This provides not only a hygienic solution for the disposal of the liquid manure, but also enables the use of clean energy in rural households, which saves fuel costs and minimizes greenhouse gas emissions. The byproduct of the biomass can be used on fields as a substitute for pesticides or other chemical fertilizers.

At the same time, the air quality in the households is also improved by the transition to biogas cookers and the associated discontinuation of using wood and coal as fuels This programme also creates an additional source of income for the participating households and enhances their technical training as well as providing for an annual maintenance check – when handled properly, a biogas plant can be used for up to 28 years.