(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Prize winner. – You just put the Plexiglas plate over the cardboard box like this, says Jon Bøhmer and gestures eagerly while he demonstrates how the cardboard kettle works.
We meet him in Kenya's capital, Nairobi. 9. in April he was named winner of the prestigious award, Financial Times Climate Change Challenge. Nobel laureate Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the UN Climate Panel, sat on the jury that selected Bohemia's "Kyoto Box" as the best climate invention among 300 rated contributions from around the world. The price is 75.000 US dollars, about half a million kroner. Bohemia was happy just to be among the top five in the final.
- This idea illustrates what is wrong with Norwegian climate policy. I have developed this cardboard kettle after being out in the field and talking to people, and finding out what they need to be able to cut emissions. Norwegian policy, on the other hand, is designed to benefit Norwegian large companies such as Statskraft and StatoilHydro, says Bøhmer, thus cooking a long line of reasoning down to, and into, a collapsible cardboard box. It goes away quickly in the turns when Jon Bøhmer speaks.
Let's first find out how this cardboard box works. Ny Tid is located in Jon Bøhmer's garden, just under half an hour outside the center of Nairobi, Kenya. The cardboard box that Bøhmer shows is thus a solar oven, and has been named Kyoto Box. The principle is simple: Put a saucepan with ten liters of water in the box, place it over the Plexiglas plate, and the sun will make sure that the water boils in two hours in warm areas. The box can also be used for cooking dinner, baking and water purification. Most bacteria die between 50 and 60 degrees.
A little help from Norway
According to Unicef, one billion people do not have sufficient access to clean drinking water. 90 percent of the energy consumption in an average African family goes to heating food and water. Collecting firewood also takes a lot of time and contributes to deforestation and large greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, 1,6 million women and children die each year due to smoke damage during indoor cooking, according to the WHO.
Bohemia's solar cooker can be a contribution to solving these problems. Cardboard boxes that are already in production can be used and can be flat-packed in thousands on trucks. So simple that it's ingenious? Yes, said Nobel laureate Rajendra Pachauri and the 11 other climate experts in the Financial Times' climate jury. On 9 April, it named Bohemia's solar cooker the most innovative invention among as many as 300 contributions, all of which have found practical solutions to reduce climate emissions. Jon Bøhmer was one of five finalists.
But a number of Norwegian bodies that sit on money bags earmarked for financing innovation, development and the environment do not seem to agree with the jury in the Financial Times.
- I just had to move from Norway. There is so much in Norwegian climate policy that is completely hollow. Take the prestige project itself, Stoltenberg's moon landing, ie CO2capture. This is a blueprint of one of the Molbo stories. You dig a hole in the ground, but then you wonder where to do what you have dug up. To solve the problem, you dig a new hole, but at the same time you get a new problem, and then you have it going. The only real motivation for CO2- the longing is to be able to pump up even more oil and gas, says Bøhmer.
He believes that Norwegian climate policy is largely designed to serve Norwegian companies, and is based on Norwegian ways of thinking that do not fit here.
- If you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Take, for example, how Statkraft and Norfund are investing heavily in developing hydropower in developing countries, in order to generate electricity. The only problem is that electricity has to be carried through a power grid, and thus the energy becomes twice as expensive. But even more important is that in Africa only ten percent is connected to the power grid. Will Norway also pay to expand the power grid to the remaining 90 percent in the same sling? asks Bohemian.
- So Norwegian climate policy today is the same as Norwegian development aid policy in the last century, when Norwegian development aid money went to the production of Norwegian boats, which were then sent to places where these boats were not suitable?
- It's exactly the same thing they do today. Norway sends out consultants who barely have time to get off the plane before they have finished writing a report and travel back. Norway must stop pushing a ready-made model down on the heads of others. Instead, you need to get out into the field and talk to most people. Capitalism is good in the sense that entrepreneurs like me assess the demand in the market, so we have to find solutions that fit. Green capitalism must be developed in close cooperation with the world's poor. Our projects are always a joint venture with the locals here, we share 50/50. We are now in the process of concluding an agreement with the Masai. We pose with the technology, those with land.
- It is not about realizing an "American dream", but to create an "African dream". Then there is no point in distributing food, then the problem will be the same the next day. On the other hand, we need to start sustainable resource utilization that facilitates conditions for local entrepreneurship and production. In 50 years, our children and grandchildren will look back on the climate fight today as we now look back on World War II. Then it is important not to have been on the wrong side.
Diplomats versus engineers
Reaching the final of the Financial Times climate competition is a solid recognition, which stands in sharp contrast to all the rejections Bøhmer has received in Norway.
- I have sent 200 applications to various Norwegian bodies, but only received twice, says Bøhmer.
This money from the Polytechnic Association and Innovation Norway makes up less than ten percent of the five million kroner Bøhmer has so far spent on developing various climate tools through the company Kyoto Energy Ltd. He has covered the rest of the expenses with funds that have previously been earned on entrepreneurial activities in information technology and real estate.
- Norad has been dismissive for years, and one of the leaders there clearly told me that "you must not think we are a bank". What in the world is that supposed to mean? This spring, Norad finally said that it is exciting with solar energy in developing countries, but it takes years to get money from Norad. The Research Council of Norway says that they do not support solar heating projects, only solar electricity. The UN is also difficult to come up with practical solutions. Diplomats look down on engineers. But it is not policy makers who have brought world history forward. It is the development of new tools and technological advances that bring the world forward. I asked Erik Solheim two years ago if he would help start some of my projects, but he replied that he did not know what would work in the market, so they did not support anyone. Instead, he flies around the world and promotes the Oil for Development program. Does he really think it will work?
- When I called you to arrange the interview, you characterized Erik Solheim as a climate whistleblower. Why do you mean that?
- Yes, I am furious with the Norwegian authorities and I believe that Solheim is a climate whistleblower. Norway has a large share of the responsibility for climate change, which makes it drier around the equator, but Solheim will not even help finance such cardboard kettles. The Petroleum Fund is supposed to be managed ethically, but does not take climate emissions into account. Norway must step up. There is no better investment than renewable energy in developing countries. Kristin Halvorsen must direct the Petroleum Fund towards such projects immediately.
- But you say that these projects of yours in the long run will be profitable. How high is the threshold you have to cross for this to roll by itself?
- It does not take much. I'm not far away, but it would have been nice with some support to get started. We can not wait for someone to evaluate how the products have worked for seven years in the market before they can be purchased by the development organizations. None of these have any budget for new development, but it is quite clear that today's technologies do not work, otherwise we would not have had these problems. We have to get started now. The damage from climate change is already great.
The sun is eternal
In addition to the cardboard kettle, Bøhmer has also developed a number of other climates and energy tools for the poor, including a solar cell flashlight, a combined water purifier and shower and an advanced solar concentrator that provides 40 times greater power of each solar cell by mounting mirrors made from recycled plastic bottles around the solar cells .
- Today, 51 percent of all solar cells go to Germany. Only four percent goes to developing countries, where there is three times as much sun. What to say to that? It is nice that Rec delivers solar cells to Germany, but in the fight against climate change, this has little practical benefit. I have suggested my solar concentrator solution for Rec. But the technical manager of Rec showed no interest, says Bøhmer.
Much of the garbage that is hauled to sea accumulates in the Pacific Ocean. There is now a flake of various plastic products as large as the US surface, ten billion tons of plastic. This plastic can be used to make mirrors that give 40 times more power out of each solar cell, Bøhmer believes.
- But if what you say is true, is Rec then stupid, or do they have hidden motives?
- They are stuck in a way of thinking where the most important thing is to get as many subsidies as possible. The high subsidies to the solar cell industry in Germany, California, Italy, Spain and Greece have the opposite effect of the intention, they contribute to the industry becoming sluggish, Bøhmer believes.
The total supply of solar energy is 70.000 times more than the world's energy needs. And the sun is an energy source that will be reliable for the next four billion years. Therefore, Bøhmer is sure that solar energy is the future.
- Our solar concentrator will produce energy that is cheaper than oil and gas. When the sun becomes the cheapest source of energy, there will be a tremendous boom in industry around the equator, and many countries that are poor today will have strong economic growth. This is "The great equalizer".
- When will your solar cell model be on the market?
- During 2009, Bøhmer answers in cash.
■
Jon Böhmer
■ One of five finalists in the Financial Times climate competition to be decided on April 3.
■ Coming from Brumunddal, wife from Kenya, lives in Nairobi.
■ Runs the company Kyoto Energy Ltd. who work with concrete climate solutions.
climate competition
■ Sir Richard Branson of Virgin and Nobel Laureate Rajendra Pachauri are among the jury members of the Financial Times Climate Change Challenge. They have selected five finalists from a list of three hundred candidates.
■ The winner gets $ 75.000.
■ The other finalists participate with the following ideas: One pill to reduce methane gas emissions from ku-fis by 15 percent, an alternative form of air conditioning, truck tires that reduce energy consumption and a machine that converts biomass into fertilizer and fuel.
- Generous subsidies
REC spokesman Jon Andre Løkke believes that Bøhmer is partly right in his criticism of the solar cell industry.
- I agree that a few subsidy schemes have been far too generous, and thus created opportunistic opportunities for some rogue actors. But all serious companies in this industry, including REC, have the main focus on cutting costs, so that you can become competitive with other forms of energy.
The solar energy company REC has a goal of reducing costs by 50 percent from 2005 to 2010, says Løkke.
- We want to become more independent of political incentives. We continuously evaluate a large number of different technologies, and have also looked at different concentrator technologies. Without aiming for any concrete example, we allow ourselves to be fascinated most by technologies that bring us down quickly in costs, or that have a very attractive future cost level. Furthermore, we believe that we have a relatively good overview of the many technology alternatives that are out there both today, and what is going on for the future. ■
■ MANY PROJECTS: Minister of the Environment and Development Erik Solheim (SV) believes that Norway already spends large resources on measures that provide climate and development benefits in developing countries. Photo: TROND VIKEN, UD / SCANPIX
