Rural Electrification Project

D&E is now expanding its vision for energy delivery to address the electricity needs of rural Haiti through agricultural waste gasification systems. Over 6 million Haitians live in rural areas and depend primarily on subsistence agricultural for their livelihoods. None of these communities have access to the national electricity grid. While a small number of households manage to produce electricity themselves, they typically depend on diesel fuel to the detriment of the environment.

Using the abundant agricultural waste available in Haiti, D&E is siezing on a huge opportunity to leverage its community-centered approach and its strategic partners to bring dependable electricity to the underserved rural communities across the country. As the founders have witnessed in Haiti and other developing economies, electrification has the capacity to truly transform livelihoods through empowering small businesses, households and students with this essential resource.

The company plans to launch its first pilot plant later this year. Stay tuned

EcoRecho

D.&E utilizes its customized EcoRecho stove to tackle Haiti’s chronic deforestation and the human health issues that result from the use of charcoal as a primary source of cooking fuel. Haiti has the highest child mortality rate due to respiratory illnesses in the Western Hemisphere and deforestation for charcoal production has reduced tree cover from 63% in 1923 to 1.5% today. Poor governance and lack of infrastructure make access to a more environmentally friendly energy source in the near future unlikely. The recent earthquake makes the outlook bleaker. As an immediate response to these challenges, D&E has introduced efficient cooking stoves to the Haitian market.

Our goal with this project is to provide high-quality, affordable alternative stoves to replace the inefficient traditional metal charcoal burners currently in use while searching for alternative cooking fuels that can be produced locally in order to eradicate charcoal use in Haiti. The stoves are highly efficient and are capable of reducing charcoal consumption by 50% and CO2 emission by 60%. Additionally, the stoves are manufactured locally using local raw materials, thus creating jobs and other business opportunities in Haiti, a country where over 66% of the population was unemployed and 80% lived below the poverty line before the earthquake. Each stove comes with a user manual written in the local language and with amanufacturer’s warranty. D&E’s stove product line includes versions of the stove designed for use in urban and rural environments and a larger institutional model to be used in schools, hospitals, prisons, and IDP camps.