blueEnergy works to create a more equitable, sustainable world

10/28/2011

Celia's family drinks clean water

By Casey Callais -- Celia and her family live in Santa Rosa neighborhood in Bluefields. Her husband works long hours as a taxi driver, her three kids are all in school and she works from home selling cooked beans.

Celia's house. Notice the contaminated well on the right.
Not having clean water is an inconvenience few people in developed countries have to face. For Celia's family, it has been a way of life. With no running water, they were having to haul buckets of water from a well in their backyard. When that became too contaminated to drink or even bathe with, they started using a communal well several blocks away which cost about $.50 per bucket. Unfortunately, the contamination levels in the communal well increase in the dry season as the water level decreases and eventually runs dry. Celia's family is an example of a typical Bluefield's household.

Celia washes her hands with well water stored in the green tub
The first part of blueEnergy's water program methodology is to give classes on sanitation and cleanliness. While sanitary conditions in a typical Bluefield's home are not ideal, a little soap can go a long way.


Thibaut helps Celia fill out the paperwork for the water filter

Celia worked with blueEnergy to build her own biosand water filter and drill a new Baptist well that is shared with several surrounding families.

Celia and her daughter showing off their water filter


Celia stand with her daughter in front of their new Baptist well
This year blueEnergy plans to help 200 households in Bluefields build and install their own filters. 30 of them will work to build shared Baptist wells. Check out our gallery to see more photos from the project!

10/24/2011

bE innovations: Cement Vibrator

By Casey Callais -- Here is bE water technician Jorge Perez showing us how blueEnergy innovations are helping to increase the structural integrity of the biosand filters.


Renovables Gets Formal Status

By Lâl Marandin -- Founded in June of 2010, the Nicaraguan Association for Renewable Energy and the Environment, known as “Renovables” is a nonprofit organization whose mission is "to organize and strengthen Nicaraguan actors to expand a fair and efficient use of renewable energy in both the public and private sectors in Nicaragua”. “Renovables” ’ vision is to create impact through projects, national and international partnerships, the development of public policy, dissemination of good practices, scientific research, public awareness and formal education for a sustainable energy future. "

The ultimate goal of its 2015 Strategic plan is to promote the access, production, sustainability and of renewable energy in Nicaragua. “Renovables” proposes the following objectives in the short and medium term:

• Strengthen the working sector in renewable energy at the national level

• Position the organization at the national and international level

• Promote changes in Nicaraguan law and regulations to better incentivize renewable energy for domestic and corporate uses

• Create a project portfolio to involve all member organizations.

As of the fall of 2011, “Renovables” is comprised of more than 30 institutions that promote, support or implement clean energy project in Nicaragua, utilizing all possible sources of renewable energy: hydro, wind, solar, geothermal and biomass.

The Association aims to contribute, in collaboration with the public and private sectors, to maximize the use of the country's renewable energy potential, and to increase renewable energy’s contribution to the energy portolio, in alignment with the National Administration’s “National Energy Strategy”.
The founders of "Renovables", June 17th, 2010

What the “Personería Jurídica” is and why it’s a big deal

Obtaining “Personería Jurídica” means filing and being awarded a legal status as a nonprofit in Nicaragua. It requires a majority vote by the National Assembly (Congress) and is a process that can take up to five years.

Three major factors made it very important for “Renovables” to obtain it as quickly as possible, but also made it complicated:

1) Nonprofits in Nicaragua have been under very strict surveillance since the start of the new Ortega Administration in January 2007. There has been increased controls and audits of many nonprofits, especially those receiving funding from international or multilateral aid agencies.

2) Adding to the tension, the energy sector is absolutely strategic for Nicaragua, a country that doesn’t currently own fossil fuels reserves and has the most expensive electricity in Central America. The government and its Ministry of Energy and Mines play a central role, and debates on energy prices and strategy are constant in the media.

3) Large private energy groups have gained a very strong importance in the country. Some of them had a tendency to shift the legal and political weight towards their specific interests. It was key to counter balance their influence and overcome any possible hindrance they could have created, preventing “Renovables” from obtaining the Personería Jurídica.

For these reasons, and many more, it was of paramount importance that “Renovables” be able to legalize its legal status in the country, giving it the ability to speak with a strong a clear voice for the sector it represents.

The catalyzing role of blueEnergy

blueEnergy joined forces with two other Nicaraguan NGOs in 2009 to foster the creation and launch of “Renovables”, and was instrumental in its early growth. Being recognized for that action, blueEnergy was voted Secretary of the Board of “Renovables” at its inaugural assembly, an event that brought together more than 100 key people of the Renewable energy sector and over 50 institutions in June 2010. Taking this responsibility very seriously, blueEnergy appointed Lâl Marandin (blueEnergy co-founder and Managua Office Director) to support the growth of the young and promising association, and provide any needed support.

With the financial support of the “ECNER” project, awarded in March 2010 to blueEnergy (and its partners ATDER-BL and AsoFenix) by the Common Fund for Democratic Governance in Nicaragua, blueEnergy assembled a legal team to achieve the legal status of Personería Jurídica for Renovables.

Since the launch of Renovables in June 2010, Lâl has worked to motivate and coordinate the association’s staff in order to advance the process. This has required constant problem solving and clear decision making to make sure the process did not get derailed. blueEnergy wishes to thank Roberto Sosa, Marlyng Buitrago and Lizeth Zúniga for their support to Lâl and their key role in making this happen for “Renovables”.   

“Renovables” is now an official Nicaraguan Nonprofit!

On September 2nd, 2011, the National Assembly of Nicaragua awarded the Personería Jurídica to “Renovables”. This success happened 12 months exactly after the original filing of the paperwork, which is a very impressive performance given the challenges encountered along the way.

As an example of the challenges, it was ruled at some point in the process by a legal counselor of the National Assembly that private institutions cannot be founders of a non-profit organization. This statement has no legal base in the current nonprofit law #147. The Supreme Council of the Private Enterprise (COSEP), representing the private sector in Nicaragua since 1972, offered its support to “Renovables” to counter the argument, with legal action if necessary. Fortunately “Renovables” was able to resolve the conflict outside of legal action.

“Renovables” will now have to comply with all the required nonprofit regulations in Nicaragua, which is all it has ever hoped for!
Copy of the statement of Personería Jurídica,
awarded by the National Assembly of Nicaragua,
September 2nd 2011

10/21/2011

bE innovations: Electric Sand Sifter

By Casey Callais -- blueEnergy innovations help make it easier for beneficiaries to build their own biosand water filters. bE water technician Jorge Perez explains:


10/19/2011

bE Supporter Josh Rogol Hosts a Successful Event on behalf of blueEnergy!

By Emily Castillo -- Last week, blueEnergy US staff Mathias Craig and Emily Castello headed to Boston for a night of conversation, cocktails, and hors d’oeuvres. Josh Rogol, a new 2011 blueEnergy supporter, hosted an event on behalf of blueEnergy as a way to raise awareness and money for blueEnergy’s community development work on the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua. Josh Rogol was first introduced to blueEnergy by his uncle, longtime blueEnergy supporter Michael Rogol and had the opportunity to visit our site in Bluefields, Nicaragua this past June.

Upon returning from his week-long stay in Bluefields, Josh was inspired to get more involved and wanted to introduce his network of friends to blueEnergy’s community development model on the Coast. The event served as a perfect environment to introduce blueEnergy to the young professional community of Boston! Josh opened the event with personal anecdotes from his June trip to Bluefields, sharing his personal connections and motivations for getting involved in blueEnergy. The floor was then turned over to Mathias who provided a succinct overview of blueEnergy’s major program areas and vision. The night continued with conversation and laughter, as a slide show of some of Josh’s photos from his trip played in the background. The night’s attendants were poised to learn more, asking a variety of questions from why the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua to what are your long-term plans for development.


With over 50 people in attendance, the night turned out to be a great success! New friendships were forged, new ideas were presented, and perhaps most importantly, a new group of Bostonian blueEnergy supporters emerged.

A special thank you to Josh Rogol for his enduring support and to everyone who came out to Clerys in support of blueEnergy!
Josh constructing a water filter during his June trip to Bluefields!

10/17/2011

bE innovations: Sand drying rack

By Casey Callais -- blueEnergy water technician Jorge Perez describing the need and use of one of blueEnergy's latest innovations in the water program.

10/14/2011

bE innovations: Filter mold improvement

By Casey Callais -- bE water technician Jorge Perez explains one of the latest innovations in the water program. With 200+ water filters to build, the need for higher efficiency is very apparent.

10/08/2011

Promoting the sustainability of Renewable World programs

By Casey Callais -- Just seen in Renewable World's latest newsletter:
Find out more about Renewable World and their programs: http://www.renewable-world.org/