AIDG

1. AIDG Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group Sustainable Solutions to the Infrastructure Needs of the Rural Poor

2. Overview • Mission • Method • Motivation • Technologies • Xela Teco • Our Partners

3. Mission • AIDG seeks to increase the use of appropriate technologies in developing countries through education, training, outreach, and business incubation

4. Appropriate Technology: Affordable

5. Appropriate Technology: Environmentally Sound

6. Appropriate Technology: Repairable

7. Our Method

8. A Business Model to Create Change • Market based development strategy • Spreads appropriate technology solutions through incubation of small employee-owned businesses • After 3 yrs, business is transitioned to a worker-owned cooperative

9. Assistance to Workshop • Financial Assistance • Seed capital • Community exposure through grant supported and pre-negotiated projects • Material & Equipment Procurement • Business Planning • Market Analysis • Client Procurement • Financial planning Fine casting sand, power tools

10. Assistance to Workshop • Technical Assistance • Access to Technology, Training, Product Development, Quality Control, Good Manufacturing Practices • Computer training, Web development

11. Model Sustainability • Post-incubation temporary agreements • Profit-sharing agreement: 10% of profits incubate next AIDG business • Sole product distribution rights in N. Amer, Europe, Japan • Previous workshops help AIDG techs to train new workshop employees

12. Motivations

13. Cuba Experience I. • 2 pig farms about 20 miles outside of Havana • Farm A. One with a biodigester for treating pig excrement • Farm was clean with an uncontaminated source of well water. • Biogas used for lighting, a stove and a hot water heater. • The fertilizer bolstered the productive capacity of soil. • Tree cover maintained

14. Cuba Experience II. • Farm B. No biodigester • Pig excrement contaminated the nearby water source • Inefficient wood fires which created a good deal of smoke • Most of the surrounding trees were cleared. • Cost of kerosene for lighting • Issue: Nowhere Farmer B could purchase this technology

15. Sustainable Development • “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs • The Brundtland Commission, Our Common Future (Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1987).

16. Sustainability Triangle: Economic Development

17. Sustainability Triangle: Ecologic Integrity Creation of small scale foundry for casting recycled aluminum

18. Sustainability Triangle: Equity

19. Our Technologies

20. Biodigester

21. Windmill

22. Micro-hydroelectric

23. Water

24. AIDG in Guatemala

25. 08/2005 AIDG began training at its 1st manufacturing facility. • Team: 10 engineering, electrical, & metal-working specialists • 2008, Xela Teco will transition into a worker-owned cooperative

26. Quetzaltango, Guatemala

27. Guatemala Assessment:Electricity & Water • Electricity • 50+ % non-electrification rate among rural villages • Households using trad alternatives for lighting pay about 80 times the price of electricity. • Water • 50+ % rural households no access to water service; use natural sources • 75% of home w/ piped water, buy bottled or treat water • Lack of access to clean water major contributor to <5 mortality

28. Guatemala Assessment: Cooking • Liquid propane gas (LPG) most common in urban areas. • Firewood is used more often in rural locales • Purchased firewood is also common; costs more than LPG • Cooking with biomass fuels (e.g. wood, dung, etc.) is linked to acute respiratory tract infections, particularly in children.

29. Guatemala Assessment: Sanitation in Animal Husbandry • Most common solutions • Construction of pigpens near rivers or creeks • Use of PVC pipe to transfer waste to a river or creek • Daily collection of manure • Creation of a waste lagoon in a field. Waste Lagoon

30. Opportunities provided by Guatemalan Law • Law of Promotion of New and Renewable Sources of Fuel • Compels the Bank of Guatemala to offer a credit line for the financing of certain renewable energy projects • Article 129 of the Constitution declares the country's electrification a national urgency • Electricity Law (Decree 93-96) of 10/06/96 de-monopolized the energy sector & opened it to full private-sector participation.

31. Local Partner: CEDEPEM • Experimental rural technology development organization • Largest development agency in Xela • Has done significant greenhouse & water pump projects with EU support. • AIDG installed 2 windmills at CEDEPEM demonstration centers in Rancho de Teja and Chichaclan

32. Recruiting

33. Starting the Business • Starting a corporation was prohibitively expensive • $1200, mostly notary public fees • Compared to $50 in Massachusetts • Started Xela Teco as a sole proprietorship • $300

34. Changes in Wages by Sector (1990-1999) Source: World Bank, 2001 $1=7.5Q; 3000Q= $400; 1000Q=$133

35. Living Wage IGSS Social Security Health Insurance Worker’s Compensation Existing Protection for Workers in Guatemala

36. Potential Customer Base • Advantage: low cost products, installation & repair/maintenance services • Infrastructure development NGOs • Public institutions • Large farming operations • Private contractors • Private individuals

37. Barriers to Uptake • Lack of knowledge of technologies • Ease of use • Cultural practice or other needs • Wood fire: energy, warmth, light • Pricing: • Significant efforts to make base products affordable to an individual rural family using a micro-loan • HPDE biodigester, high efficiency stove, ram pump • Typical micro-loan about $70

38. The Xela Teco Team

39. Our Partners

40. Casa Guatemala

41. Biodigester Project

42. Comunidad Finca Nueva Alianza

43. Biodigester Project

44. Rancho de Teja & Chicaclan

45. Windmill Projects

46. For more information • AIDG • www.aidg.org • info@aidg.org • Appropriate technologies • www.aidg.net • Xela Teco • www.xelateco.com