It’s been three intensive and productive days sharing experiences and learning with our partners in South Asia. With the support of Statkraft, Renewable World brought together a range of energy access practitioners and representatives from development organisations in Kathmandu from 10th – 12th December.

Renewable World has made great strides in 2012. Early on in the year the number of poor consumers that benefit from the renewable energy services promoted by Renewable World passed 5,000. With the opening of offices in Kathmandu and Managua in the last 12 months, and the major expansion of operations in East Africa, that total will soon surpass 10,000. 

Renewable World and Green Empowerment supported AsoFenix to bring electricity and light to homes, and the possibility of increased incomes to the people of the poor, rural community of Cuajinicuil in 2010.

Lack of power is a barrier to people being able to lift themselves out of poverty all around the world. When the choice is between spending what little money you have on food or educating your children, it is easy to see why so few children get to go to school.

“Some kind of event going on this week?” the driver asked me, as I climbed aboard his taxi, gratefully taking shelter from the freezing drizzle that was soaking the streets of Glasgow. Clearly the arrival in the city of more than five thousand delegates from the renewable energy industry, all suited, booted and clutching glossy conference brochures, had not gone unnoticed.

On Sunday 28 October 22 runners took to the streets at the London O2 Arena to Run to the Beat in aid of Renewable World.  It was a crisp, sunny day and the runners shivered in their Renewable World vests at the start line. But one mile in and everyone had warmed up – it was impossible not to, with 13 stages pumping out music at every mile. The atmosphere was fantastic and London looked beautiful; I (almost) wished I was one of the runners...

A week on the road in Kenya is an exhilarating but exhausting experience. This is exactly what I embarked upon recently, scoping and developing a range of future projects for Renewable World East Africa.

It has been an inspiring week! Dr Daniel Kammen, Climate Advisor to the Obama administration and - amongst many other accolades - a lead author for the Nobel prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007), gave an engaging and wide-ranging presentation to relevant actors here in Managua. Renewable World’s aims and ambitions are stirring stuff but it’s always stimulating to hear them echoed by one of the world’s most eminent experts.

If you’ve been bitten by the Olympic bug and fancy soaking up some of the 2012 atmosphere then why not take on a sporting challenge of your own? Run to the Beat is a unique, musical half marathon which takes place on Sunday 28th October around the East London Olympic zone. The event has become so popular it sold out in record time this year but never fear, Renewable World still has charity places available.

On a suitably blustery day in West London, staff from four companies participated in the first Global Wind Day football tournament. Mainstream Renewable Power, Vestas Celtic and Broadview Energy all put on their footy gear for the event to compete against the organisers  Earth Wind & Hire, a recruitment consultancy specialising in the wind industry, in order to raise money for Renewable World.