Financial Contribution

Use this link for your donation.

Location and scalability
Solvatten is a combined portable water treatment and water heating system that has been designed for off-grid household use in the developing world. It is an easy, innovative solution that provides access to safe and hot water to people worldwide. Thanks to its durable design, Solvatten is an affordable and convenient way to get safe, hot water. (Source: www.Solvatten.org)

Approach and CO₂ effect
In the developing world, millions of primarily women and children are walking dozens of miles each day to fetch water and firewood. Reducing the daily use of firewood for heating water and utilizing a solution that can be used on unimproved water sources closer to home makes life much easier for these people. The Solvatten water filter has an average lifespan of 7-10 years, essential during the first years of life when children are at their most susceptible to waterborne diseases. CO₂ emissions are reduced by using Solvatten, for one water filter 7 tons of CO₂ are avoided in total for its complete lifespan. (Source: www.Solvatten.org)

Other benefits of the approach
The most amazing thing about Solvatten is that it contributes to all of Rotary’s seven areas of focus.

Certification
There is an official gold standard certificate for the amount of CO₂ that is compensated. (https://registry.goldstandard.org/projects/details/3459). The new tightened rules for certification according to the Gold Standard guarantee that the projects are continuously documented and that the real effects are achieved.

Link for your Donation – Approximate cost per ton of CO₂
The current price of one Solvatten is 145 US $ and it will compensate 7 tons of CO₂ during its normal lifespan. Therefore, offsetting one ton of CO₂ currently costs 21$.

Contact and Website
The Rotarian connection to Solvatten was established through ESRAG members in an initiative called Solar Safe Water. The contribution comes from different Rotary clubs all over the world and from many different ESRAG members. The “home” club in Rotary is RC Stockholm Djurgården, the contact person is Gunilla Ostberg. More information is available on the webpage https://solarsafewater.esrag.org

Use this link for your donation.

Location and Scalability
This wonderful ESRAG initiative encourages Rotarians worldwide to install solar panels and document them on the ESRAG website. Together, we can avoid millions of tons of CO2 and lead the way to a sustainable future.

Approximate cost per ton of CO₂
In the U.S. in 2022, the retail cost of a 5.4 kWh installation was about $ 15,000. In Germany in 2023, the installation cost was about $ 9500 for 5.4 kWh. But the price of photovoltaic systems is still falling and there is often financial support from the government, state or city.

A 5.4 kilowatts peak household Photovoltaic system will result in the following CO₂ reductions:

• Germany (with 2023 grid energy mix): 2 metric tons of CO₂ per year.
• USA (sunny part of California, with 2022 U.S. grid energy mix): 5 metric tons of CO₂ per year.
• USA (Pennsylvania, with 2022 U.S. grid energy mix): 3.5 metric tons of CO2 per year.

The cost per metric ton of CO₂ will vary depending on location, installation cost, and assumed lifetime. For the examples above with a 25-year lifetime it will be $ 120 – $ 170 in the U.S. and €190 in Germany.

Contacts & Website & Donate here
For more information, visit the website or email solar@esrag.org.

Location and Scalability
The first “Rotary Moor” is established in District 1880 near the town of Hof in Bavaria, Germany. The area is part of the German “Green Belt” that consists of several forests and biotopes going from north to south along the former inner-German border between East Germany and West Germany before the unification. During Germany´s separation, the border area on the eastern side was an inaccessible region. For 40 years the different habitats developed nearly undisturbed. On the western side some parts were undisturbed because they were quite remote. The “Green Belt” is home to an abundance of species that are endangered, it consists of many connected habitats that are protected areas today. (Source: BUND: https://www.bund.net/fileadmin/user_upload_bund/publikationen/gruenes_band/gruenes_band_traces_of_the_past.pdf). In 2023 the “German Green Belt” has been proposed by Germany to UNESCO for inclusion in the World Heritage List. The moor project starts in 2024 with one hectare and will expand to several hectares – other moors (peatlands) in Germany and Europe will follow in a networked initiative. Since there are moors all over the world the approach is scalable globally.  

Approach and CO₂ effect
The area was already a moor before people made drains and ditches to pull the water out of the area to be able to plant and grow trees as a monoculture forest. While a former moor is dry it constantly emits CO₂. The project approach is to block the drains and fill the ditches again with water to make the moor wet again. From then on, the moorland with all its wonderful plants and animals can regenerate. The rewetted landscape no longer emits CO₂. The effects add up to around 10 tons of CO₂ per year per hectare (one hectare is 10.000 square meters). If the moor is kept wet, it is an annual effect of 10 tons of CO₂ – as long as it is kept wet.

Hands-on possibilities
Participating Rotary clubs have an option to help in the re-wetting process: Removing the monoculture trees, blocking the drains, and filling the ditches. This obviously only makes sense if the transport of club members to the moor does not cause too much CO₂, i.e. clubs that want to act hands-on should choose a nearby-moor.

Certification
There is not yet a certification for the CO₂ effect.

Approximate cost per ton of CO₂
One square meter of forest costs around €2 in this area of Bavaria – so one hectare costs €20,000. The owner of the moor will be the German „Association for the environment and Nature Conservation“ (Bund Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland – BUND) and the one-off rewetting measures will cost an estimated €10,000 per hectare (this will be less if the participating clubs act hands-on). For compensation we calculate the CO₂ effect of 10 tons per hectare for 30 years. With the current cost estimation, the compensation of a ton of CO₂ costs 100 Euros.

Contacts & Website
Dr. Ralf Hardenberg, RC Nürnberg-Connect, D1880

Location, Approach and Scalability
85% of the Ugandan population cook using wood or charcoal and 100% of the rural population of Uganda cook using wood – usually on open ‘three-stone’ fires. Firewood is usually collected by women. Depending on how far they must walk, it takes between two and five hours to collect a bundle of firewood. On an open ‘three-stone’ fire a bundle lasts ca. two days.

Here are just a few of the benefits of the fuel saving stoves:

• When used in a fuel-saving stove, the same bundle of firewood can last for up to six days, thus saving 60 days per year collecting firewood, leaving more time for education and farming.
• Less smoke, reducing the risk of lung disease.
• CO₂ emissions from cooking reduced by 66% due to the reduced use of firewood of 66%.
• Reduced pressure on vulnerable local trees and forests.
• Local jobs are created.

In 2019 the fuel saving stoves project won the Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland Environmental Award. Until December 2023 this initiative has built 3049 stoves in homes and 10 in schools – and many more of them could be built.

Certification
There is not yet a certification for the CO₂ effect.

Approximate cost per ton of CO₂
In case of a stove made for a school, it is necessary to pay for labour, transport and chimney of the stove which add up to £275 (approximately US $ 350). One school stove will save 10.2 tons of CO₂ per year, so £28 (or US $ 36) will save 1 ton of CO₂ per year.

Contacts & Website
The Rotarian connection to this project is via Maya Smeulders, Rotary Club of Abingdon Vesper (United Kingdom). This project is part of the ESRAG “Clean Cooking Task Force” with the Co-Chairs David Knoppert and Maya Smeulders. For more information please visit the website https://learning4lifeafrica.org/project/fuel-saving-stoves/

Location, Approach and Scalability
This project in Malawi replaces CO₂-emitting kerosene lamps and candles with solar-powered home lighting systems. The lighting system, called the Sun King Home 60, can be installed in a home for £100. It uses a solar panel and battery to power 3 LED lights, allowing users to study, work, provide medical assistance, power cell phones and more in the evenings.

Certification
There is no certification for the CO₂ effect.

Approximate cost per ton of CO₂
The CO2 savings for a system is approximately 1.8 metric tons per year. Each system is guaranteed for 5 years, which equates to a lifetime saving of 9 metric tons of CO₂ equivalent at a cost of £100 ($ 127) in 2024, or £11 ($ 14) per metric ton of CO₂.

Contacts & Website
The cooperation partner is the United Kingdom charity SolarAid. The connection to Rotary is through Rotary Club of Danetre Daventry (United Kingdom), Mr. Robert Leaper. (for more details visit website)

Location, Approach and Scalability
The goal of this project is to provide a photovoltaic system for homes built by the NGO »Habitat for Humanity«. The Habitat homeowners have reduced energy costs over the expected 20-30 year life of the photovoltaic system. »Habitat for Humanity« works in about 1,400 communities in the United States and in about 70 countries worldwide, so this project has a huge potential for scalability.

Certification
There is no certification for the CO₂ effect.

Approximate cost per ton of CO₂
In the U.S. in 2022, the retail cost of a 5.4 kWh installation was about $ 15,000. In Germany in 2023, the installation cost was about $ 9500 for 5.4 kWh. But the price of photovoltaic systems is still falling and there is often financial support from the government, state or city.

A 5.4 kilowatts peak household Photovoltaic system will result in the following CO₂ reductions:

• Germany (with 2023 grid energy mix): 2 metric tons of CO₂ per year.
• USA (sunny part of California, with 2022 U.S. grid energy mix): 5 met- ric tons of CO₂ per year.
• USA (Pennsylvania, with 2022 U.S. grid energy mix): 3.5 metric tons of CO₂ per year.
• The cost per metric ton of CO₂ will vary depending on location, installation cost, and assumed lifetime. For the examples above with a 25-year lifetime it will be $ 120 – $ 170 in the U.S. and €190 in Germany.

Contacts & Website
For more information, please contact Elizabeth Henke of Rotary Club of East Chapel Hill, North Carolina (USA), the chair of the ESRAG Renewable Energy Task Force or visit the website https://esrag.org/habitat-solar/

This project is currently closed for further donations, but we assume there will be a successor project.

Location and Scalability
This project is a part of the Great Green Wall Initiative (www.greatgreenwall.org). This pan-African project aims to construct a green “dam” spanning across the continent, from Senegal in the west to Djibouti in the east, in an effort to combat desertification. The scientific community strongly believes that reforesting the Sahel presents the most effective strategy to halt the relentless advancement of the Sahara. (Source: Presentation on Rotary’s Climate Forest in the Great Green Wall)

Approach and CO₂ effect
Rotary’s Climate Forest mission is to restore 250 hectares of forest in the region around Mbar Toubab in northern Senegal during the summer of 2024. Due to the climate change this region is expected to have more rain in the future, therefore it is possible to establish forests there. The planted forests will have a CO₂ effect. (Source: Presentation on Rotary’s Climate Forest in the Great Green Wall)

Other benefits of the approach
Through targeted training, the project will offer the local population the opportunity to foster economic development and take control of their own future. The reforestation effort will be complemented with comprehensive training and education for the surrounding communities, this is a decisive and big difference compared to other reforestation initiatives. The educational package encompasses lessons in three key areas:

• Economic development (literacy, entrepreneurship, vocational skills, trade utilizing forest resources, etc.).
• Environmental awareness and land management. 
• Health and childcare (basic hygiene, medical care, etc.).

These components are crucial for breaking the cycle of generational poverty and initiating sustainable economic development within the community. (Source: Presentation on Rotary’s Climate Forest in the Great Green Wall)

Contacts & More information
The project was established by Jannik Rutten from the Rotary Club Antwerpen-Metropool (District 2140) in Belgium and works with a local partner in Senegal. You can find more information through the website www.BecomeSustainable.org, there you will find a link to an article in dropbox. (Source: Presentation on Rotary’s Climate Forest in the Great Green Wall)

Approximate cost per ton of CO₂
Your financial support can either be through the global grant that was established, or you support through a direct donation. To compensate for 1 ton of CO₂, it is necessary to donate 7 Euros with 2023 prices.