Keeling Curve

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Project Summary / Description:

- ATEC* Australia-International Pty Ltd is an international social enterprise focused on delivering clean cooking technology to 'last mile' customers in under-served areas and to provide them with an effective, affordable and scalable solution of paygo. 

- ATEC‚ founding shareholders are two INGOs - Engineers Without Borders and Live & Learn Environmental Education. Established on 8th February 2016 after 6 years of R&D, ATEC* Biodigester produces, sells and distributes a custom-manufactured small-scale farmer biodigester design. The ATEC Biodigester provides sanitation, access to energy, clean cooking and improved farming outcomes at a household level. 

- Since 2016, ATEC has sold over 3,521 systems of biodigester and eCook in Cambodia and Bangladesh.

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Best Estimate of GHG Avoidance/Reduction of This Project (Tonnes CO2 Equivalent/Year):

Impact on Underrepresented Groups:

- Globally 4 billion people lack access to clean cooking, causing multiple health issues for women from Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 emissions exposure. At households earning <$10/day (Base of Pyramid, BoP), 1.5 days per month are spent on collecting wood while 3 hours per day are spent on household chores due to inefficient cooking. 

- This is costing the global economy $2.4 trillion per year, the equivalent of the national GDP of Italy. 65% of households in Bangladesh still use biomass for cooking, killing more people each year than traffic accidents from smoke inhalation, however through ATEC‚ analysis we believe this to be positively disrupted by high-efficiency, low cost electric cooking.

- ATEC provides the underrepresented population with the high end technological solution in an affordable way of paygo system that solves their multiple problems derived from poverty. Theocratically, poverty takes the form of lack of capability that has been drawn by Amartya Sen which clearly showed the dynamic and interlinked complex situation arise from lack of well being . Therefore, his capabilities approach goes directly to the quality of life that people can actually achieve. Having lack of access to the upgraded technology and facilities is the core reason of chronic poverty.

- As women are overwhelmingly the main cook in Cambodia and Bangladesh, they bear the brunt of harmful emissions from cooking, spending long hours in smoky kitchens. Use of firewood kills 3.5 million people every year (most of them being women) - more than traffic accidents.

- A key burden for women in last-mile household is time poverty as rural Bangladeshi women devote an average of 150 hours per year collecting biomass. The resultant lack of time negatively affects the economic options, personal and mental health of women. In view of this, access to time and labour-saving solutions are particularly valuable to them.

- The time spent on fuel collection and preparation often translates into lost opportunities for gaining education and increasing income 

-By improving women‚ health, economic outputs and time management, ATEC biodigesters give them greater agency to create strong lives for themselves. Addressing modern, reliable and sustainable cooking is arguably the highest impact technology intervention for women in last-mile households.

- Using human-centered design principles, ATEC‚ biodigester system was designed with farming communities and eCook with on-grid non-farming households to address their key issues in accessing this high impact technology. 

- Our innovation benefits last-mile customers by improving their health (KAP removal), increasing their income and freeing up time to focus on more productive activities. 

- By using ATEC‚ products, small-scale farmers increase their revenues and decrease their expenses and non-farming households gain cost opportunities with eCook which is 50% the running cost of LPG.

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