Keeling Curve

Primary Project Category:

Project Summary / Description:

This project has two main purposes, the first one is to make the transition to non-conventional energy and have a more efficient energy management, and the other one is to fight gender inequity in academy, because in terms of higher education, like graduate programs, Colombia is below the average of Latin America and the Caribbean in female participation with a percentage of only 37% in 2017 and with minimal progress in the past 10 years. Given the above, greater efforts are needed to position women in higher education and create strategies to continue closing the gender gap in academia. This initiative from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in agreement with FENOGE, responds to the missionary objectives of the university favoring the student population, with a direct positive effect on women students, while expanding educational coverage, and fosters the use of public policies to integrate renewable sources of energy in the generation mix, making it more resilient and friendly to the environment.
This is why, Energy for Education became a strategic project for the National Government and the Universidad Nacional de Colombia due to the environmental and social benefits it generates.

Regions of Operations:

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

Impact on Underrepresented Groups:

Since the project has a gender focus, it aims to reduce the gap between men and women that can have access to graduate education programs. Not only that, but with a given perspective of the socioeconomic differences in population, choosing to give the scholarships generated to low-income women who have more difficulties to pay and stay in universities. This will contribute not only with an optimal use of government funds but to create energy solutions with deep social impacts, as the scholarship program will allow hundreds of women to enter the STEM (science, technologgy, engineering and Mathematics) industry, seizing their immense transformational potential in academia and in the industry. The number of scholarships generated will escalate up to 641 during the time the project works. 

The positive impact from the project will also affect the 12.240 students from the Universidad Nacional a Medellin Headquarters, of which 9.313 of the student population belong to low-income families and can benefit from the knowledge of new and more sustainable technologies.

In addition, the project has several indirect results such as supporting research and university teaching. Firstly, the project will become a living laboratory with permanent monitoring and solar data collection which can be used by lecturers for research and teaching in the University. The data will be available for students' degree projects and high-level research in energy microgrid control and management.

Sub-Categories: