Energy for Development: Lessons from energy-poor communities around the world

Curt Davis and Solar Cooker

This presentation will provide an overview of effective solar cookers, biogas digesters and improved cookstoves as well as alternative energy options for electricity that have proven effective for off-grid living around the world. It will also include photos and explanations from Curts' travels in addition to several short high-quality video clips of successful international projects.

Curt Davis is an international development professional and current graduate student at the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy at the University of Delaware. Curt has lived off the grid for over 2 years as a Peace Corps volunteer serving in rural Paraguay and has interned with a small non-governmental organization (NGO) in the Indian Himalayas. While earning a master's degree in Sustainable International Development at Brandeis University, Curt built relationships with NGOs in Latin America, Asia and Africa that are committed to providing reliable sustainable energy, empowering local stakeholders while at the same time providing positive externalities, such as the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

While in India Curt devoted his research to the development of alternative energy options to the traditional three-stone fire used commonly throughout energy-poor regions of the world. It was through these experiences that he became familiar with solar cookers and biogas digesters used for cooking.