Australian Company Helps Mexican Poor, the Environment, and their Wallets

Melbourne born company, Cool nrg International, is giving 30 million energy-efficient light bulbs out to poor and middle-income families in Mexico in hopes to capture a 'previously untapped corner of the carbon offset trading market' and to give the developing world the necessary push toward cleaner energy.

Cool nrg is one of a many businesses trying to cash in on the multibillion-dollar market for carbon offsets approved through the 1997 Kyoto Protocal. The United Nations has approved this under its Clean Development Mechanism to fight emissions of greenhouse gases.

The Clean Development Mechanism program allows wealthier countries that have binding greenhouse gas targets to offset their emissions by investing in clean technology in developing countries, which have no targets.

According to NYTIMES.com:

While Cool nrg makes money selling carbon credits, Mexican families can enjoy lower energy bills, since compact fluorescent bulbs consume as much as 80 percent less electricity than standard incandescents. And the Mexican government — which underwrites electricity costs for low-income families — is expected to reap a double windfall, paying fewer subsidies and deferring the need to build new power plants.

Cool nrg gave out the first million light bulbs in the Mexican state of Puebla in November, supported by a loan from the ING Group and a promise from a Dutch utility, Eneco Energie, to purchase all of the 240,000 credits that are expected to be created by the Puebla project in the next 10 years. It also has the right of first refusal for buying any credits generated by the remaining 29 million bulbs.

Photo Source