Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas
Encyclopedia
The Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA) was announced by U.S. President Barack Obama
at the Summit of the Americas
in April 2009. The ECPA is conceived as a flexible mechanism to accelerate sustainable energy
in the Americas
. ECPA is built upon six pillars, including renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy poverty, infrastructure, sustainable land use and forestry, and adaptation.
A number of collaborative initiatives form the core foundation of the ECPA. These include the following:
Envoys Program: aims at enabling the sharing of best practices and expertise in research, development, design and implementation of clean energy programs. Other activities include:
Lighting the Americas: Seeks to provide electricity
to the 34 million people in Latin America who currently are without access.
U.S. Trade and Development Agency’s (USTDA) Clean Energy Exchange Program of the Americas: Brings nearly 50 Latin America
n and Caribbean
energy officials and project sponsors to the United States
on a series of reverse trade mission
s.
Low Carbon Communities of the Americas projects:
Caribbean Renewable Energy Strategy: Aims to enable countries to implement actions and strategies geared towards increasing the sustainability of their energy supplies
while reducing carbon emissions from the energy sector through the development and use of renewable energy
and energy efficiency systems.
Dominica Wind Project: Seeks to prove the viability of small, distributed wind
generation
as an alternative to traditional, megawatt-class utility-scale turbine
s.
Costa Rican Energy Efficiency Training Center: The center will train and certify professionals in energy efficient technology and auditing procedures, and also help expand the technical knowledge and capabilities of the Central America
n region on efficiency services and programs
Colombia Biomass Initiative: The objective is to develop a technological plan for use of agro-industrial residue
biomass
to produce energy.
Energy Innovation Center: Promotes and advances clean energy projects through mobilization of funding, knowledge dissemination and technical expertise.
Chile Renewable Energy Center: The long-term goal for the center is to serve as a tool and resource for the region.
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
at the Summit of the Americas
Summit of the Americas
The Summits of the Americas is a series of international summit meetings bringing together the leaders of countries in North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Neither the elderly leader nor a representative from Cuba participated in this summit...
in April 2009. The ECPA is conceived as a flexible mechanism to accelerate sustainable energy
Sustainable energy
Sustainable energy is the provision of energy that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Sustainable energy sources include all renewable energy sources, such as hydroelectricity, solar energy, wind energy, wave power, geothermal...
in the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
. ECPA is built upon six pillars, including renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy poverty, infrastructure, sustainable land use and forestry, and adaptation.
A number of collaborative initiatives form the core foundation of the ECPA. These include the following:
Envoys Program: aims at enabling the sharing of best practices and expertise in research, development, design and implementation of clean energy programs. Other activities include:
Lighting the Americas: Seeks to provide electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
to the 34 million people in Latin America who currently are without access.
U.S. Trade and Development Agency’s (USTDA) Clean Energy Exchange Program of the Americas: Brings nearly 50 Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n and Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
energy officials and project sponsors to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on a series of reverse trade mission
Trade mission
Trade mission is an international trip by government officials and businesspeople that is organized by agencies of national or provincial governments for purpose of exploring international business opportunities. Business people who attend trade missions are typically introduced both to important...
s.
Low Carbon Communities of the Americas projects:
Caribbean Renewable Energy Strategy: Aims to enable countries to implement actions and strategies geared towards increasing the sustainability of their energy supplies
Energy supply
Energy supply is the delivery of fuels or transformed fuels to point of consumption. It potentially encompasses the extraction, transmission, generation, distribution and storage of fuels...
while reducing carbon emissions from the energy sector through the development and use of renewable energy
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
and energy efficiency systems.
Dominica Wind Project: Seeks to prove the viability of small, distributed wind
Wind
Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale. On Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or charged particles from the sun through space, while planetary wind is the outgassing of light chemical elements from a planet's atmosphere into space...
generation
Generation
Generation , also known as procreation in biological sciences, is the act of producing offspring....
as an alternative to traditional, megawatt-class utility-scale turbine
Turbine
A turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work.The simplest turbines have one moving part, a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades, or the blades react to the flow, so that they move and...
s.
Costa Rican Energy Efficiency Training Center: The center will train and certify professionals in energy efficient technology and auditing procedures, and also help expand the technical knowledge and capabilities of the Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
n region on efficiency services and programs
Colombia Biomass Initiative: The objective is to develop a technological plan for use of agro-industrial residue
Residue
Residue may refer to:* Residue , material remaining after a distillation or an evaporation, or portion of a larger molecule** In particular, in biology, often refers specifically to an amino acid...
biomass
Biomass
Biomass, as a renewable energy source, is biological material from living, or recently living organisms. As an energy source, biomass can either be used directly, or converted into other energy products such as biofuel....
to produce energy.
Energy Innovation Center: Promotes and advances clean energy projects through mobilization of funding, knowledge dissemination and technical expertise.
Chile Renewable Energy Center: The long-term goal for the center is to serve as a tool and resource for the region.