POWER TO THE PEOPLE

       Mae Ya Noi is a small Karen hill tribe village about 80km south of Chiang Mai province. To get there, you wind your way to Doi Inthanon National Park, then veer left onto a dirt road. Through soaked rice paddies and dense cornfields, it takes another hour to arrive, crossing narrow pot-holed tracks made muddy by the monsoonal rain - a time when the village is cut off from outside if the rain comes down too fiercely.
       Mae Ya Noi is not on the map, so it is not surprising that this village never had electricity.
       Yet its remote location did not spare this village from change.
       Ten months ago, a 23kW microhydropower plant was built in this village.Constructed by utilising the laws of gravity and the plentiful water supply, it now provides 100 households across three villages with the ability to do what most in Thailand take for granted - turn on a light whenever they want.
       Monsit Anurakrimtarn, the village leader,believes it is just the start of things to come.
       "With electricity, we can do so many things. For the first time, the temple and village school can function at night as well as during the day. Already we have started classes for older villagers who come after working in the fields. I think the electricity will widen everyone's perspective, teaching them about a world outside Mae Ya Noi."
       Mae Ya Noi is not alone. Its very small power plant - producing less than 1MW of electricity - is one of more than 180 very small power plants - fuelled by clean energy like biomass, biogas, wind, and solar, and hydro like this one - dotting the landscape in villages and towns across Thailand. That number is expected to double in the next two years. This explosion of renewable-energy alternatives did not happen by accident. It had its genesis in a forward-thinking decision taken eight years ago.
       In 2001, the UNDP Thailand joined forces with the Global Environment Facility and the Energy for Environment Foundation to tackle climate change by promoting the use of renewable energy.
       The aimwas to show that Thailand could lessen its dependence on foreign oil and in the process substantially reduce its carbon emissions.
       "When the project started, banks were not familiar with the renewable-energy industry. Now that we have shown how successful it can be, banks are actively searching out power plants to invest in,"said Piyasvasti Amranand, chairman of the advisory board of the Energy and Environment Foundation (E for E) and a former energy minister.
       With the backing of the Thai government,which provided financial incentives to make the renewable-energy industry more competitive, the project has been a success.
       By 2008,1,252MW of renewable-energy capacity - enough to supply households in Bangkok, Nonthaburi and Samut Prakan provinces - was operational throughout Thailand. This is an almost-fourfold increase from 1999, and the equivalent of 21% of the power provided by the Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA).
       It's estimated that renewable-energy plants in Thailand have already reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 5 million tonnes annually. This is the same as taking every one of Thailand's 1.5 million cars off the road for a year.
       Mr Piyasvasti believes it's just the beginning."With the existing technology,Thailand should be able to produce about 8,000MW worth of renewable power by 2020. If technology advances and we make greater use of wind and solar power, this figure could be much, much higher."
       The small-scale local approach, epitomised by Mae Ya Noi, is having results. In eight years, Thailand has gone from being a renewable-power backwater to a leader in the region.
       The Biomass Clearing House - a onestop shop set up by the project to share the latest renewable-energy information - has been so successful that it is pumping more investment into the sector, including wind, solar and hydro projects, through a new Green Energy Mechanism (GEM). It does this by bringing together Thailand's top companies that view investment in renewable energy as not just a savvy business decision, but also a way to showcase their social responsibilities. Like a diner in a restaurant, an investor is now presented with a menu of renewable-energy options.They can choose to put their money into whatever project fits their investment needs.
       This is how the people of Mae Ya Noi came to have continuous electricity.Investors in the Green Energy Mechanism provided the capital for the hydropower plant's construction, the Department for Alternative Energy built it, and the local community maintains it and gains the benefit.
       To an elderly Mae Ya Noi villager, it's a decision that has had profound effects.
       "I'm very happy with the electricity. I can now read when I want and cook when I want. I don't want my life to change too much, but electricity is great."
       Adam Sims is a communication officer at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The article was written on a field trip taken last month.
       How are you helping to reduce your carbon footprint?Share your eco-friendly activities or comment or disapproval by emailing outlook@bangkokpost.co.th.Write "Earth Alert" on the Subject line.
       "'With electricity, we can do so many things'