JUCCCE Brings Energy Technology to China

The Joint U.S.-China Cooperation on Clean Energy (JUCCCE)

JUCCCE is a non-profit organization focused on helping China accelerate 30 years of world experience and development in energy into 10 years. JUCCCE advisors makeup a network of multi-disciplinary leaders in energy efficiency and clean energy supply within China and the US.

"The heart of an NGO, the mind of a venture capitalist."

"The JUCCCE approach is strategic yet tactical. Our advisors have identified a roadmap of programs that will deliver near-term results with greatest impact, including green buildings, an efficient industrial sector, smart transportation, cleaner coal and renewable energy. Our programs focus on accelerating information flow within a rapidly changing market, creating models for more energy efficient physical systems, and expanding opportunities for commercialization, technology transfer, sales and implementation of products locally."

"The name JUCCCE, pronounced "juice", stands for:

• 聚思 (Jù Sī) "A Coalition of Thinkers"
• Cooperation
• Cleaner fuel
• Inspiring people to make a change
• Juicing up the energy markets
• Accelerating us into a better future"

JUCCCE's three approaches are:

• Accelerating information
• Integrated urban design
• On-line one-stop marketplace of energy solutions for China

In this video Peggy Liu, JUCCCE Chairperson, explains its goals and approach.



JUCCCE wants you to contact them at volunteer@juccce.com if you are interested in volunteering to help. In particular they are looking for

• English to Chinese website/document translation
• HTML coding & editing
• Videography editing

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$200 Million Earth Fund Targets For-Profit Ventures In Developing World

Targeting market-based solutions for environmental challenges

"The Global Environmental Facility and IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, are launching today the Earth Fund, a new partnership open to the private sector, foundations, and other partners that will support innovative and market-based solutions for the most pressing environmental challenges in developing countries."

"The GEF and IFC will designate $50 million and $10 million to the fund, respectively. The fund has already attracted several partners and is expected to grow to $200 million through additional contributions from private sector companies, foundations, NGOs, and other development agencies."

"To maximize its impact, the fund will use a wide array of financial instruments, including grants, soft loans, and equity participation, as well as inducement prizes that reward environmental innovation in such areas as second generation biofuels, water treatment, or clean energies." (See IFC press release for more.)

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tags: for-profit, ventures, entrepreneurship, developing world, developing countries, environment, funding

Examples of Profit/Benefit Companies

Slideshow of 10 for-profit companies with social goals from FastCompany.com.

I thought BetterWorld Books was interesting.

Slideshow of 45 winners of FAST COMPANY/Monitor Group Social Capitalist Awards.

Some of the companies that might be instructive models for those interested in development are:

• KickStart, develops and markets new low-cost technologies in Africa to enable local entrepreneurs to establish highly profitable new small businesses
• Room to Read, building libraries in the developing world
• the Scojo Foundation, to reduce poverty and generate opportunity through the sale of affordable eyeglasses
• TransFair USA, a third-party certifier of Fair Trade products

Social Capitalism

Social entrepreneurs learn to tap capital markets

"Change the world. Make some money. Raise more money, and make more change. It's an appealing prospect. Nonprofits were born because for-profits weren't addressing some market failures--pollution, poverty, illiteracy. Profit won't cure those ills, but it's becoming a bigger part of more solutions. Perhaps it's dawning on us that the cost of capital for changing the world should be lower. Perhaps the capital markets will cut the world a break."

Good article from FastCompany.com here about progress in applying for-profit models to financing and operating social-benefit businesses.

Harish Hande's SELCO-India project for rural electrification

Read the article and view the video of an interview with Harish Hande, who won Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2007. From livemint.com. Excerpts:

The next logical step was to set up Selco and to see how sustainable energy like solar can be diffused/ disbursed to rural areas in a way that allowed people to pay and maintain it. A sustainable venture, both in terms of social and commercial returns, it was set up in 1994-95 it rested on three tenets: poor people can afford sustainable technologies; poor can maintain sustainable technologies; and the poor can support the running of a commercial venture profitably.

We have forged partnerships with nine regional rural banks, commercial banks, NGOs and rural farmer cooperatives to develop financial solutions. With a force of 78 deeply committed technicians our management holds its fort, even against the cruelest odds. Employee commitment has been the single most reason why we are still around.

Acumen Fund

With a proven record of success since its inception in 2001, the Acumen Fund has recently been attracting more and more large donors such as the 'Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation' and 'Google.org.' Such providers of philanthropic capital have approached the not-for-profit fund with millions of dollars in support of Acumen's mission-to use entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problem of global poverty. Through the application of a rigorous framework derived from the venture capital industry, this social venture capital fund has emerged as a leader in its domain. The current $27million portfolio under Acumen's management spans five countries (South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, India, and Pakistan) and fours sectors (health, housing, water, and energy).

The rest of this article from The Monroe Street Journal of the Stephen M. Ross School of Business is here. Acumen Fund homepage here.

Social Entrepreneurs in India

Here is an interesting article from Business Line India about social entrepreneurs building for-profit ventures serving the bottom of the pyramid. It mentions a number of organizations working to stimulate such ventures.