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Energy in Common (EIC) is a not-for-profit organization, which is the first to enable microloans specifically and only for renewable energy technologies. EIC was founded by Hugh Whalan and Scott Tudman in 2009 (website launch 2010). It has the very ambitious goal of delivering renewable energy to 15 million people in the next five years, while fighting poverty by empowering developing world entrepreneurs through microloans.〔M. Popova. Energy In Common: New Microfinance Venture Fights Poverty with Clean Energy. The Huffington Post. April 19, 2010. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maria-popova/energy-in-common-new-micr_b_542278.html〕 EIC represents one of the most promising contenders in the growing green microfinance sector. EIC operates very similarly to Kiva. In the case of Kiva, lenders provide funds with zero return expected to developing world entrepreneurs to invest in their businesses (typical loans are for things like seeds for farming). EIC does this as well, but specifically focuses on purchasing renewable energy systems like solar photovoltaic panels. What makes EIC particularly unique in the microfinance non-profit sector is that they have created a model to measure the greenhouse gas emission reductions that are created by their loans. The EIC model helps provide funding to developing world entrepreneurs for energy solutions and also helps to channel additional funding into mitigating climate change. == Method of operation == # EIC enables individuals to lend money to poor entrepreneurs in the developing world via website using a Kiva-like model that connects individual lenders and borrowers. Upon choosing a borrower the lender can decide how much to lend - either a fraction or the entire loan requested by the borrower. The minimum loan is set at $25 for the standard microloans and $5 for their innovative nanoloans (discussed below). The total of a given range is usually found between $40 and a thousand dollars. When enough individual lenders have provided the fractional loans to a borrower and the total amount required has been reached, the loan is dispersed by the EIC. All of the EIC loans are meant to directly alleviate poverty and mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. # EIC has partnered with several microfinance institutions (MFI)s. The MFIs provide EIC with lists of potential borrowers, which are screened by the EIC before any individual borrower is profiled. MFIs are responsible for disbursing the loan directly to the borrower and all maintenance and support services to the borrower after the energy product is purchased. To cover the expenses related to this responsibility, the MFIs receives all of the interest charged to the customer for the loan. For their part, the EIC helps their MFIs partners with sourcing reliable energy technologies. Currently, EIC works with four MFIs all based in Sub-Saharan Africa, but has plans to expand into other regions.〔http://www.nextbillion.net/blog/energy-in-common〕 # When a loan is repaid, funds are deposited back into the lender's account and EIC calculates the individual project's GHG emission reductions. These GHG emission reductions can be used by a lender to offset their carbon emissions through a tax deductible donation to EIC. Presumably the carbon credits may also be sold to third parties. The total carbon emission offsets are determined for a project by subtracting the carbon emissions before and after the energy loan was provided. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Energy in Common」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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