When night falls in remote parts of Africa and the Indian subcontinent, hundreds of millions of people without access to electricity turn to candles or kerosene lamps for illumination.

　　Slowly through small loans for solar powered devices, microfinance is bringing light to these rural regions where a lack of electricity has stemmed economic development, held down literacy rates and damaged health.

　　“Earlier, they could not do much once the sun set. Now, the sun is used differently. They have increased their productivity, improved their health and socio-economic status,” said Pinal Shah from SEWA Bank, a micro-lending institution.

　　Vegetable seller Ramiben Waghri took out a loan to buy a solar lantern which she uses to light up her stall at night. The lantern costs between $66-$112, about a week’s income for Waghri. “The vegetables look better by this light, and it’s cheaper than kerosene and doesn’t smell,” said Waghri, who estimates she makes about 300 rupees ($6) more each evening with her lantern. “If we can use the sun to save some money, why not?”

　　In India, solar power projects, often funded by micro credit institutions, are helping the country reduce carbon emissions and achieve its goal to double the contribution of renewable energy to 6%, or 25,000 megawatts, within the next four years.

　　Off-grid applications such as solar cookers and lanterns, which can provide several hours of light at night after being charged by the sun during the day, will help cut dependence on fossil fuels and reduce the fourth biggest emitter’s carbon footprint, said Pradeep Dadhich, a senior fellow at energy research institute TERI in India“ They are reaching people who otherwise have limited or no access to electricity and depend on kerosene, diesel or firewood for their energy need,” he said. “The appliances not only satisfy these needs, they also improve the quality of life and reduce the carbon emissions.”

　　SEWA, or the Self-Employed Women’s Association, is among a growing number of microfinance institutions in India focused on providing affordable renewable energy sources to poor people, who otherwise would have had to stand for hours to buy kerosene for lamps or trudge kilometers to collect firewood for cooking.

　　SKS, Microfinance, the largest such institution in India, offers solar lamps to its 5 million customers, while the Rural Solar Electricity Foundation helps pay for lamps and systems for homes and street lighting for villagers in India, Nepal and Bangladesh.

　　In neighboring Bangladesh, the state-owned and private-sector power plants can generate 3,700 to 4,300 megawatts of electricity a day against a demand of 5,500 megawatts, according to the state-run power development board. With only 40 percent of the country’s people having access to electricity, microfinance institutions like Grameen Bank have made a major push toward expanding the use of solar power. Since 2001, 350,000 solar home systems have been installed in Bangladesh and 550,000 solar lanterns have been distributed, bringing solar power to about 4 million people.

　　“Right now 2.5million people are benefiting from solar energy, and we have a plan to reach 10 million people by the end of 2012,” said Dipal Chandra Barua, managing director of Grameen Shakti, an offshoot of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Grameen Bank, which encourages the use of alternative energy.

　　參考答案

　　在印度次大陸的邊遠(yuǎn)地區(qū)，當(dāng)夜幕降臨的時候，數(shù)億人用不上電，靠蠟燭或煤油燈照明。用小額短期貸款購買太陽能裝置，小額借貸漸漸地給這些農(nóng)村地區(qū)帶來了光明。缺點(diǎn)一直阻礙著那些地方的經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展，限制了識字率的提高，損害了人們的健康。

　　賽瓦銀行是一家小額信貸機(jī)構(gòu)，其工作人員皮納·沙赫說，“早先，太陽一落山，人們就干不了多少事了。現(xiàn)在，采取不同的方法來利用太陽，人們提高了生產(chǎn)力，改善了健康狀況，提高了社會經(jīng)濟(jì)地位�！�

　　拉米本·瓦格里是一個菜販，她貸款購買了一盞太陽能燈，夜晚掛在菜攤上照明。一盞太陽能燈標(biāo)價66至112美元，大約是瓦格里女士這樣的人一周的收入。瓦格里女士說：“這盞燈一照，蔬菜顯得更新鮮了，而且這還比用煤油便宜，也沒什么氣味�！彼�估計，有了這盞燈，她每晚可多掙300盧比，合6美元。她說：“要是能用太陽省點(diǎn)錢，干嘛不呢?”

　　在印度，太陽能項(xiàng)目往往能得到小額信貸機(jī)構(gòu)的資助，這些項(xiàng)目正幫助這個國家減少碳排放，并在未來4年內(nèi)實(shí)現(xiàn)使可再生能源的貢獻(xiàn)率翻一番的目標(biāo)，即6%，合25,000兆瓦。

　　印度能源資源研究所(簡稱TERI)高級研究員普拉迪普·達(dá)迪奇稱，不靠電網(wǎng)供電的電器，如太陽能灶和在白天吸收太陽能后可在夜間照明數(shù)小時之久的太陽能燈，將有助于減少對化石燃料的依賴。他還說：“許多人用不上電，或只能用少量的電，而用煤油、柴油或柴火滿足其能源需求，現(xiàn)在他們也能用上這些電器了。這些電器不僅能滿足他們的需求，還能提高他們的生活質(zhì)量，減少碳排放量�！�

　　個體經(jīng)營婦女協(xié)會(簡稱SEWA)是印度日益增多的小額信貸機(jī)構(gòu)之一，其工作重點(diǎn)是向窮人提供廉價的可再生能源，否則這些窮人只得排數(shù)小時的隊(duì)去買煤油點(diǎn)燈，或跋涉幾公里路去拾柴做飯。

　　SKS小額借貸公司是印度此類機(jī)構(gòu)中最大的，它向500萬客戶提供太陽能燈，而農(nóng)村太陽能電力基金會則為印度、尼泊爾和孟加拉國村民購買此類家庭用燈和街道照明系統(tǒng)付款。

　　國家電力發(fā)展局提供的數(shù)據(jù)，在鄰國孟加拉，國營和私營發(fā)電廠每天能生產(chǎn)3700至4300兆瓦的電力，而每天的電需求量則是5500兆瓦。由于僅有40%的人能用上電，小額借貸機(jī)構(gòu)如格拉民銀行就大力推廣利用太陽能。自2001年以來，已在孟加拉國安裝了35萬套家用太陽能設(shè)備， 提供了55萬盞太陽能燈， 使約400萬人用上了太陽能。

　　格拉民銀行曾因提倡使用替代能源而榮獲2006年諾貝爾和平獎， 其分支機(jī)構(gòu)格拉民沙克蒂公司總裁迪帕.錢德拉.巴魯亞說， “目前有250萬人受益于太陽能，我們還有一個計劃，到2012年底前要把太陽能推廣至1000萬人�！�