The E2E Foundation has completed a study in collaboration with the Electrochemical Engineering Group of the National University of Colombia (GRIEQUI), to assess the Social Return on investment (SROI) for ground-breaking renewable energy technology.
Reverse Electrodialysis (RED) is a renewable energy technology that GRIEQUI will be piloting in Colombia. It takes advantage of the electrochemical exchanges between salt and freshwater to generate zero-impact renewable energy.
GRIEQUI commissioned E2E to complete an SROI study to assess the social benefits of constructing RED plants in coastal regions of Colombia. The study projects that for every dollar spent on the RED project, 2.5 dollars of social value will be generated at a household level, and that the future social value of RED will be much higher.
RED is also predicted to produce many more social and environmental benefits, not just at the household level, but also on the community and international level—depending on the scale and scope of the project.
Sara Vallejo at GRIEQUI said: "This was a very valuable study [for GRIEQUI]. . . if something has a benefit for society, it is worth it to find out what those benefits are.”
Teryn Wolfe, Executive Director at E2E, said: “The study was commissioned to not only compare the social benefit from RED in the common language of money, but also to provide GRIEQUI with the tools to understand how their project creates — or potentially destroys — social value. It will enable GRIEQUI to adjust their activities to ensure that they not only have a positive financial return on investment, but also create maximum social impact.”
E2E will continue to support GRIEQUI in the development of RED in Colombia.
Notes:
- SROI is an innovative impact measurement technique that ties financial investments and outcomes to social outcomes, and assigns a monetary value to the social impacts created as a result. Typically, the results are interpreted as a ratio of for every dollar spent, in other words, that X amount of dollars of social value is created. Some of the variables measured in the study were: social values created as a result of mitigated carbon equivalent emissions; time saved from manual household labor; social benefits for local businesses; and the benefits of extra hours of lighting.
- Impact measurement and SROI are an integral part of all of E2E’s projects as well as important services offered to the E2E network.
- GRIEQUI (Grupo de Ingeniería Electroquímica de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia) is the Electrochemical Engineering group of OCEANICOS, a research group at the School of Mines at the National University of Colombia in Medellin. OCEANICOS’s purpose is to research and create knowledge for sustainable ocean management and costal development.
- E2E is a lean, high-impact non-profit based in Medellin, Colombia. To find out more about E2E, our mission and our services, visit www.e2efundacion.org.
- To request of copy of the study from GRIEQUI, contact Sara Vallejo at [email protected]