BASE has been selected as a finalist for the renowned Keeling Curve Prize for designing the pay-per-use financial mechanism, which is promoting the uptake of energy-efficient cooling technologies worldwide.
The Keeling Curve Prize (KCP) is a flagship initiative of the Global Warming Mitigation Project that identifies and awards projects involved in helping rein in greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon sequestration, globally. Over 400 organisations applied to the 2021 edition of KCP, of which BASE is one among just 20 organisations to have passed the first stage of the rigorous evaluation process. BASE’s Cooling as a Service (CaaS) initiative was selected among the four most impactful climate projects in the field of finance for unlocking new investments to achieve energy-efficient transition in the cooling sector.
The CaaS business model aims to mainstream servitisation to make high quality and sustainable cooling appliances affordable for all in emerging economies. CaaS facilitates a transparent service contract between the client and a cooling technology provider through its pay-per-use model. The technology provider bears the burden of owning, repairing, and covering all operational costs of the equipment. In return, the user makes periodic payments at a fixed fee per unit cooling consumed, enabling the provider to carry out regular maintenance. In high-risk markets, consumers are also expected to pay a small premium over and above their monthly payments to shield the technology providers against financial loss in the event of default. Under the CaaS model, universalising life-saving cooling technologies does not burn a hole in the clients’ pockets, while at the same, the technology provider has the incentive to install the latest, environment-friendly air conditioners and refrigerators that offer the lowest life cycle costs to make the service more cost-effective.
Due to the broad applicability of the CaaS model, it has been adopted in various contexts, from increasing access to commercial cooling in India to installing agricultural cold storage in Nigeria to reduce food spoilage. In Colombia, the pay-per-use model was employed for providing a high-efficiency centralised air-conditioning system to 100 offices in a building constructed by the Q Group. The users paid for the cooling based on their metered usage, bringing an otherwise expensive high-efficiency system within their reach. Moreover, utilising a superior air-cooling mechanism saved an estimated 1,2GWh in energy and 440 ton CO2 in greenhouse gas emissions annually. Similarly, in South Africa, servitisation offered by Energy Partners allowed Afrupro, a food packaging company, to replace their outmoded ammonia refrigeration system with clean and reliable industrial process cooling. This switch decreased gas leaks prevalent in the old cooling system by 20%, ensuing in a total project CO2 emissions avoidance of 425 tons annually.
“We are delighted and proud to be recognised by the Keeling Curve Award among projects developing innovative, market-driven financial strategies to reduce the Earth’s greenhouse gas emissions and to prevent the effects of global warming,” shares Daniel Magallon, Managing Director at BASE.
Every year, KCP awards $25,000 to two projects with a proven track record of taking greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere in five categories: Capture and Utilisation, Energy, Finance, Social and Cultural Pathways, and Transport and Mobility. To learn about the pathbreaking work of all 2021 finalists, check out the selected solutions here or watch the video below.
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