IMGXYZ1455IMGZYXDifficulties in managing the shared Aral Sea water basin have created water and energy shortages throughout Central Asia. These cripple the most fragile economies in the region (Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan) and hamper education, as most schools lack electricity during daylight hours for six to seven months of the school year. In an effort to alleviate this problem in a way that furthers cross-border cooperation, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, working with Central Asia’s Eco-Energy Alliance, launched the Central Asia Renewable Energy and Remote Education Project in 2008. Dr. Vitaly V. Khinenzon, Chief Engineer for the project, joined Carnegie’s Martha Brill Olcott to offer an update on its progress.

•  The project is providing remote villages with access to the global community, as the classrooms remain open at night to serve as an Internet-Cafe, as well as eventually as an adult training center. Email and especially voice over internet will provide an inexpensive way for labor migrants to keep in touch with those left behind. Sale of time on the Internet, both in the café and by serving as a local Internet provider for other businesses and homes, will enable the project to be economically sustainable.


• The project is providing user-friendly teaching materials on the use of renewable energy, including how to design systems for domestic use.


• The communities will be shown how to inexpensively provide clean water for domestic use using renewable energy.


• As the project expands, it hopes to ameliorate ethnic tensions by serving schools in border areas. By doing so, the project fosters regional cooperation serving as a regional confidence builder.