What Role Does Innovation Play in MSF’s Energy Transition?
How can MSF accelerate an effective energy transition by improving access to stable, resilient, and sustainable energy at the diverse sites where we provide healthcare and humanitarian aid? Can this be done without compromising the safety or the quality of our services?
This article provides a brief overview of what the broad field of energy transition encompasses, looks at how innovation boosts the shift to renewables and explores how sustainable energy solutions fit into the broader planetary health developments in MSF. The article concludes with a Q&A with Iñaki Goicolea, Energy & HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) Team Leader at MSF Operational Center Brussels (OCB), who debunks three potentially harmful myths about the transition to sustainable energy solutions.
An MSF team is installing solar panels on the roof of Shamwana hospital in Democratic Republic of the Congo.What is Energy Transition?
Traditionally, an energy system refers to all processes comprising the energy chain: production, distribution, and consumption.
Energy transition refers to significant structural changes in energy systems and a pathway toward transforming the energy sector from fossil-based to zero-carbon. One example of the transition to more sustainable energy is a shift from diesel generators to solar power.
“Energy is an area where technological innovations can help reduce MSF’s carbon emissions and negative impact on the planet and simultaneously improve the quality of our services.”
The Role of Energy in MSF
Energy is key for MSF’s operations, from operating medical equipment to supporting IT infrastructure and storing vaccines and medications. Failure to launch and sustain efficient energy systems in MSF operations could be a case of life or death for patients.
Ensuring a high-quality energy supply together with the safety of people, the protection of equipment, and the continuity of service has always been both a challenge and a priority within MSF. As the effect of climate change on human health and wellbeing has increased in recent years, securing sustainable energy production has become more important
MSF recognizes the medical and humanitarian consequences of climate change and environmental degradation – we witness many of them first-hand when we provide healthcare services in many of the most vulnerable communities around the world. We know human health and planetary health are interconnected. In the spirit of the ‘do no harm' principle, members from every corner of the MSF movement acknowledge that we must reduce our environmental footprint.
As a humanitarian organization, our environmental impact reaches far beyond the energy systems we set up to enable our core activities. However, energy is an area where technological innovations can help reduce our carbon emissions and negative impact on the planet and simultaneously improve the quality of our services.
Shifting Into Sustainable Energy Solutions
MSF often operates in difficult terrains, in remote off-grid locations, and under challenging conditions. Local contextual constraints such as climate, accessibility, and local availability of materials in combination with our patients’ rapidly evolving needs require highly flexible energy solutions, easily adaptable to each unique situation.
Designing long-term energy solutions adapted to MSF’s various operational realities requires an innovative and systematic approach to developing and managing energy provision.
The MSF Sweden Innovation Unit (SIU)has worked together with various MSF Operational Centers to manage a range of projects of different sizes and time spans with a strong energy and sustainability profile. One example is the extension of the OCB Energy Vision in 2018. The case aimed to provide a more holistic approach to energy across the MSF movement.
Other energy-focused cases in the SIU portfolio include the Solar Air Conditioning Case and Operating Theatre Ventilation and Climate Control Case. Across MSF, energy transition activities are included in both small-scale interventions such as the Runaway Backpack Project and large-scale, long-term projects such as MSF’s first fully solar-powered hospital in Kenema, Sierra Leone.
Energy Transition is also about transforming how we use energy on a system level. The Energy Behaviour Change Project is a collaboration between MSF and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), aiming to improve the understanding of what measures can be taken within the two organizations' operations to reduce energy use. The project's initial findings have been summarized in the Energy Behaviour Change: Phase 1 Report.
Someone who has been involved in many MSF energy projects is Iñaki Goicolea. He joined MSF as a Field Logistician in 2011 and has worked across the world with MSF. In 2018, he started working at the MSF HQ, focusing on electrical installations. When SIU gave him a call to learn more about his work with energy transition in MSF, he was one month into a new role as Energy and HVAC Team Leader at MSF Operational Center Brussels. Here is his take on why energy transition matters to MSF and his aspirations for what the future may look like.
SIU: Do you remember a specific moment when you realized that we have to change how we work with energy in MSF?
Iñaki: My conviction that MSF has to shift to an energy system dominated by clean, renewable electricity has grown over time. When I worked in the field, I often saw used batteries on the ground in remote rural areas. Every time I found a battery in the middle of the jungle, I thought we must change how we operate to ensure that our operations do not harm people or the environment. It was the same every time I saw how we had to ship diesel to off-grid areas to fuel the generators used to secure energy supply in these places. There are many alternative energy sources, and it is great to see more of these being used in our MSF's operations – but we still have a long way to go.
SIU: When MSF shifts to more sustainable energy solutions and sources, we want to maintain the same safety and efficacy as before. Do you think there are areas where we can go beyond maintenance to actual improvement?
Iñaki: Yes, there are projects where we have improved operations through energy transition, for example, at the Kigulube hospital in the South Kivu province in the Dominican Republic of Congo (DRC). Before MSF installed 100 solar panels on the roof of the hospital, only parts of the hospital had electricity, and the doctors sometimes had to operate in the dark. The bathrooms were not equipped with lighting, and women and girls often did not dare to go there after dark. The solar system improved both energy access and reliability, and now all parts of the hospital have lighting.
Editor's note: For more information about how the photovoltaic (solar power) system at Kigulube hospital improves patient care and saves costs, check out this 2.5-minute video.
SIU: What role does innovation play in boosting energy transition?
Iñaki: By adopting an innovative approach to energy systems, we can embrace new solutions and drive energy transition.
One example where innovation has helped spur the adoption of an energy-efficient and sustainable solution across many MSF operational centres is the Sweden Innovation Unit's hybrid solar air condition (AC) project. If we go back a few years, MSF used traditional AC systems powered by generators. Today, many operational centres use this newer model that runs on solar power during the daytime. I think this nicely illustrates how identifying 'only' one new product can have a considerable impact on MSF operations.
Editor's Note: For more information about the Solar AC project, check out the case page here. As part of this project, SIU has teamed up with Arup and MSF France to develop a solar AC sizing tool that aims to speed up the scaling, dissemination, and overall usage of solar AC units and promote conscious and data-driven decisions on where, how, and when to use solar AC solutions. You can learn more about the tool here.
SIU: Working in a humanitarian context, is there something specific MSF teams must think about when shifting into sustainable energy solutions?
Iñaki: We have to balance driving innovation and ensuring safety in our operations. We cannot take risks that jeopardize the safety of our patients or staff. Before adopting a new solution, we must do extensive research to ensure that we do not adopt a system that causes unexpected downtime or needs constant or costly repairs. Getting spare parts to some of the areas we work in is highly resource demanding.
Further, we have to ensure that we work with the local communities to get their buy-in when introducing new solutions. Depending on the solution, community members might be the end-users. In these cases, it is essential that the solution is context-appropriate and well understood by the people in the community.
SIU: What are the biggest barriers to accelerating the energy transition in MSF?
Iñaki: In my experience, people who are sceptical about energy transition tend to worry about three main things:
Can we uphold the same operational standard if we replace tried and tested energy solutions with newer models? The answer to this is yes. As already mentioned, Kigulube hospital is one example. We have to be mindful of what solutions we introduce where, but when we make informed decisions about what energy solutions we use, we can improve our operational standards.
How much is this going to cost? Prices on solar panels and other renewable energy solutions have gone down significantly in recent years. In many cases, you will get a return on your investment within 5-10 years. We have to remember that many transitional solutions are very costly. For example, transporting diesel to remote areas to run generators is both expensive and cumbersome.
Will the resources and the expertise we need to implement new energy solutions be available in the regions we work in? If we managed to shift to 100% solar powered energy in a hospital in a remote part of DRC, there is no place where we can not do it. Many communities where we work understand the importance of shifting to more sustainable energy solutions, and there is much local expertise to tap into.
Are you interested in getting more insights into SIU cases and the broader planetary health development within MSF? Make sure to sign up for the bi-monthly MSF Innovation Newsletter to stay afoot of all humanitarian health innovations in MSF and beyond.