Ashden Awards - The finalists have been selected for this leading green energy award

Contributed by James Robinson
24 May 2007

Pioneering projects from Africa, Asia and Latin America have been selected to compete in the world's leading green energy awards with prizes presented by Al Gore.

The world's leading green energy prize, the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy, has selected ten renewable energy pioneers from across the globe to enter the final stage of the competition, which takes place in London in June.

The former US Vice President Mr Al Gore, who will present the prizes at the Ashden Awards ceremony held at the Royal Geographical Society in London, on 21st June, commented: "The Ashden Awards are a powerful reminder that well designed and managed local sustainable energy initiatives can tackle climate change while meeting the needs of local communities. Tackling these issues simultaneously - in both rich and poor countries - is critical to addressing the twin planetary challenges of climate change and sustainable development." The ten finalists from Bangladesh, China, Ghana, India (x2) Laos, Nepal, Peru, Philippines and Tanzania, will compete for five awards and more than £200,000 of prize money earmarked to help project expansion and replication in other communities both locally and nationwide.

The finalists will be in London next month for the last stage of the judging process.

Sarah Butler-Sloss, founder and chair of the Ashden Awards said: "All the finalists were selected because they stand out as inspiring examples of how providing local sustainable energy solutions to reduce global carbon emissions can also reap tremendous social and economic rewards for local communities around the world. They deserve to be highlighted and used to inspire others"

A brief list of all 2007 international finalists follows:

BANGLADESH: Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha for building up a fleet of 88 boats that use solar energy to bring education, training and renewable energy supplies to over 400,000 people living in the remote Chalanbeel region of Bangladesh.
Click here for a full summary

CHINA: Beijing Shenzhou Daxu Bio-energy Technology Company Ltd for developing and marketing an innovative stove design that replaces coal by burning widely available crop waste as well as burning wood much more efficiently.
Click here for a full summary

GHANA: Deng Ltd for developing a viable and sustainable business for the provision of solar-home-systems to rural areas where access to grid supply is limited.
Click here for a full summary

INDIA: BIOTECH for developing and installing biogas plants in Kerala that use food waste which is often left out in the streets to rot, to generate gas for cooking.
Click here for a full summary

INDIA: SKG Sangha for improving the lives of rural communities in Karnataka, South India by supplying them with both dung based biogas plants for cooking and a specially designed unit that turns the slurry from the biogas plant into high quality fertiliser.
Click here for a full summary

LAO PDR: Sunlabob Renewable Energies Ltd for developing an innovative and commercially viable business model which provides high quality solar PV systems to the rural poor at a price they can afford.
Click here for a full summary

NEPAL: Centre for Rural Technology, Nepal for upgrading over 2,400 traditional water mills in the Himalayas of Nepal and so , improving livelihoods for millers and mill users and stemming the rise in diesel mills.
Click here for a full summary

PERU: Practical Action for transforming the lives of over 30,000 people living in remote villages in the Andes by providing them with electricity generated by micro-hydro plants.
Click here for a full summary

PHILIPPINES: Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation Inc. for developing a ram pump design built to last at least twenty years and for bringing clean water to over 15,000 people through the installation of these ram pumps in 68 hillside villages in the Philippines.
Click here for a full summary

TANZANIA: Zara Solar Ltd. for providing high quality, reliable solar-home-systems at affordable prices to communities lacking access to a reliable source of energy.
Click here for a full summary

Notes to editors


For further information or interviews contact Maya Vaughan, Press and PR Manager:
T + 44 (0) 207 263 2551; M + 44 (0) 7726926227;
E maya.vaughan@...
also Juliet.heller@...

For short summaries on each of the international finalists
www.ashdenawards.org/finalists_2007

Photos of all international finalists can be downloaded at:
www.ashdenawards.org/projects_2007_photos

Film footage of the projects will also be available to select media on request

For press release on the UK finalists
www.ashdenawards.org/UK_finalists_press_2007

The Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy reward outstanding and innovative projects in the UK and developing countries which tackle climate change and improve quality of life by providing renewable energy and energy efficiency at a local level.

For further information, including details on funders and supporters go to: www.ashdenawards.org