Lao project short-listed for Green Oscars Award 2007

Lao sunlabob aims at making solar energy commercially viable yet affordable for the rural poor. It has succeeded in developing a commercially viable business model providing high quality solar PV systems to the rural poor at a price they can afford. The success and sustainability of the scheme place this project among 10 global projects shortlisted for the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy, popularly known as the “Green Oscars”.

Former US vice-president Al Gore will present the awards and more than 2,00,000 pounds (Rs 17 lakhs approx) of prize money to the winners at the Royal Geographical Society here on June 21.

“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,” Al Gore said.

Sunlabob Renewable Energies Ltd from Laos will compete with contenders from Bangladesh, China, Ghana, India, Nepal, Peru, Philippines and Tanzania for the five awards and the prize money earmarked to help project expansion and replication in other communities both locally and nation wide.

A brief list of all 2007 international finalists follows: ... more info:.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

source: http://www.ashdenawards.org/international_finalists_press_2007
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