Green energy awards call for 2011 entries

20 Sep 2010

The Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy is open for entries from local sustainable energy programmes from Africa, Asia and Latin America. Entry is free, and six international winners will receive £20,000 (Ksh2.5 million) each in prize money for programme development, with one winner receiving a gold award of £40,000 (Ksh5 million). The awards will be presented at a ceremony in London in June 2011.

Call for African participation

"For 2011 we are particularly interested in applications from Africa and we are keen to hear from organisations who are working to reduce deforestation. We look for schemes that are technically rigorous, have an element of innovation and - most importantly - make a genuine difference to local peoples' lives, both socially and economically. Many are doing this by boosting local peoples' income, providing employment or training, installing lighting for schoolwork and even improving women's status in their community," says Sarah Butler-Sloss, founder and chair of the Ashden Awards.

To win an award, schemes must have been consistently successful for at least one year with plans for further expansion. Schemes must also be able to scale up and be highly replicable to ensure maximum impact against poverty and climate change.

Benefits of winning an Ashden Award include:

An award prize of £20,000 or £40,000 for expanding the winner's work.
A short, broadcast-quality documentary film of the award-winning work.
Presentations and films of the work shown to a large and influential audience at the awards ceremony and conference.
A support package to help the award-winning work go further, including introductions to grant, carbon and investment finance.
Membership of the network of Ashden Award winners, who are practitioners in local, sustainable energy.

2010 International Gold Award winner D.light Design said: "The press exposure we have received from the awards has been incredible. Our website traffic has jumped up substantially and we have had visitors from all across the world. We have had a massive surge in distributer inquiries, and almost all of them heard about us through our interviews with the BBC."

World-renowned TV broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, who presented the awards in 2010, commented: "These award-winners are champions at delivering practical ways of protecting our planet and its precious biodiversity through the use of sustainable energy. They are reducing carbon emissions and protecting local eco-systems, while improving the lives of the people they touch. They greatly deserve to be celebrated for their important role in tackling both climate change and poverty."

Winning entrants

Recent winners include biogas programmes building domestic and institutional digesters in Kenya, Vietnam, and India; micro hydro schemes bringing power to remote areas in Brazil and Peru and businesses selling solar home systems and lanterns from Nicaragua to Africa and India.

The 2010 award winners were announced at our awards ceremony on 1 July 2010. For more, go to www.ashdenawards.org/winners.

For further information on eligibility criteria and to download an application form, go to www.ashdenawards.org/int_awards or contact Jane Howarth on tel: + 44 20 7410 7023 or email gro.sdrawanedhsa@ofni.