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LONDON, MAY 25: A Kerala company involved in tackling the problem of dumped food waste and a Karnataka firm that has provided thousands of rural families dung-based biogas plants are 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 200,000 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.
BIOTECH from Kerala and SKG Sangha from Karnataka will compete with contenders from Bangladesh, China, Ghana, Lao PDR, 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.
BIOTECH has been selected for tackling the problem of the dumping of food waste in the streets of Kerala through the installation of biogas plants that use the waste to produce gas for cooking and, in some cases, electricity for lighting.
To date BIOTECH has built and installed an impressive 12,000 domestic plants (160 of which also use human waste from latrines to avoid contamination of ground water), 220 institutional plants and 17 municipal plants that use waste from markets to power generations. |