Two Indian Projects win Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy
Two of the four Green Oscars this year were awarded to Indian projects shortlisted for their innovative use of solar energy.
Bunker Roy’s Barefoot College, which has been providing lighting using solar panels in over 136 remote Himalayan villages across seven states, won the Ashden Award for community welfare and S.P. Gon Chaudhuri’s West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency, which has been supplying grid-quality electricity to Sagar Island in Sunderbans, received the award for enterprise.
These projects prove that no technology can be successful unless the community is taken into confidence. These solar panels are prepared, maintained and repaired entirely by the community.
Set up in 1990, the Barefoot College is conceived and run along Gandhian lines where villagers are provided free-of-cost and informal training. This college is for the copouts, dropouts and washouts of society. Everyone is a teacher and everyone is a learner.
The shortlist was drawn up after site visits by Ashden Award’s judges and the finalists were then subjected to a gruelling process of interviews and debates. Each award comes with £30,000 prize money and a trophy made of reclaimed timber.
Mr Chaudhury, helped set up India’s largest solar power plant on Manshuni Island in West Bengal. The Sagar Island is popularly known as Solar Island.
Now in its third year, the Green Oscars reward practical solutions for energy provision and emissions management in developing areas. This year, the awards categories were expanded to include UK-based projects as well. These awards are a message to the world that it is possible to make improvements without entirely relying on unsustainable sources.
Ram Chandra Prasad, a dedicated environmentalist and activist, who heads the Madhya Pradesh Gramin Vikas Mandal, India, was a losing finalist.
Bunker Roy’s Barefoot College, which has been providing lighting using solar panels in over 136 remote Himalayan villages across seven states, won the Ashden Award for community welfare and S.P. Gon Chaudhuri’s West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency, which has been supplying grid-quality electricity to Sagar Island in Sunderbans, received the award for enterprise.
These projects prove that no technology can be successful unless the community is taken into confidence. These solar panels are prepared, maintained and repaired entirely by the community.
Set up in 1990, the Barefoot College is conceived and run along Gandhian lines where villagers are provided free-of-cost and informal training. This college is for the copouts, dropouts and washouts of society. Everyone is a teacher and everyone is a learner.
The shortlist was drawn up after site visits by Ashden Award’s judges and the finalists were then subjected to a gruelling process of interviews and debates. Each award comes with £30,000 prize money and a trophy made of reclaimed timber.
Mr Chaudhury, helped set up India’s largest solar power plant on Manshuni Island in West Bengal. The Sagar Island is popularly known as Solar Island.
Now in its third year, the Green Oscars reward practical solutions for energy provision and emissions management in developing areas. This year, the awards categories were expanded to include UK-based projects as well. These awards are a message to the world that it is possible to make improvements without entirely relying on unsustainable sources.
Ram Chandra Prasad, a dedicated environmentalist and activist, who heads the Madhya Pradesh Gramin Vikas Mandal, India, was a losing finalist.
Renewingindia.org
