Africa News general desk
The Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy are seeking entries for the 2012 awards, a press statement to Africanews.com read. The contest aims at inspirational, innovative local clean energy programmes from across Africa, Asia (including China), Central and South America and the Caribbean.
The statement noted that entries must focus on reducing carbon emissions and providing significant social and economic benefits to their communities.
“Entry is free, and up to six winners will receive £20,000 each in prize money for programme development, with one winner receiving a gold award of £40,000. The Ashden Awards are unique: we offer our winners a package of benefits and tailored support designed to help them scale up; provide a platform to promote their work through events, media coverage, and film and make introductions to potential funders and investors,” it added.
Willem Nolens, Director of Rural Energy Foundation, 2010 Ashden Award winner, noted: “The Ashden Award gave us access to new funding and a pool of expertise which has helped us tremendously by strengthening our strategy and accelerating the transformation of our organisation into a social enterprise.”
The organisers said 2011 is giving particular interest to organisations delivering end user or carbon finance, manufacturers of new products providing renewable electricity or clean cooking for low-income customers, off-grid and grid-connected renewable electricity schemes bringing significant local benefits and the production of renewable fuel for heat or electricity generation.
The closing date for international applications is 18 October 2011.
