African companies bag 2011 global green energy awards

Two energy companies from Africa have emerged winners of the world’s most prestigious green energy awards.

Toyola Energy from Ghana and ToughStuff international were the two African energy companies selected as winners of this year’s Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy.

Toyola Energy Ltd. from Ghana was awarded the coveted Gold Award worth £40,000 and ToughStuff International operating across Africa, was awarded a winning prize of £20,000.

The Prince of Wales, Patron of the Ashden Awards congratulated the international winners.

The prince said “the Ashden Awards show what it is possible to do now in saving resources and cutting emissions. They remind us how, as individuals, we can make a huge difference to the world in which we live. In a nutshell, they remind us that acting locally is, in fact, acting globally.”

The Ashden Awards showcase and reward pioneering clean energy schemes across the developing world that provided practical solutions to combat climate change and meet the energy needs of the poor.

Toyola Energy Ltd, Ghana was selected as the Gold Award winner in recognition of its success in making over 150,000 efficient charcoal stoves and marketing them to low-income families at very affordable prices.

Sarah Butler-Sloss, Founder Director of the Ashden Awards and chair of the judging panel said: “Toyola Energy Ltd. has taken a simple stove technology, adapted it to make it more robust and efficient and then focused its efforts on making the stoves accessible to the poor so that they can save money and have cleaner, healthier environments to cook in.

In the meantime Ghana’s forests are protected and greenhouse emissions reduced. This is a perfect example of how much can be achieved through the use of simple, clean energy technologies and clever, pro-poor marketing strategies”

ToughStuff International, Africa and UK, was selected as an Award winner for the manufacture and marketing of a range of low-cost and robust solar products to off-grid communities mainly in Kenya and Madagascar.

Butler-Sloss said: “ToughStuff’s dynamism, ambition and commitment to local solar energy as a key solution to meeting the energy needs of the poor, is something we want to see replicated across the globe. Not only do they have vision and a commitment to rolling out clean technologies to the poor, they also have an extremely effective and successful marketing strategy, which means they are well placed to realise their ambitious targets”.

Other winners include Abellon CleanEnergy Ltd, Gujarat, India selected for producing biomass pellets from crop waste to fuel Gujarat’s industries and for giving farmers a market for their waste products. The Aga Khan Planning and Building Service, Pakistan selected for helping families in remote mountain villages save energy and enjoy warmer and more comfortable homes by installing a range of energy-efficient products.

Another Indian company, Husk Power Systems, Bihar, India selected for connecting remote villages in Bihar to a clean, reliable electricity supply, which provides better light, harnesses a widespread waste product – rice husks – and costs less than alternatives.

All three companies got a winner prize of £20,000 each. The runners-up are AJDR Cooperative, Rwanda was awarded a runner-up prize of £3,000 for helping street kids and unemployed youth earn an income by making fuel-efficient charcoal-burning stoves from scrap metal, heat retaining insulated baskets and wood burning rocket stoves.

Nuru East Africa Ltd, Rwanda was awarded a runner-up prize of £1,500 for finding a new way to provide affordable lighting in rural areas using LED rechargeable lamps that sell for only US$5. Ugastove Limited, Uganda, was awarded a runner-up prize of £1,500 for making fuel-efficient charcoal and wood stoves for homes, schools and businesses, which sell for as little as US$7 and for making the stoves accessible to the poor.

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Posted by admin on July 19, 2011. Filed under Energy, Lead Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry