ENVIRONMENT: ‘Noon at Darkness’ Finds the Spotlight

By Sanjay Suri Reprint | | Print |

Sanjay Suri

LONDON, Jun 10 2003 (IPS) - The sun has begun to shine in the dark on little islands where the Ganga river meets the Bay of Bengal, in the remote forests of Peru and in some of the darkest villages of the Himalayas.

And it has begun to shine in remote villages of central India for roadside vendors who had to make do with kerosene lamps before, both costly and smoky.

But here Ram Chandra Prasad who has developed the solar substitutes has a problem. He faces strong resistance from those in the kerosene lamp business. He is now trying to convince them that the sun is not so bad.

Solar energy is not new. But the light in the lives of these villages from Peru to India is.

Local people who created this new light are among a small group of six shortlisted for a relatively new kind of awards to be presented in London next month – the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy, also known as ‘green Oscars’.

The awards carry about 150,000 dollars prize money. But more, they draw attention to all sorts of initiatives people are taking in all sorts of places.

In Peru the new solar energy has saved 60 lives already, the citation for the nomination says. The group, the Madrid Association of Engineering Without Borders developed by Spanish and Peruvian health professionals, has installed solar-powered communication systems at 39 remote forest health posts, covering a population of 50,000 in an area without phones or electricity.

This system enables both voice and email communication, and has resulted in fewer emergency evacuations, improved epidemic prevention systems, more effective use of drugs and, most importantly, the saving of human lives.

Or take the so-called Barefoot College in the Himalayas. Since 1990 it has provided lighting using solar panels in more than 136 remote and virtually inaccessible Himalayan villages.

Ninety men and 19 women, many of them illiterate, have been trained as barefoot engineers to maintain the fixed units and solar lanterns provided. Local villagers no longer have to walk for two days to get a 20-litre jerry can of kerosene that had to last one month.

Residents of 55 islands on the delta of the Ganges, who cannot be linked by a power grid, have now been given grid quality solar powered electricity for five to six hours a day. Nine solar mini-grid systems are being developed for longer supply.

The power supply so far has brought safe drinking water, health facilities, electricity for economic activities and a reduction in snakebite cases.

But there is more to saving energy than going solar. The Energy Research and Training Centre in Eritrea has developed smokeless and fuel-efficient clay stoves that bring significant reductions to domestic wood and dung burning, and health benefits to the users, particularly women.

Prize money, the centre says, would be used to train 900 women to make stoves, each of whom would train a further 10 women in their village.

Another group shortlisted is Prolena Nicaragua for promoting the tortilla business using the "eco stove" that eliminates wood smoke and excessive heat exposure to the women using these stoves.

The technology was developed under the leadership of Rogerio de Miranda, a Brazilian forest engineer. Prize money would be used to reach 1,000 household businesses in rural and semi- rural areas of Nicaragua.

"The whole emphasis is on projects that provide solutions," Sarah Butler- Sloss, chairman of the Ashden Awards 2003 judging panel told IPS. Interest in the projects that win awards helps spread their success widely, she said. The awards, instituted by the Ashden group, which is a part of the Sainsbury’s retail chain, are now in their third year.

The shortlist this year was drawn from several entries from 25 countries. The awards seek to promote innovative renewable energy projects that bring social and economic benefits for local communities and also protect the environment.

The six finalist projects were chosen for offering practical solutions for energy provision and emissions management in developing areas.

The awards will be presented June 18 by Lord Whitty, Minister for Farming, Food and Sustainable Energy, and Jonathon Porritt, environmentalist and chair of the Sustainable Development Commission.