Three Indian projects are among 11 vying for 2006's Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy, popularly known as the 'Green Oscars'.
The awards, now in its 6th year -- rewards outstanding initiatives that use sustainable technologies to meet the needs of local communities and at the same time address the urgent challenge of climate change.
The total prize money involved in the global awards is 200,000 pounds ($373,060).
The three Indian finalists are Appropriate Rural Technology Institute in Maharashtra, International Development Enterprises India and Vivekananda Kendra-NARDEP in Tamil Nadu.
The awards will be presented in London on June 15.
ARTI is chosen for designing a revolutionary biogas system that uses food waste and other sugar, starchy substances rather than dung to produce gas for cooking.
It only needs to be 'fed' 1 kg per day to produce 500 litres of gas. The digestion process is much quicker -- taking place within 48 hours instead of the 40 days required when using dung.
The system is also cheap and simple to install and, unlike traditional biogas plants that are large and require readily available livestock waste, it can be used in urban areas.
Indeed, one of its many benefits is that it helps clear city streets of rotting food.
The IDEI has been selected for promoting a device that allows farmers on the plains of India to grow crops all year round rather than wait for the monsoon.
This simple device is a treadle pump that uses human power to pump water from wells, streams and lakes up onto the fields.
Over the last 10 years IDEI has helped create a largely self-financing network of manufacturers, retailers and installers, which has seen over half a million pumps sold and installed.
Most farmers who have bought the pump have seen their annual income double; for some, it has increased five-fold.
Many farmers find they can now stay on their land all year round and do not have to seek work in the cities.
The treadle pump has transformed the lives of some of India's rural poor at a cost of less than 20 pounds -- including the well.
The Vivekananda Kendra was selected for making a series of advances in biogas design. This technology, which turns livestock waste into gas for cooking and uses the residue as fertilizer, is well-proven.
VK-NARDEP has made a series of developments, including an affordable biogas plant made largely from bamboo.
The distinctive feature of this latest scheme is the use of the slurry as fertilizer. Usually slurry is simply spread onto the fields, but VK-NARDEP combines it with a range of other natural ingredients to form a powerful organic mixture.
It is so effective that some users are abandoning artificial fertilizers altogether and giving a major boost to the prospects for organic farming across the region.
All three show how, by using sustainable energy at the local level, it is possible to significantly curb carbon emissions and dependence on fossil fuels whilst radically transforming the lives of local communities.
They provide real-life examples of how poverty, lack of access to resources and climate change can be tackled simultaneously, which is vital if we are to secure ourselves a sustainable future.
Sarah Butler-Sloss, founder and chairman of the Ashden Awards 2006 judging panel, said, "There is an urgent need to
highlight and reward initiatives that provide realistic and effective solutions to the combined challenge of climate change and poverty.
"This year's Ashden Award finalists -- whether they use solar power, biogas or fuel-efficient stoves -- all represent new and diverse approaches to this challenge by bringing to light the work they are doing. The Ashden Awards hope that others will be encouraged to follow."
The other finalists are GERES, Cambodia, for working with local potters to redesign the traditional charcoal stove so that it uses around a quarter less fuel, cooks more cleanly and quickly and last longer, GIRA, Mexico (stoves), Grameen Shakti, Bangladesh (solar systems), Mwanza Rural Housing Programme, Tanzania (fire bricks for house construction), Rahimafrooz Batteries Ltd, Bangladesh (batteries for solar systems), SEEDS, Sri Lanka (solar power) and Shaanxi Mothers, China (biogas plants).
