UK runners-up
Carbon Co-op
Everybody needs good neighbours!
This community benefit society in the Greater Manchester area is helping its members to achieve major energy and CO2 savings through retrofitting their homes. A group of more than 100 householders have teamed up with technical experts to look at how best to implement changes to improve comfort, cut energy bills and reduce CO2 emissions by a significant amount.
For a nominal fee of £35 a year, members get discounts on training events, home energy surveys and can purchase works and materials at a discount to reduce the cost of retrofitting their homes. In a recent deep retrofit programme carried out by Carbon Co-op, average savings per property are in the region of £1,000 a year.
RES
Redefining how we think about energy storage
Large-scale energy storage is an emerging technology for the UK, but Hertfordshire-based RES has built itself a strong reputation in the sector, with 147 MW of capacity constructed or under development around the world. It has now built its first battery storage system in the UK, for Western Power Distribution (WPD), co-located with a solar farm in Somerset.
Using its pioneering RESolve software, RES is enabling WPD to trial a range of different functions that can improve solar farm economics, smooth out local supply and demand, and stabilise voltage and frequency on the grid. Having completed the 0.3 MW storage site for WPD, RES is now in the process of developing a further 55 MW of storage in the UK, to be brought online by early 2018.
Sunamp Ltd
Delivering heat and hot water the low carbon way
A world leader in thermal energy storage, Sunamp designs, produces and sells compact heat batteries that can be used to store heat from a range of different sources in order to supply domestic hot water and space heating. The heat batteries take up much less space than a hot water tank, can store heat for longer and are more efficient.
The Sunamp system loses much less heat than a water tank, saving a household up to £100 a year straight away, and up to another £200 can be saved annually by diverting excess electricity from a solar photovoltaic system.
International runners-up
African Clean Energy (ACE)
Cooking on gas in Lesotho
ACE in Lesotho have come up with an advanced cookstove, the ACE 1, which is among the cleanest and most high-tech stoves currently available, providing clean cooking with a range of biomass fuels as well as offering solar electricity for mobile phone charging and LED lighting.
As well as improving health and reducing deforestation, the high-specification stoves – which are made locally – are affordable and tailored to the needs of low-income customers. ACE prides itself on high levels of employment for women at all levels of the company from factory floor to management.
Ampere Vehicles
All power to the electric vehicle
The electric vehicle market is booming and India is no exception. Ampere Vehicles is making electric bikes and scooters affordable for rural consumers as well as manufacturing electric scooters for people who are disabled and waste collection vehicles used in villages. To date the company has sold more than 14,000 long-life battery vehicles, helping to tackle air pollution and make a real dent in climate change emissions.
Angaza Design
Making mobile pay-as-you-go the obvious choice for off-grid solar
Angaza Design is enabling manufacturers and distributors to make energy products affordable to the world’s one billion off-grid consumers. The company partners with manufacturers of solar products ranging from small study lamps to higher-wattage solar home systems that are capable of charging mobile phones, powering TVs and multiple lights at once.
GPS Renewables
Making biogas work harder in India
GPS Renewables is a waste-to-energy technology company that is pioneering the development of clean and low-cost technology for waste management solutions in India and abroad. By using cutting edge monitoring tools, the company is exemplifying how to make biogas from industrial food waste an appealing, reliable energy source for businesses including hotels and universities. GPS currently manages over 50 tonnes of waste a day.
SunCulture
Powering an agricultural revolution
SunCulture designs, manufactures, finances and distributes solar-powered irrigation systems that make it simpler and cheaper for farmers in Kenya to grow high quality produce. Passionate about the intersection between technology and agriculture, SunCulture is improving smallholder farmer livelihoods and environmental sustainability. The organisation is launching a Pay-As-You-Grow programme to help address the $150 billion global shortfall in agriculture finance.
T.R. Hamzah and Yeang Sdn. Bhd
Hyper-green architects designing healthy buildings
T.R.Hamzah and Yeang Sdn. Bhd is a Malaysian architecture and planning firm that has been designing hyper-green sustainable buildings and masterplans for over 40 years to provide healthy living and connect with nature in often over-polluted cities.
The buildings they design fit seamlessly with the natural environment and are aesthetically unique. With projects all over the world Hamzah and Yeang are sharing their knowledge and expertise on how to build in harmony in the natural world.
