A Chinese non-government organization (NGO) will go to London
and compete for a renowned international environmental prize for
its efforts to promote the use of clean energy in rural areas of
northwest China.
The Shaanxi Mothers Environmental Protection
Volunteers Association has been picked as one of the finalists in
the 2006 Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy, said Wang Mingying,
President of "Shaanxi Mothers" on Tuesday.
The group, who promote the use of biogas in the Chinese
countryside, will compete with 10 other environmental groups from
India, South Africa and several other countries, Wang said.
The results will be announced in London on June 15 and the
winner will receive a prize of 200,000 UK pounds, she said.
The "Shaanxi Mothers" was founded in 1997 in northwest China's
Shaanxi Province as a non-profit and women only environmental
group.?
It launched the biogas project in 1999 to offer environmental
education and agricultural training to rural women and help them
use biogas instead of wood as fuel to save resources.?
To date it has trained more than 8,000 women at 105 villages in
Shaanxi and overseen the installation of biogas systems in nearly
1,300 households, Wang said.
"Shaanxi has suffered for decades from deforestation and soil
erosion," she said. “Using biogas as an alternative to wood and
coal for cooking is not only essential for environmental protection
but also helps cut farmers' daily costs."?
Each household can avoid using 1,500 kg wood a year by utilizing
biogas, she said.
The official website of the Ashden Awards states, "The project
is a triumph for the Shaanxi Mothers, whose commitment and
persistence have overcome huge obstacles to create a thriving
environmental success story."
The Ashden Awards, founded in 2001 by the Ashden Trust, is an
annual competition to identify and reward organizations which have
carried out truly excellent, practical,? innovative schemes
which demonstrate sustainable energy in action at a local
level.
Wang, founder of the Shaanxi Mothers, also highlighted the role
of women in environmental protection.
"As a wife and mother, I know women can play key roles in
promoting environmental protection within a family," she said. "Our
essential aim is to help the whole of society form a family
morality of promoting a harmonious relationship between human and
nature."
(Xinhua News Agency June 7, 2006)