2009 ST ANDREWS PRIZE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT $125,000 PRIZE AWARDS

The SolSource project wins this year

An innovative three-in-one solution for providing clean energy from the sun has won this year’s St Andrews Prize for the Environment. Meeting the needs of Himalayan villagers, SolSource have developed a light weight, low cost, and portable solar cooker made from traditional nomadic tent material and locally sourced bamboo. Modules, which can be detached from the cooker, also provide sources for heating and thermo-electricity generation.

An innovative three-in-one solution for providing clean energy from the sun has won this year’s St Andrews Prize for the Environment. Meeting the needs of Himalayan villagers, SolSource have developed a light weight, low cost, and portable solar cooker made from traditional nomadic tent material and locally sourced bamboo. Modules, which can be detached from the cooker, also provide sources for heating and thermo-electricity generation.

At a ceremony in the University of St Andrews today, Catlin Powers was presented with the winning prize of $75,000. Catlin said: "I am delighted with this win which will support the first large scale field test and production trial involving 20 Chinese communities."

The St Andrews Prize is an environmental initiative by the University of St Andrews, which attracts scholars of international repute and carries out world-class teaching and research, and ConocoPhillips, one of the world’s largest integrated energy companies, with operations in more than 30 countries.

Sir Crispin Tickell, Chairman of the St Andrews Prize for the Environment Trustees, says: "The Prize is going from strength to strength. It is now in its eleventh year and we are delighted that is has become so well established and continues to attract such a range of innovative projects from all over the world. We are looking for entrepreneurs on behalf of the environment – applicants able to champion original and innovative environmental ideas which they can show to be realistic and realisable and which take account of social and economic implications."

This year’s runners-up, each presented with a cheque for $25,000 were:

• The Cheetah Conservation Fund Bush Project, based in Namibia, aims to reclaim large areas of grassland and productive farmland lost to encroaching and thickening thorn bush and restore habitat for the cheetah.


• Water and food security provided by Excellent Development, a UK registered charity, enabling 57 Kenyan communities to conserve water and soil by building sand dams, terracing land and planting trees.

Dr Louise Richardson, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St Andrews says: "For centuries this university has educated young people motivated by a desire to improve the world around them. Today we are proud to be at the cutting edge of the field of sustainability and environmental studies and to support, through the St Andrews Prize, the current generation of creative thinkers designing solutions to today's problems."

"Recognising innovative ideas that will help protect our environment and improve the lives of our fellow citizens through the St Andrews Prize allows us to reward outstanding and environmentally conscious individuals and groups who help make the world a better place," says Paul Warwick, President UK Upstream, ConocoPhillips.

The Prize has attracted entries on topics as diverse as sustainable development in the Amazon and Central American rainforests, urban re-generation, recycling, health and water issues and renewable energy, since its launch in 1998.

Contact

For further media information, photographs, and to arrange interviews please contact Doug Allsop or Dick Mutch at:

Mearns and Gill Public Relations, 7 Carden Place, Aberdeen, AB10 1 PP Tel +44 1224 646311. Fax +44 1224 631882. Email doug@mearns-gill.com; dick@mearns-gill.com