Energy Globe Award 2007: Kenyan solar project honoured
A prize giving in the European Parliament on Wednesday 11 April brought together politicians and celebrities gather for the annual Energy Globe Award. The prize rewards outstanding projects in the field of energy efficiency. This year's overall winner was John Maina from Kenya, who pioneered ways of increasing harvests of small farmers by 50% using solar power. In total 732 projects from 96 countries entered. The evening also featured music from Bee Gee Robin Gibb and violinist Nigel Kennedy.

John Maina's award was recognition of his development of a type of solar energy oven which allows fruit and vegetables to be dried (and thereby preserved). This has allowed farmers to increase yields without using either more water or pesticides. Speaking about his reward he said later that "the skills can be transferred at a local level".
 
The award ceremony was attended by a number of celebrities, each representing a continent. They included US actor Martin Sheen, singer Robin Gibb, Indian environmentalist Maneka Gandhi and the President of the European Parliament Hans-Gert Pöttering.
 
The glitz and the glamour of the evening did not detract from a more serious and sombre message about the environmental emergency faced by the world.  As EP President Hans-Gert Pöttering, Energy Globe's host for the day, pointed out: "it's two minutes to midnight and we have to act" .
 
The entries were submitted in the categories Earth, Fire, Water, Air and Youth. In these categories the winners were:
 
Fire: solar homes in India
 
The UNEP Risoe Center and the Risoe National Laboratory Denmark for launching a four-year plan to establish over 16000 solar homes in India with Danish support and local Indian funding. Presenting the award, actor Martin Sheen, best known for his role as a US President in the "West Wing", raised a cheer by joking that had he been the real President we would have signed the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.
 
Water: waste water
 
Jerry M. Brownstein from the US won this category for developing waste water treatment using water filters made of recycled plastics that cleans it allowing it to be drank. The filter can absorb up to 100% of oil contained in polluted water. The award was presented by violinist Nigel Kennedy, who took the opportunity to draw attention to huge disparities in the distribution of wealth in the world.
 
Air: plants that soak up CO2 emissions
 
In this category Reindert Augustijn won the award for inventing small Biogas plants for local communities in Vietnam. The installed plants help to reduce annual CO2 emissions. Presenting the award, Parliament's President Pöttering said that "EU and the EP have a leading role...but we have to cooperate with the US, India and China - we must work together".
 
Youth: self sufficient solar house
 
The University of Art in Linz in Austria won this for inventing a new self-sufficient solar house in South Africa, which is able to provide a constant indoor temperature level of 20 degrees Celsius independently from outdoor temperature.
 
Reaction after the awards
 
Following the event President Hans-Gert Pöttering commented that " it was a wonderful evening, there was a feeling of togetherness. I was mostly impressed by the humanity of the winners. Everyone who took part radiated great optimism. This shows that we can solve problems if we really want to - the positive attitude shows that we can do it".
 
One of the key supporters of the event, Paul Rübig of the European People's Party said that "the Parliament proved that it is at the living edge of what is happening in the world. We proved to the globe that we are able to master the future. The projects give us the courage for a better and safer future".
 
Robin Gibb said that "it produces a positive effect, I'm just proud to be part of it; it's an ongoing thing, a part of a massive jigsaw".