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Kenya’s Auto-Truck E.A, an electric Tuk-Tuk builder and Tanzania’s Jaza Energy which wants to bring clean energy to remote African communities have been named finals in the Keeling Curve Prize.
Auto-Truck and Jaza Energy were among the 20 world-class projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or promote carbon uptake vying for ten $25,000 prizes.
The 20 finalists, announced during the Smithsonian’s digital Earth Optimism Summit, were chosen from over 300 applications from all over the world.
“We are thrilled to present this year’s finalists,” said Jacquelyn Francis, founder and director of the Keeling Curve Prize. “They have strong potential to curb global warming emissions and demonstrate that game-changing solutions to this crisis are well underway.”
Every year, the Keeling Curve Prize awards $25,000 to 10 projects around the globe with significant potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or increase carbon uptake. The prize is named after scientist Charles David Keeling’s famous Keeling Curve, which has been showing an increase in carbon dioxide levels in the Earth’s atmosphere since 1958.
Four finalists were selected for each of this year’s five prize categories which in Capture & Utilization; Energy; Transport & Mobility; Finance and Social & Cultural Pathways.
The following is a list of the finalists and where they are headquartered.
Capture & Utilization
- Borneo Nature Foundation protects the peat-swamp forests of southern Borneo, some of the largest terrestrial carbon stores on the planet. (Indonesia)
- CarbFix captures CO2 and turns it into stone underground in less than two years through proprietary technology. (Iceland)
- GHGSat’s technology and satellite platform enable GHG and air-quality gas measurements that are more accurate and cheaper than comparable alternatives. (Canada)
- New Leaf Dynamic’s GreenCHILL technology offers rural farmers an off-the-grid refrigeration system powered by farm waste. (India)
Energy
- CLIMATENZA aims to cut carbon emissions from the industrial sector in emerging economies by implementing next-generation solar thermal technology. (India)
- Jaza Energy replaces fossil fuels with clean energy in remote African communities. (Canada and Tanzania)
- Oorja Development Solutions deploys community solar irrigation pumps for farmers in rural India. (India)
- SkyCool Systems’ radiative sky cooling panel improves the efficiency of air conditioning and refrigeration systems. (Mountain View, Calif.)
Finance
- Aligned Climate Capital accelerates private capital flows into sustainable real assets including clean energy, efficient transportation, green real estate, and sustainable natural resources. (New York)
- Nori’s carbon-removal marketplace makes it easier for people to get paid for pulling excess carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere (Seattle, Wash.)
- Odyssey Energy Solutions facilitates financing and development of off-grid distributed energy projects that address rural energy poverty in developing countries. (Boulder, Colo.)
- The Generation Forest cooperative enables finance and climate action to work together through impact investment for retail investors. (Germany)
Transport & Mobility
- Auto-Truck E.A. Ltd. has developed an electric-powered three-wheeler minicab for use in African cities and large towns. (Kenya)
- Bridges to Prosperity provides economic mobility to rural communities in developing countries while reducing the need for vehicle infrastructure by building pedestrian footbridges for ‘last mile’ connections. (Denver, Colo.)
- EH Group Engineering has developed a new kind of low-temperature fuel cell that enables compact, lightweight, cheap, and highly efficient energy generators with minimal emissions. (Switzerland)
- EVmatch aims to revolutionize electric vehicle (EV) charging through a peer-to-peer charging network. (Santa Barbara, Calif.)
Social & Cultural Pathways
- Citizens’ Climate is focused on the advancement of bipartisan climate change mitigation policies, such as national dividend and carbon fee policies. (Coronado, Calif.)
- The Climate Museum inspires climate action with programming across the arts and sciences that deepens understanding, builds connections, and advances just solutions. (New York)
- Dear Tomorrow is a global climate storytelling project where people write messages to people they love living in the future. (Tysons, Va.)
- Feedback is an evidence-based environmental campaign charity working to regenerate nature by transforming the food system. (United Kingdom)
Auto-Truck E.A was founded on 20th May 2014 by Mr. Kenneth Guantai and Eric Kinoti. The company selected among the 1,000 top entrepreneurs from Africa by the Tony Elumelu Foundation.
