Hanoi, July 8 - The Vietnam Biogas Programme has been recognised as one of the world’s leading sustainable energy initiatives, taking home £20,000 in prize money at the prestigious Ashden Awards in London on July 1.

A partnership between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, the Vietnam Biogas Programme was amongst six award winners, gaining praise from the judges for being a “highly successful partnership which has enabled the distribution of biogas technology across Vietnam on a massive scale in a way that is both sustainable and has the potential for further expansion.”

“By popularising the use of biogas among pig farmers, this programme has tackled head on Vietnam’s waste problem and has brought tremendous benefits to farming families,” the judges said.

The Biogas Programme started in 2003 under the cooperation between the Vietnam and the Netherlands Governments in an effort to turn Vietnam’s waste problem into a sustainable source of energy for rural families. Aiming to install 166,000 biogas systems by the end of 2012, the programme has so far installed some 88,000 systems, benefitting more than 440,000 people.

With each biogas system saving over two tonnes of CO2 emissions per year through the replacement of fossil fuels and firewood; at this moment the programme is reducing Vietnam’s carbon emissions by around 176,000 tonnes per year, alongside creating thousands of jobs and improving living conditions for hundreds of thousand of Vietnam’s rural poor.

“Our 2010 winners are living proof of the significant contribution that local sustainable energy initiatives can make to tackling poverty, lack of access to resources and the threat of climate change,” Ashden Awards founder and chair Sarah Butler-Sloss said.

 “We are delighted that we can highlight the work of these pioneering projects in the hope that decision-makers across the globe will be inspired by what can be achieved through the strategic use of simple, yet innovative technologies.”

The Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy were founded in 2001 to encourage the greater use of local sustainable energy to address climate change and alleviate poverty. Since then they have rewarded over 120 winners across the UK and the developing world.

This is the second global award for SNV-MARD Biogas Programme, which won the Energy Globe Award 2006 for its significant contribution to the reduction of “global warming” and contribution to socio-economic development in Vietnam.

For further information on the Vietnam Biogas Programme and the Ashden Awards, please contact:

Mr. Hoang Kim Giao, Director
Biogas Project Division, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
Tel: 844-37261771
Email: bpovn@biogas.org.vn

Mr. Tom Derksen, Director
SNV Vietnam 
Tel: 844-38463791
Email: vietnam@snvworld.org