Solar power pioneer wins Zayed prize
A Bangladeshi who helps poor villagers harvest the energy of the sun has won the first Zayed Future Energy Prize, which includes a cash award of US$1.5 million. Dipal Barua, a founder of a non-profit enterprise called Grameen Shakti, which has enabled hundreds of thousands of rural poor to purchase solar energy systems, was presented with the award last night by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. Mr Barua said he would use the money to fund a scholarship programme for women entrepreneurs.(...)
The initiative, which is based on microcredit schemes pioneered by Prof Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi economist and winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, has not only provided some of the country’s poorest residents with access to affordable, clean power but has also created thousands of jobs.