Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Robin Basselin.
Voice 2
And I’m Ryan Geertsma. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
The students of Ashley Primary School in England are like most young students. They study mathematics, reading and art. But they are also studying a different area: energy. They encourage each other to reduce the amount of electricity they use at home and at school. They compete to find new ways to reduce the school’s energy use.
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Now, these students have won an important award for their efforts. The Ashden Awards celebrate sustainable energy. The awards honor projects that use and create clean energy that will last a long time. Today’s Spotlight is on the Ashden Awards.
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Ashley Primary School got excited about energy because of Richard Donne. Richard is the head teacher at the school. He travelled to Antarctica. While he was there, he saw the bad effects of climate change on the environment.
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Climate change happens for many reasons. But one of the most important is human use of energy. Coal and gasoline are two examples of energy resources that produce harmful gases. Another problem is wasted energy. For example, when lights are on in a room, but no one is there, energy is wasted. Wasting energy reduces the resources we do have much more quickly. Harmful gases and wasted energy change the world’s climate in negative ways.
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When Richard returned to England, he decided that the school needed to change how they used energy. The school made changes to its buildings so that they would use less energy. They began to use more natural sun light. And sensors turn lights on only when people are in a room.
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The students also joined Richard’s effort to make changes at the school. The students measure the amount of energy the school buildings use each day. They make sure all machines that are not being used are turned off. They also encourage their teachers to find new ways of teaching, to use less paper.
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All of these efforts helped the school reduce its energy use by 50 percent. The success of Richard and his students helped Ashley Primary School win an Ashden Award in 2009.
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The Ashden Awards look for winners in the United Kingdom and in the developing world. You may have heard another Spotlight program called “Solar Energy in Rema.” This project also earned an Ashden Award in 2009. The Solar Energy Foundation earned its award for the solar box it developed. This box stores energy from the sun. And people who live too far from electricity can use this energy to light their homes at night.
Voice 1
The Ashden Awards began as a grant program. In two thousand one, Sarah Butler-Sloss created this grant along with the Ashden Trust foundation. The idea was to give money for projects that were good for the environment. Many of these projects found ways to bring energy to places in the world that did not already have it. These projects used clean energy that did not produce harmful gasses. In an interview with Alliance Magazine, Sarah talked about the positive effects of this project.
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“We saw it not only as an environmental issue. It was also a way of easing poverty and improving health and education, and all the other positive effects that energy can bring to communities.”
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But before 2001, the environment was not a popular subject. Most people were not interested in climate change or clean energy. So the grant program never expanded. Although many of the projects were very successful, no one was starting these projects in new places. So Sarah decided to turn the grant program into the Ashden Awards.
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Sarah knew the Ashden Awards would be more successful than the grant program. After trying it for the first time in 2001, she could already see the advantages. She talked about her experiences in her interview with Alliance Magazine.
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“The first award was so successful that we decided we wanted to have more awards. We could see the success because of the praise, the media reporting, and the political influence the winners got in their country. It also gave them the ability to raise more funds than they ever could have in the past. In the past we had found that renewable energy was not encouraged by the local politicians, by other not-for-profit government organization, OR by others with influence in the world. Suddenly, these same groups were giving the new technologies praise and the projects were becoming front page news in the national papers.”
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The goal of the Ashden Awards is to honor people and businesses that are already working on lasting energy solutions. The Award is given based on three things. First, a winning project must be good for or protect the environment. Second, it must improve the quality of life in the community where it is working. Finally, the community must have the money and human resources to support and continue the project on its own.
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Projects or groups that are suggested for the Ashden Awards go through an intense and careful judging process. The process ends at a ceremony in London. At this ceremony, money prizes are given to the winners. These prizes are given to extend each project. Since the awards began in 2001, The Ashden Awards have presented over one hundred prizes.
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But the Ashden Awards give more than just a money prize. They also help each winner spread information about their project. They create a film about each winning project. And they have special events like conferences for the winners. These opportunities give the winners more chances to tell the public about their project.
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Sarah and the other judges of the Ashden Awards hope that the awards will influence the world. They hope all these experts in energy will share their knowledge and experiences. And they hope that the awards will encourage more people to use lasting solutions for their energy needs. Solutions that are also good for the environment.
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Former United States Vice President and environmentalist Al Gore presented the Ashden Awards in 2007. During the ceremony, he praised the effort and success of the Ashden Awards.
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"No one can attend an event like the Ashden Awards and fail to be encouraged and excited. We must find a path from a present situation that cannot be supported to a future that can last. What amazes me most about these projects is they are becoming the change that is needed in the world. These Awards tell us how to clearly show this path to a lasting future together. I hope that we can make it quickly."
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