Because with the right ideas, making money and improving the planet needn’t be mutually exclusive – and indeed, probably shouldn’t. As Prize Council member and former Pepsico CEO Indra Nooyi said of the award: “How do we align our incentives for growth with the incentives for the planet?”
After an initial selection process, 750 nominations were presented to a scientific advisory panel consisting of experts in the field of each ‘Earthshot’ – with the aim of selecting 15 finalists to be presented to a the award’s Prize Council for final judging. This morning, those finalists – three for each Earthshot, and spanning 14 countries – have been announced.
Challenge: Clean our Air
Finalist The Blue Map App
Idea China’s first public environmental database, this app – developed by environmentalist and award-winning National Geographic Explorer Ma Jun – aims to provide detailed visibility and calling-to-account of China’s industrial emissions. The towering industrial growth in the world’s most populous country have compelled communities to push for change in communities afflicted by poor air quality. The Blue Map App app helps identify violations across 31 provinces by publishing real-time data on air and water quality and pollution data from 40,000 factories. The app is already prompting businesses to publicly address any published shortcomings in emissions violations – and pressuring those that aren’t releasing their numbers into doing so. The app’s team is hoping its model of transparency and accountability has the potential for global adoption.
Finalist Vinisha Umashankar
Idea a 14 year-old from the Indian city of Tiruvannamalai, Vinisha Umashankar’s solar-powered ironing cart exemplifies how a small idea, scaled, can have a potentially colossal impact. It was inspired when calculating that charcoal-powered clothing presses – used by many of India’s 10 million-strong workforce of on-street ironing vendors – burn some 5 million kilograms of charcoal every day. The manifestations of airborne particulates and associated diseases, deforestation, emissions and hazardous devices are solved at a stroke by a device that also allows phone charging and top ups, providing additional income on top of the six hours of profitable ironing possible using the cart. These multiple economic and environmental impacts and applications across Asia make Umashankar’s innovation readily scalable, if affordably produced.
Finalist Takachar
Idea if taken to the global market, this concept – pioneered by eco-entrepreneurs Vidyut Mohan and Kevin Kung – claims to be capable of cutting a billion tonnes of carbon emissions each year, and improve the air of 500 million people. Its target: agricultural waste. By this it’s meant crop residues that are otherwise burned, choking the air around fields with smoke that reduces air quality – and as a result, life expectancy. Rather than a systemic rethink of time-worn farming strategies, Takachar’s solution is highly practical: an actual device that bolts on to the back of a tractor. This, according to the company, reduces smoke emissions by 98% and converts the waste material into biofuels and fertiliser, incentivising the process for its own profit-making – or cost saving – potential. Using a heat-driven drying process called oxygen-lean torrefaction, since launch in 2018, the device has been used by some 4,500 farmers, with reported income rises of 30%.
