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Indigenous water pump wins Gore nod

Inquirer

Posted date: June 04, 2007

BACOLOD CITY (Philippines)-- An indigenous water pump perfected in Negros Occidental province that can bring water up to remote hillside villages without the use of electricity has won a local foundation an international green energy award to be presented by former US Vice President Al Gore this month.

The Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation Inc. based in Barangay Mansilingan, Bacolod City, is one of 10 renewable energy pioneers from across the globe that qualified for the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy and won 10,000 pounds each, said Aladino Moraca, AIDFI executive director.

Enhanced

AIDFI won for its specially designed ram pumps that run without need of fuel. Although ram pump technology that taps the power of flowing rivers was developed some 300 years ago, AIDFI enhanced the technology using cheap locally available materials like door hinges to vertically move water up 100 to 200 meters.

"Our installations have no operation cost, they work on a 24-hour basis, last long and parts replacement is cheap," said Aladino Moraca, AIDFI executive director. It has already brought potable water to 15,000 people in 68 remote hillside villages in the Philippines, and is being replicated in other parts of the world.

AIDFI will compete with nine groups from Bangladesh, China, Ghana, India, Laos, Nepal, Peru and Tanzania for five top awards that will earn each winner an additional 30,000 pounds.

Reminder

Gore, who will present the prizes at the Ashden Awards ceremony to be held at the Royal Geographical Society in London on June 21, had said the awards were "a powerful reminder that well-designed and managed local sustainable energy initiatives can tackle climate change, while meeting the needs of local communities."

"Tackling these issues simultaneously -- in both rich and poor countries -- is critical to addressing the twin planetary challenges of climate change and sustainable development," Gore said.

AIDFI hopes to use its prize money to replicate its award-winning ram pump technology in Laos, Indonesia and Thailand, Moraca said. Carla P. Gomez, Inquirer Visayas
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