Yorkshire and Humber Microgeneration Awards 2008

Local people will have a chance to show off their pioneering green energy projects at an awards ceremony being hosted by BBC weatherman Paul Hudson.

The 2nd Yorkshire and Humber Microgeneration Awards, organised by the Yorkshire and Humber Assembly and Microgeneration Yorkshire, aim to showcase the best on site renewable energy projects and policy initiatives from across Yorkshire and Humber.

Entrants will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of last year’s winners, which included Barnsley Council, South Yorkshire Energy Centre and The Swinton Estate in North Yorkshire.

For the second year running, the Best Home Installation section is expected to be the most popular category, giving householders the opportunity to demonstrate how well they’ve used renewable sources such as solar panels and ground sourced heat pumps to power their homes.

Entries will be judged on the level of energy efficiency within the building and what steps have been taken to reduce energy demand.

The seven awards categories are:- Best Home Installation; Best Public Building Installation; Best Community Installation; Best Business Initiative; Best Commercial Installation; Best Development and Best Policy/Policy Tool supporting Microgeneration.

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony, sponsored by the Centre for Alternative Technology, and presented by BBC Look North weatherman Paul Hudson, on 6 March at the Royal Victoria Holiday Inn Hotel in Sheffield.

Each of the winners will receive £1000 worth of vouchers for residential courses at the Centre for Alternative Technology in Machynlleth, Wales where they will be able to use the knowledge they’ve gained to make further improvements to homes and developments.

Arthur Barker, Chair of the Assembly’s Sustainable Development Board said, “The Microgeneration Awards are an excellent way of highlighting the best renewable energy projects within the region.”

“Building on the highly successful 2007 Awards, we anticipate the 2nd Awards will be very popular as more people start to look to alternative methods to power their homes and businesses.”

Anyone wanting to enter any of the categories should contact Nicola Pugh at Microgeneration Yorkshire on 0113 237 8462; email nicola@my-energy.org.uk. The closing date for entries is Friday 18th January 2008. Alternatively, visit the Microgeneration Yorkshire website for more information and an application pack: www.my-energy.org.uk