BioRegional TreeStations, Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy

About the award

In June 2006, BioRegional won an Ashden Award for Sustainable Energy for its TreeStation project – a ground breaking renewable energy project which turns wood waste into renewable energy.

The Ashden Awards, the UK's leading green energy award scheme, rewards outstanding and innovative projects which tackle climate change and improve quality of life by providing renewable energy and energy efficiency at a local level.

BioRegional’s TreeStation Project has established a processing site in Croydon which converts waste wood into 10,000 tonnes of woodchip a year, supplying much-needed renewable energy for electricity and heating to the area and saving the local council around £20,000 a year in waste disposal costs.

Andrew Tofts, (Forestry Manager at BioRegional at the time) commented:
”It's a real thrill and honour to win an Ashden Award. The prize will kick start the next phase of our work. We shall expand wood chip production with local authorities and commercial partners across London. The award is a very timely boost for us as we look forward to a low carbon, biomass fuelled, bioregional future. And a big thank you to our funders: Norlands Foundation, Carbon Trust, Scottish Power Green Energy Trust and WWF UK.”

The awards presentation was followed by speeches from leader of the Conservative Party, David Cameron and former Chief Scientific Advisor to the government, Lord May. David Cameron visited BedZED in Sutton earlier that day to publicise the Ashden Awards and find out more about how renewable energy has been addressed within the eco village.

David Cameron commented “One of the most encouraging things about politics today is that people are waking up to the reality of climate change and the urgent need to tackle it. As leader of the Opposition, I have no power to pass laws but there are some things I can do. I can stimulate debate. But it is a real privilege to be able to reward people who are making a difference on the ground. The people and projects we are celebrating today are pioneers in a global quest to save us from the consequences of our own actions.”

The Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy - now in its 6th year - highlights and rewards exemplary and successful examples of sustainable energy use both in the UK and the developing world. Through its awards scheme and related activities, the Ashden Awards aim to persuade policy makers, funders and the wider public to recognise renewable energy and energy efficiency as a crucial tool for addressing the urgent global issues of climate change, pollution and energy supply as well as the social and economic needs of local communities across the globe.

http://www.ashdenawards.org