USAID Senior Energy Advisor Wins “World Clean Energy Award”

June 16, 2007

S. Padmanaban, Senior Energy Advisor for USAID based in New Delhi, accepting his award at the World Clean Energy Awards in Basel, Switzerland. Photo credit: Claude Giger, Basel, WCEA.

NEW DELHI –Srinivasan Padmanaban, a senior energy advisor with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in New Delhi received a “World Clean Energy Award” in Basel, Switzerland, on June 15, 2007 for his contributions to the Green Business Center and the Water-Energy Nexus Activity in India. The award is administered by the Swiss-based Transatlantic21 Association to honor mainstream applications of clean technology.

The award honors achievement and innovation in encouraging the use of renewable energies and energy efficiency concepts. Mr. Padmanaban is the architect of the two projects, both funded by USAID.

The Water-Energy Nexus Activity works with government, private sector and non-government organizations to build an understanding of the mutually dependent relationship of water and energy. The project helps communities develop appropriate solutions for groundwater and energy problems.

The Green Business Center, based in Hyderabad, fosters excellence in energy efficiency, recycling, renewable energy and water management in Indian industry. The Center itself is built from eco-friendly materials, more than three-quarters of which are recycled and receives 16 percent of its energy needs from rooftop solar cells.

The Center is a result of a public-private partnership involving the Confederation of Indian Industries, the industrial house of Godrej, the Government of Andhra Pradesh and USAID.