2007 Environment Award Laureate
Marc Andre Ledoux, Consortium SudEco Industrie
| Laureate Country: Montreal, Canada |
| Project Country: Senegal |
| Video: 2007Videos/mark-andre_ledoux.mov |
Marc Andre Ledoux applies technology to transform harmful aquatic plants directly into cleaner cooking fuel.
Harmful plants have invaded Senegal's rivers. These non-native species choke irrigation channels, hamper fishing, harbor disease-carrying mosquitoes, reduce biodiversity, and degrade drinking water.
Marc Andre Ledoux turned the removal of dangerous plants into an opportunity to also slow deforestation and pollution. His solution employs an efficient floating grapple that pulls noxious plants from the water ten times faster than doing it by hand. The plants are dried in the sun, and a newly invented extruding machine compacts them into charcoal-like fuel pellets for energy-efficient ovens. The plants are cleared, cooking is cleaner, and fewer trees are cut down for fuel.
