A Chinese non-government organization (NGO) will go to London and compete for a renowned international environmental prize for its efforts to promote the use of clean energy in rural areas of northwest China.

The Shaanxi Mothers Environmental Protection Volunteers Association has been picked as one of the finalists in the 2006 Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy, said Wang Mingying, President of "Shaanxi Mothers" on Tuesday.

The group, who promote the use of biogas in the Chinese countryside, will compete with 10 other environmental groups from India, South Africa and several other countries, Wang said.

The results will be announced in London on June 15 and the winner will receive a prize of 200,000 UK pounds, she said.

The "Shaanxi Mothers" was founded in 1997 in northwest China's Shaanxi Province as a non-profit and women only environmental group. 

It launched the biogas project in 1999 to offer environmental education and agricultural training to rural women and help them use biogas instead of wood as fuel to save resources. 

To date it has trained more than 8,000 women at 105 villages in Shaanxi and overseen the installation of biogas systems in nearly 1,300 households, Wang said.

"Shaanxi has suffered for decades from deforestation and soil erosion," she said. “Using biogas as an alternative to wood and coal for cooking is not only essential for environmental protection but also helps cut farmers' daily costs." 

Each household can avoid using 1,500 kg wood a year by utilizing biogas, she said.

The official website of the Ashden Awards states, "The project is a triumph for the Shaanxi Mothers, whose commitment and persistence have overcome huge obstacles to create a thriving environmental success story."

The Ashden Awards, founded in 2001 by the Ashden Trust, is an annual competition to identify and reward organizations which have carried out truly excellent, practical,  innovative schemes which demonstrate sustainable energy in action at a local level.

Wang, founder of the Shaanxi Mothers, also highlighted the role of women in environmental protection.

"As a wife and mother, I know women can play key roles in promoting environmental protection within a family," she said. "Our essential aim is to help the whole of society form a family morality of promoting a harmonious relationship between human and nature."

(Xinhua News Agency June 7, 2006)