Young Danes win the Combat Climate Change Competition 2008

Combat Climate Change is a sustainable energy competition for European students aged 14-19. The first prize is awarded Aishah Hussain, Leon Lindquvist Nielsen, Oliver Aske Hansen and Mehmet Canpolat from Matthæusgade skole in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The winners will be packing their bags for an all expenses paid Earthwatch Volunteer Expedition to Puerto Rico. On the expedition, in December 2008, they will contribute to an important project researching the sustainable use of tropical rainforest.

- Our project “Biogas: the best solution”, is about a large biogas plant in Copenhagen Zoo. The plant will be able to serve as heating facility for the “Tropezoo”, an artificial rainforest at the zoo, by utilising animal feces. It’s fantastic that the jury acknowledges our effort to present a practical implementable solution. Now we really hope that this solution will be implemented in reality. We are extremely happy to be winners in the whole competition and it really feels like fiction, says the four winners.

The jury’s motivation

In their entry, the students not only describe how the zoo's management should think concerning its own energy consumption and environment, but also the zoo's role in the local society. It is a distinct and practical implementable solution with an entrepreneurial aspect in an alternative and original way, based on a matter from their local region.

The press conference announcing the winners is held at Copenhagen Zoo on September 10.

Country winners

The Danish students are the overall winners of the competition. Great entries from other European countries are also acknowledged as Country winners.

In Germany, Damaris Schellenberger and Katharina Landgraf won for their “ambitious, innovative and well structured project” Solar Energy – Energy of the Future.

The country winner in Poland is Dominika Majchrzak. In her project A modern waste heap and biogasworks unit, she focused on the elimination of exhaust fumes from low emitting sources “demonstrating the substantial needs for the introduction of local solutions”.

In Finland, the jury chose to award Jussi Tiira, Mika Aalto and Vesa Kemppainen for their “down-to-earth and rational project that looks into current consumer habits”, Individual Waste Standard,
The Swedish country winners are Julia Stadig Roswall and Anja Olin-Pape who “presented a project that looks at currently available sources of energy which are left unused” in their entry “Unused sources of energy and energy storage”.

All country winners are invited by Vattenfall to join the overall Danish winners on a trip to the world's third largest offshore windfarm Lillgrund off Sweden’s south coast. Together, they will, among other things, take a tour to the offshore windfarm and visit the city of Malmö.

- We are very impressed by the interest, enthusiasm and passion to combat climate change that these young students have shown. In great competition, Aishah Hussain’s, Leon Lindquvist Nielsen’s, Oliver Aske Hansen’s and Mehmet Canpolat’s solution stood out as not only being implementable but also with a entrepreneurial aspect which is very important as climate efforts also need to be economically viable, says Lars G. Josefsson, president and CEO Vattenfall.

Cooperation between Vattenfall and National Geographic

We wish to increase knowledge and understanding of the impact of global climate change, both among our co-workers and among opinion leaders, teachers and students.

The National Geographic Society is the world´s largest non-profit scientific and educational membership organisation. It is committed to expanding the undestanding and awareness of all aspects of sustainable growth for mankind, in harmony with environmental concerns. Our partnership with National Geographic is part of our Group-wide effort to spread knowledge about and create engagement in climate change. The cooperation between Vattenfall and National Geographic has two main elements – a pan-European school competition and a multi-media partnership

More about the Combat Climate Change competition at:
National Geographics - Combat Climate Change (New window)