海角大神

On India鈥檚 residential streets, amid the tea vendors and vegetable sellers, ironing 鈥渨allahs鈥� press clothes each day for millions of Indians, smoothing out wrinkles with iron boxes packed with hot charcoal.

But India鈥檚 10 million ironing carts and shops take a hefty toll on the country鈥檚 forests. Each uses, on average, more than 11 pounds of charcoal each day, the government鈥檚 science and technology department estimates.

Now, however, a teenage girl, troubled by the heaps of used charcoal left by her local ironing vendor and by his painful wheeze from pollution, has developed an alternative: an award-winning solar-powered iron.

鈥淚 calculated the enormous quantity of charcoal being used, the pollution from it that worsens climate change, damages Mother Earth and human health. I wanted to create a renewable resource to replace charcoal,鈥� said Vinisha Umashankar from her hometown of Tiruvannamalai, in India鈥檚 southern Tamil Nadu state.

This week her innovation was recognized with the Children鈥檚 Climate Prize for its contributions to cleaner air. The prize, backed by a Swedish energy company, includes 100,000 Swedish krona ($11,600) to further develop the project.

It is just one of several national and international prizes聽Vinisha has won for her innovation: a wheeled cart equipped with solar panels and batteries sufficient to power a steam iron.

Solar powered street cart

Panels on the cart鈥檚 roof produce solar power that can be used immediately as the cart wends its way between customers or stored in four batteries,聽Vinisha said.

When fully charged 鈥� which takes just under five hours in bright sunshine 鈥� each battery can power the iron for six hours, she said, providing power on cloudy days, though the cart can also run on grid electricity or a generator in a pinch.

To boost earnings for ironing vendors, the carts are also equipped with a mobile phone recharging station and a coin-operated telephone for making calls.

Vinisha聽said she hopes the cart 鈥� which she developed after school over six months 鈥� will improve incomes and health for ironing vendors and offer them 鈥渁 dignified life.鈥�

It could also be used in other developing countries, she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a telephone interview.

She said she had designed the cart so it was easy to operate 鈥� the system takes 15 minutes to learn 鈥� and she planned to produce online videos to help those who speak other languages understand how to use it.

鈥淭oday, solar energy is inevitable,鈥� particular in sunny nations such as India, where some parts of the country get 300 days of sun a year, she said.

The country receives enough sunshine to produce solar power equivalent to 3,000 times the country鈥檚 current energy consumption, she added.

Marie Curie is her role model

While聽Vinisha developed the detailed design, the first full-scale working prototype was put together and tested last December by the National Innovation Foundation, which operates under India鈥檚 Department of Science and Technology.

The foundation has also applied for a patent for the device, on Vinisha鈥檚 behalf.

The girl, who said she sees radioactivity scientist Marie Curie as a role model, said the cart could save a 鈥渃ountless number of trees.鈥�

She said she had read that a large tree can produce enough oxygen for five people in a day 鈥� and mature trees are most likely to be logged as they produce the best charcoal.

鈥淲hat鈥檚 the point of planting trees if we can鈥檛 stop cutting trees for making unsustainable charcoal?鈥� she asked.

She said she believes ironing vendors will make the switch to her device if it is cost effective.

Enough charcoal for two day of ironing costs 700 to 1,000 rupees ($9 to $13), she said. The cart, as currently configured, by comparison, costs 40,000 rupees ($540).

But聽Vinisha said she hopes to use her prize money to develop a new prototype that will reduce costs and boost efficiency.

鈥淚n the long run my innovation will not only work out cheaper for vendors but help the environment too,鈥� she predicted, with each cart鈥檚 solar panels and batteries built to last at least eight years.

Sam Barratt, of the United Nations Environment Program and one of the members of the jury for the Children鈥檚 Climate Prize, said聽Vinisha and other young innovators were 鈥渃oming at the challenge with all the smarts, passion, and energy that is needed to change the future to the one we all need.鈥�

Vinisha聽said her parents and grandparents had talked about how it was cooler and seasons were more predictable when they were younger, while she and others have noticed increasing heat and pollution.

鈥淭his generation ... wants normal weather, which also will reduce droughts and floods. That is one reason why we take so much interest in climate change,鈥� she said.

This story was reported by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.