The Botswana Energy Champion 2008 competition was launched on May 15 in Gaborone. The competition challenges six selected companies and six schools in Botswana to save energy by using cost free and low cost measures.

Danish Energy Management’s Botswana project office assists the Department of Energy in Botswana with arranging the competition. Danish Energy Management has developed the concept and has among other things been in charge of planning, funding, manpower, the development of information material and logistics.

Botswana Energy Champion 2008 Logo

Saving energy by changing behaviour
The goal of the competition is to make the competing institutions as well as the public in the country more interested in energy savings, cost savings and a reduction in CO2 emissions through the implementation of various energy saving measures by the participants.

The Botswana Energy Champion 2008 competition is solely focused on energy saving by behavioural change. The competing schools and offices are expected to save energy without investing in energy-saving devices other than low-cost measures such as energy saving light bulbs.

And the winner is…
The rules of the competition are simple: The competitor that cuts the biggest portion of its baseline energy use over the year that the competition is running, and is considered to have been active and innovative in saving electricity by the jurors, will win.

Awards will be presented to the winners at a special VIP Prize Gala in Gaborone in 2009. The prizes go to the companies or schools, which have demonstrated greatest percentage reduction of energy saved in each field, the best overall in-house employee motivation campaign and the company which has achieved highest percentage reduction across all competitors.

The prizes are:

• The best energy champion 2008: 20.000 Pula
• 2nd highest percentage of energy saved by schools: 10.000 Pula
• 2nd highest percentage of energy saved by offices: 10.000 Pula

An equally important reward is of course a lower electricity bill and a reduction of CO2 emission.