Energy Transition

Champion

Team Green Lanterns

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Solar transformation of conventional diesel vessels

Team Members: Sheikh Sajidul Islam, Lulu Um Marzana, Lamia Tabasssum Naboni

Team Green Lanterns developed “SurjoGhat,” a solar retrofitting solution for traditional diesel-powered fishing and passenger boats. It provides boatmen with rooftop solar panels, electric drive motors, battery packs, and a shared solar charging station while retaining the diesel engine for backup. It eliminates high operational fuel burdens for fishermen, toxic water contamination, and heavy carbon emissions from rural river transport. They offer flexible rental and installment-based (EMI) options alongside retrofitting kits for boat owners. The product targets coastal and riverine fishing communities, boatmen, and local water transport operators, and the project aims to lower fuel costs by up to 45%, boost rural incomes, and accelerate clean energy adoption across Bangladesh’s inland waterways.

Other finalists

Team Oratory

Mobile truck-mounted agricultural waste densification.

Team Members: Khan Md Mostofa Nazeef, Nakib Noor, Most. Ritu Khatun

Team Oratory developed a mobile, truck-mounted pyrolysis solution to densify agricultural crop residue directly at the field’s edge. It provides rural farming communities with on-site processing units that convert loose straw into high-density bio-oil, green coal, and biochar using self-sustaining syngas power guided by GIS route optimization. It eliminates the high transportation costs of bulky crop waste, field-burning emissions, and industrial reliance on imported fossil fuels. They offer direct payout schemes for farmers and co-operatives supplying raw residue alongside supply contracts for industrial boilers, kilns, and carbon markets. The product targets agricultural producers, rural co-operatives, industrial energy consumers, and green-fuel buyers, and the project aims to monetise agricultural waste, lower industrial fuel costs, reduce carbon emissions, and build climate resilience across rural Bangladesh.

Team BioChill

Hybrid biomass-solar smart cold storage

Team Members: Farhan Hasin, Mohammad Masrur Rashid Tafhim, Soumik Saha Ornob

BioChill offered a hybrid biomass- and solar-powered smart cold storage system for agricultural produce. It provides smallholder farmers with a grid-independent, accessible cold chain facility driven by waste thermal energy and vapour absorption refrigeration. It eliminates massive post-harvest crop losses, heavy reliance on fossil-fuel electricity, and harmful synthetic refrigerants. They offer flexible slot-based digital storage bookings managed through an IoT platform and supported by a Public-Private-Community Partnership (PPP) model. The product targets local farmers, produce traders, and agricultural cooperatives, and the project aims to reduce multi-billion-dollar post-harvest food waste, curb industrial energy consumption, and lower carbon emissions.