Harisharnam

In many rural areas of India, cooking continues to be fired by traditional biomass — firewood, charcoal, and crop residues. Harisharnam is on a mission to change this and cut the climate-damaging CO2 and methane emissions that are the unavoidable consequence of the status quo. With his project — he calls it EcoRural — the young change-maker wants to bring clean, sustainable energy solutions such as biogas and solar power to the villages around him. Reducing communities’ dependence on biomass fuels, Harisharnam believes, is good for people who are suffering adverse health effects from traditional biomass. His project will also create new job opportunities: a skilled workforce will operate and maintain anaerobic digesters, biogas digesters, microturbines, and fuel cells. Ultimately, this ambitious campaigner is dreaming of villages that blossom as healthy, carbon-neutral ecosystems.