In India, millions of small farmers depend on diesel-powered irrigation pumps to water their crops. But diesel has become a liability: Its price rises every year, making it ever harder to pay for irrigation. In a financial squeeze, farmers are forced to abandon their land and move to city slums to look for other work. At the same time, diesel engine emissions accelerate global warming, and extreme climate events like super floods and mega droughts further threaten farmers’ fragile livelihoods.

Pumps powered by clean renewable energy, especially solar pumps, could solve both the economic and environmental dilemma: they don’t emit greenhouse gases, and their fuel is free. But there is currently no pump available that is tailored specifically to the needs of the Indian small farmer, with an unsubsidized price low enough to compete with the diesel pumps and be adopted widely.

To solve this problem, Greenpeace is calling designers, tinkerers, inventors, students of all fields from all over the world, to join forces and design a breakthrough design: a renewable energy powered and portable water pump that can provide a viable alternative to diesel-driven ones.

Entries will be judged on the following criteria:

• Capability: how well does the pump perform compared to existing diesel pumps? How well does it address the current problems (overview here) with renewable energy pumps?

• Viability: does the design have broad applicability? Is it easily usable? Does it fit into farmers’ lives and work habits, or will it require education?

• Affordability: is the design within reach of farmers without relying on government subsidies?

• Feasibility: how close is the design to being a workable product? Does it require additional technological advances or development?

Entries should include a sketch or rendering, expected cost, description of operation, expected water flow, and description of portability.

There is no entry fee.

Eligibility

The contest is open to all, professionals and amateur, regardless of age and sex. Entrants under 18 years of age require the permission of a parent or guardian.

Prize

There are four Challenge prizes: an Early Bird Prize, a Jury Prize, a Community Prize, and a Consulting Contract.

• Early Bird Prize: Two prizes of 1000 Euros will be awarded to the best ideas, as chosen by the jury and Greenpeace, submitted in the first four weeks of the Challenge.

• Jury Prize: A panel of Jury Members will select three Jury Prize winners. In order to guarantee successful implementation, we are looking for solvers that are willing to personally participate in the further development of their solution in India, such as prototyping and in field beta-testing / design iteration, and will pursue, with the help of Greenpeace, the scaling-up and commercialization of their pump in India. If you are not willing / capable to fulfill this, please state on top of your idea description: “not eligible for Jury Prize”.

• Community Prize: The Community Prize includes 9000 EUR to be divided among the top 10 ideas as determined by community voting.

• Consulting Package: Greenpeace will select one or more Jury Prize winning entries for further development. The submitters of the Entries will receive a consulting contract with the Organizer of up to 5,000 EUR to support development of prototypes and presentation at a Prototyping Workshop in India. Licensing remains tbd between submitter and manufacturer.