Australian high school scores international green technology gong

Toby Thorpe, shares the stage with Sheikh
 Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of
Abu Dhabi (left) and Nursultan Nazarbayev,
 President of Kazakhstan.

It's not every day an Australian high school student from Australia gets to share a stage with Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince, Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed and the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev – and walks away with a $US100,000 ($132,000) prize.

But for 15 year-old Toby Thorpe, this week's award ceremony in Abu Dhabi was merely the end of the beginning for a two-year plan to spur interest in renewable energy and energy savings among students and his local community south-west of Hobart.

​"It's been a long time coming … now we can actually put our plan into action," Mr Thorpe said. "It's quite exciting."

So far, about 20 students have helped design and install a pellet mill, bio digester, a bicycle-powered mobile cinema, and started work on a greenhouse made from 2500 recycled bottles.

Read Peter Hannam’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Australian high school scores international green technology gong.”