Tom Osborn – a 19-Year-old CEO with a clean energy game changer – GreenChar

Nineteen-year-old Tom Osborn, is the founder and CEO of GreenChar – a social enterprise that provides affordable, high energy solutions that in turn protect the environment.

His coals are produced from recycled agricultural waste such as sugarcane, which studies show emit 90 percent less smoke, and have 60 percent more energy than the normal charcoal used for cooking.

His company, GreenChar is less than two years old, but has already caused a buzz.

Osborn has recently been named as one of Forbes‘ global ’30 under 30′ social entrepreneurs, and last year was selected as a 2014 Anzisha Fellow, winning US$10,000 from Donors’ Circle at the Anzisha Prize Gala Awards.

He was also chosen as a global Echoing Green Fellow for 2014, which comes with two years of funding totaling US$80,000. He is the youngest recipient to receive the fellowship in the organisation’s 27-year-history.

Osborn’s inspiration behind starting GreenChar was based on a concern for the health of his community, particularly his mom. Growing up in Awendo, a small town in Kenya, he watched how women in the community would cook meals for their families on charcoal-fueled cookstoves. And as a young child, it was Osborn’s duty to light the cookstove for his mother every day for lunch.

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