Trang Tran and Arthur Kay won the two first prizes for their green-business. — VNS Photo

AMSTERDAM (Biz Hub) — Trang Tran of Fargreen company in Viet Nam has received the runner-up prize of 200,000 euros (US$259,000) in the Postcode Lottery Green Challenge 2014 competition for her green-business plan.

Trangs company works with local rice farmers to burn rice straw collected after harvesting. The companys technology is used to process the straw as a substrate to produce mushrooms.

With this process, the company helps to reduce greenhouse gas and aids farmers in increasing their income by 50 per cent.

The first-prize winner of the competition was Arhur Kay, the British founder of the green start-up Bio-bean. The 23-year-olds company uses a patented process to upcycle waste coffee grounds into biodiesel and biomass pellets used to power buildings and transport systems.

Since 2007, the annual Dutch Postcode Lottery has challenged people around the world to enter the competition by sending in sustainable, creative and innovative products and services that reduce carbon emissions. This year, the competition drew 324 entries from 57 countries. — VNS