Global Energy Prize 2017 Shortlist Made Public
The Global Energy Association has released a shortlist of candidates for the 2017 Global Energy Prize, an award that honors outstanding achievements in energy research and technology from around the world that are helping address the world’s various and pressing energy challenges.
The award’s new laureates will be revealed on April 6. Twenty prominent and authoritative experts from all over the world will elect final winners to be recognized by the award.
The association said 186 scientists from 31 countries contended for the 2017 prize, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary. The top 10 list of the most promising researchers was compiled according to the evaluations of the international experts and the working group of the Global Energy Prize International Award Committee.
The shortlist released on March 29 profiles 10 scientists from Australia, Germany, the UK, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, and the U.S.:
Mateo Valero Cortes advocates for decreasing the energy consumption of the IT industry. In particular, he produced significant results in energy-efficient Central Processing Units (CPUs). CPUs are the most power-consuming component of an IT system, so any CPU energy savings are highly valuable.
Dr. Dharendra Yogi Goswami has done his works in the area of solar thermal power. His solar photo-electrochemical disinfection technology has resulted in new indoor air disinfection device, the world’s first molecular air purifier, which alleviated the allergic and asthmatic sufferings.
Michael Graetzel is an inventor and developer of dye-sensitized solar cells, called “Graetzel cells”. The experts are convinced that this invention may lay the foundation for the future energy technologies. The “Graetzel cells” are aimed at playing a significant role in creating cheap, large scaled technical solutions to obtain renewable energy.
Igor Grekhov has developed and implemented semiconductor devices for ultrafast switching of high power.
Martin Andrew Green has made researches and developments in the field of photovoltaics that have dramatically reduced costs of the solar energy transformation to the electric power, significantly increasing its deployment on a global scale.
Elon Musk was nominated for his exceptional management and scientific efforts to bring the new ecologically clean electric car concept for the modern civilization.
Yury Oganessian has discovered a series of new super heavy elements in the Mendeleev`s periodic table. Thanks to these elements, it is possible to create a fundamentally new nuclear power engineering in the future, which will be less dangerous in comparison to the traditional one, and will not have such a large amount of hazardous waste. Perhaps, the planet`s energy problems may be solved in this way.
Victor Orlov has made a fundamental research concerning development of the innovative energy technology based on the fast reactors with a heavy metal coolant and the closed fuel cycle, generating new opportunities for nuclear energy development.
Henry James Snaith has created a technology on the use of perovskites (relatively rare for the Earth’s surface minerals) as the basis for very efficient low cost solar cells.
Hans Joachim Schellnhuber has significantly advanced both the scientific understanding of the rate and extent of climate change, and has defined many of the key policy opportunities for nations to act to develop environmentally, socially, and politically sustainable energy and economic systems.
The Global Energy Prize, founded in 2002, is awarded to the most accomplished minds in the research world. The honorees are awarded the Global Energy Prize at the International Economic Forum in St Petersburg along with a monetary prize.
More information on these top 10 scientists and their inventions will be unveiled during a press conference on April 6. The names of the Global Energy Prize 2017 laureates and the monetary amount of the prize will be announced as well.