The Global Energy Prize, one of the world’s most prestigious awards recognizing outstanding achievements across the world in energy research and technology, has announced this year’s two honorees for their important contributions in the world of energy research.
The prize comes with a total USD 1.2 million (RUB 38 million) endowment to help laureate honorees fund future research projects. It is the largest energy research grant of its kind in the world.
The 2013 Global Energy Prize laureates are:
• Dr. Akira Yoshino of Japan for his ground-breaking work in the development of the lithium-ion rechargeable battery, the beating heart of mobile electronic devices, electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles. Dr. Akira is a Fellow at the Asahi Kasei Corp. and is President of the Lithium Ion Battery Technology and Evaluation Center (LIBTEC) in Japan.
• Mr. Vladimir Evgenyevich Fortov, the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Department for Power Industry, Mechanical Engineering, Mechanics and Control Processes in Russia, for his pioneering research in thermodynamic, thermophysical, electrophysical, and electronic properties of fluids and construction materials in extensive and previously unexplored area of phase diagram.
Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, hailed this year’s honorees and said they represented the best of the Global Energy Prize’s rich and growing tradition. “Since its inception, the Global Energy Prize has been one of the most prestigious international awards, rallying around shared goals the creative community of talented scientists, researchers and experts in the field of energy from Russia and many other countries,” President Putin said.
This year’s Global Energy Prize honorees were announced before a globally represented audience of scientists, diplomats and journalists at the RIA-Novosti Press Center in Moscow. “It is a tremendous honor to be here among this distinguished crowd and to be recognized in this way. I’m very humbled by this,” said Mr. Yoshino at the ceremony.
The Global Energy Prize, now in its 11th year, is awarded annually to the most accomplished minds in the energy research field for their work and contributions to helping address the world’s various and most pressing energy challenges. “We are pleased to once again have such a superb list of very accomplished honorees that represent what GEP is all about,” said GEP President Igor Lobovsky.
This year’s laureates were selected from a field of 82 world-class scientists from all over the world who were nominated by their peers. “We had a very impressive list of candidates from which to select both in terms of quantity and, of course, quality,” said Mr. Rodney John Allam, Chairman of the International Award Committee and a 2012 GEP Laureate from the U.K.
The Global Energy Prize has been awarded to 27 honorees since its 2002 inception. The Prize is awarded by the International Award Committee, which includes 37 internationally recognized scientists and energy specialists. The degree to which a development contributes to the benefit of humanity is a key criterion in awarding the Prize. “I, like my fellow honorees, feel truly honored with this reward and thank the Global Energy Prize for giving international recognition to excellence in energy research,” said Mr. Fortov after receiving his honor.
Candidates can be nominated only by the highest-rated scientists, which include Laureates of the Kyoto, Max Planck, Wolf and Balzan prizes and Nobel Prize laureates in physics or chemistry.
The GEP honor has been awarded over the years for outstanding research achievement in a variety of energy fields and applications, including in the development of projects, engineering improvements and application-oriented innovations in energy efficiency; and in inventions and research projects that have opened up new energy supplies resources.
This year’s 2013 GEP honorees will accept their monetary prize from President Putin in June as part of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Source: Global Energy Prize
