16 JUNE 2011, LONDON
– Renowned American scientist Dr. Arthur H. Rosenfeld will receive the 2011 Global Energy Prize this Friday 17 June in recognition of his pioneering energy efficiency work.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will present Dr. Rosenfeld with his award in a ceremony in St Petersburg, Russia, as part of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
The Global Energy Prize is one of the world’s most respected awards in energy science, awarding US$1m every year for outstanding energy achievements and innovations. The 2011 awards ceremony will take place in front of an audience of 350 VIPs, including US Ambassador to Russia John Beyrle.
His groundbreaking work in energy efficiency is estimated to have saved the US economy billions of dollars. In 2010 a new unit of energy conservation was been named after him. The ‘Rosenfeld’ equals 3 billion kilowatt-hours – the amount of energy savings needed to replace the output of one 500-megawatt coal-fired power plant in a year.
Dr. Rosenfeld shares the Prize with one other winner, Professor Philipp Rutberg of Russia, who was recognized for his work developing energy plasma technologies which can convert waste materials into synthetic fuels.
The ceremony will be streamed live online, and journalists and interested members of the public are invited to watch the proceedings at: http://www.globalenergyprize.org/en/ at 07:30 – 08:00am ET, Friday 17 June.
The Global Energy Prize awards $1m each year, and thus far has been granted to 22 scientists from around the globe, including past Laureates from the US, Great Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Iceland, Russia, and Japan. The President of the Russian Federation participates in each year’s award ceremony held at the conclusion of a week-long celebration of the awardees’ work, Laureates’ Week. Other world leaders who have supported the prize include the former US President George W. Bush, former British Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, former French President Jacques Chirac and current Canadian Prime Minister, Steven Harper.
The Prize rewards innovation and solutions in global energy research and its concurrent environmental challenges. The degree to which a development contributes to the benefit of humanity is a key driver in deciding the recipient of the Prize.
* Picture courtesy of UC Berkeley Department of Physics