Honour Well Deserved

Fri, Jun 21, 2013

By publisher

3 MIN READ

Vladimir Putin, president of Russia, honours the 2013 laureates of Global Energy Prize

|  By Maureen Chigbo  |  Jul. 1, 2013 @ 01:00 GMT

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin on June 21, honoured  the 2013 laureates of the Global Energy Prize, GEP, one of the world’s most prestigious energy awards, at a ceremony at St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Masadzi Kotsuyama, Japanese deputy minister of foreign affairs, also attended the ceremony to honour the 2013 GEP laureates.

The prize came with the sum of $1.1 million (RUB 33 million) endowment split between the GEP laureates to help them fund future research projects. It is the largest energy research grant of its kind in the world. This year’s laureates, Akira Yoshino of Japan and Vladimir Fortov of Russia, will receive the money prize and official recognition, at a ceremony at Lenexpo Exhibition Complex in St (Hall 7-1) in St. Petersburg.

Yoshino’s ground-breaking work in the development of the lithium-ion rechargeable battery has been critical to the operation of mobile electronic devices, electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles. Akira is a fellow at the Asahi Kasei Corporation and is the president of the Lithium Ion Battery Technology and Evaluation Centre in Japan.

The work of Fortov in thermodynamics and electronic properties of fluids and construction materials has played an important role in a variety of high density plasma applications. A physicist by training, Fortov was just recently elected head of the celebrated Russian Academy of Sciences.

Speaking prior to the ceremony, Nikolay Laverov, Chairman of The GEP Board of Trustees and member of the board of directors at Rosneft Oil Company, praised the GEP Laureates’ technological developments and innovations, both for the direct energy challenges they help address, as well as for the wider economic and societal benefits their work accrues to society. “The effects from their work are positive and wide and contribute to societies all over the world,” said Laverov.

Rodney John Allam, chairman of the International Award Committee and himself a former Laureate, praised the winners of this year’s award, saying that they had maintained the high standards set in previous years. “The application GEP Laureate innovations serve and the economic benefits are at the heart of the GEP tradition,” he said.

Igor Lobovsky, president of the GEP Partnership, echoed Allam’s comments adding that “Our 2013 Laureates once again raise the bar on energy technological progress”.

The Global Energy Prize has been awarded to 29 honourees since its inception in 2002. The Prize is awarded by the International Award Committee, which includes 25 globally recognised scientists and energy specialists.

Meanwhile, the Global Energy non-profit partnership also honoured the 2013 winner of the Energy of Words award, an annual international media award established in 2004. Natasha Loder of The Economist won for her work on education technology and its potential to innovate in schools.

“I’m enormously grateful to receive this award. This award will allow me to continue to follow my passions and to pursue the stories that I hope will inspire and delight others,” said Loder, the weekly publication’s U.S. Midwest Correspondent since 2011.

Prior to joining The Economist over a decade ago, Loder worked at the scientific journal Nature and The Times Higher Education Supplement, and for a brief period as a scientist. Candidates for the Energy of Words prize come from publications and media outlets around the world, including The New York Times.