The 2022 Global Energy Prize shortlist has been announced

The 2022 Global Energy Prize shortlist includes scientists from nine countries: Canada, China, France, India, Kazakhstan, Russia, Singapore, Uruguay, USA. The list was announced on May 24 at the strategic session “Russian Oil and Gas Industry: Development Trends, Challenges and Forecasts” hosted by Ufa as part of the thirtieth international exhibition and forum “Gas. Oil. Technology".

The shortlist announcement finalised the second stage of the nomination cycle. The first one - acceptance of applications for the award from December 01, 2021 to March 20, 2022 - saw a record number of them, i.e.119. The number of participating countries reached forty-three, which exceeds the previous year (36 countries) and the year before (20 countries) and is the highest record in the history of the award. 

The applications received at the second stage were brought before the independent experts who evaluated them according to the fixed criteria, including scientific novelty and practical value. In each nomination - Conventional Energy, Non-Conventional Energy, New Ways of Energy Application - the top five applications with the highest average score were determined and finally made up the shortlist. 

For the first time, the shortlist included representatives from India, Singapore, and Uruguay and a woman-representative of Kazakhstan. 

"The diversity of the submitted researches and the record number of applications confirm that the Global Energy Prize, which has reached its 20th anniversary this year, is really international and continues its movement forward," says Sergey Brilev, the President of the Global Energy Association. 

The 2022 laureates will be chosen during a meeting of the International Award Committee to be held in July. The prize awarding ceremony will take place in October. The shortlist of the nominees for the 2022 Global Energy Prize includes:

Conventional Energy

1. Ron Shu-Yen Hui (Singapore), Professor, Nyanyan Technological University: for contributions to theoretical advancements and inventions of planar wireless charging technology for electronic and mobile devices and products.

2. Praveen Jain (Canada), Professor, Director of the Queen’s Center for Energy and Power Electronics Research: for groundbreaking concepts in power electronics designs, and innovations in applications impacting the efficient generation, transmission and utilization of electric power.

3. Viktor Orlov (Russia), Chief Specialist of the Center for Innovative Technologies (Rosatom): for fundamental research concerning development of the innovative energy technology based on the fast reactors with a heavy metal coolant and the closed fuel cycle.

4. Irina Tazhibaeva (Kazakhstan), Deputy Director of the Institute of Atomic Energy of the National Nuclear Center: for contribution to the scientific support, development and creation of Kazakhstan Tokamak for Material Research.

5. Ruben Chaer (Uruguay), Manager of the URUGUAY'S Electricity Market Administration, Professor of the Faculty of Engineering - UdelaR: for the development of SimSEE model (Simulation of Electric Power Systems), energy planning in Latin American countries and contribution in Uruguayan energy transition.

Non-Conventional Energy

1. Mercouri Kanatzidis (USA), Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University: for breakthroughs in the field of solar energy conversion using the new halide perovskites.

2. Bhim Singh (India), President of the SERB National Academy of Sciences: for advancement in the field of renewable energy-based systems, development of low-cost energy-efficient solar photovoltaic fed water pumping systems for rural areas, development of energy-efficient ceiling fan motor to reduce power consumption.

3. Chang Jo-Shu (Taiwan, China), vice president of Tunghai University: for fundamental research and development of Microalgal Technology as well as biofuels and biorefinery.

4. Gregory Stephanopoulos (USA), Willard Henry Dow Professor of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology: the invention and development of a technology for converting gases to liquid fuels.

5. Pavel Bezrukikh (Russia), Professor of the National Research University "MPEI": for research in the field of scientific fundamentals and efficiency of renewable energy resources in Russia, development of federal programmes.

New Ways of Energy Application

1. Patrice Simon (France), Paul Sabatier University Professor: for his pioneer work on capacitive energy storage, which has shaped the field.

2. Amit Goyal (USA), Founding Director, RENEW Institute, State University of New York at Buffalo: for contribution to high temperature superconductivity, discoveries, and inventions to fabricate long-lengths of high-performance superconducting wire for all large-scale energy-related applications of HTS.

3. Kaushik Rajashekara (USA), Distinguished Professor of Engineering, University of Houston: for outstanding contributions to transportation electrification and technologies for improving energy efficiency with reduced emissions for power generation.

4. Chunshan Song (China), Professor and Dean of Wei Lun Chinese University of Hong Kong: for innovative and pioneering contributions to adsorptive and catalytic processing of carbon dioxide and hydrocarbon fuels.

5. David Lou (Singapore), Professor of Nyanyan University of Technology: for the design and synthesis of nanostructured materials.