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 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.
Dr. Rosenfeld, 84, is a UC Berkeley physicist who served on the California Energy Commission for ten years. 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. Philipp Rutberg was awarded the Prize in recognition of his work developing energy plasma technologies which can convert waste materials into synthetic fuels. Using renewable energy sources, the technologies he has developed in this field produce a minimal amount of harmful emissions. Dr. Rutberg is also a Member of Russian Academy of Sciences and Director of the Institute for Electrophysics and Electric Power, St Petersburg, Russia.
The Prize was given to the scientists on Friday 17th June by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in an official ceremony which took place as part of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
http://www.globalenergyprize.org/en/
