Inaugural prize awarded to Barua for bringing renewable energy to rural communities
The first annual Zayed Future Energy Prize was awarded on January 19, 2009 by His Highness General Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, to Dipal Chandra Barua, Founding Managing Director of Grameen Shakti for his visionary efforts to bring renewable energy solutions to the rural population of Bangladesh.
The Zayed Future Energy Prize finalist, Dr Martin Green, was also recognised at the award ceremony for his ground breaking research in photovoltaic (PV) technology that will result in increased efficiencies, bringing solar energy closer to grid parity.
The Prize was launched in January 2008 at the inaugural World Future Energy Summit to honour the legacy of environmental stewardship of the UAE’s late ruler and founding father, His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
The award winner, Barua, and the finalist, Dr Green will receive USD1.5 million and USD350,000, respectively, to accelerate the development of their innovations.
Barua’s organisation, Grameen Shakti (GS), has installed more than 200,000 solar PV systems that currently provide power for more than two million rural people. Under Barua’s leadership, GS has developed a number of other innovative initiatives, including a biogas technology that converts cow and poultry waste into gas for cooking, lighting and fertiliser. GS has installed more than 6,000 biogas plants and plans to construct an additional 500,000 by 2012. Apart from this, GS has trained rural women to be solar technicians thereby enabling green entrepreneurs through a highly successful micro-credit program.
“It is a great honour to receive this recognition inspired by the vision of HH the late Sheikh Zayed,” said Barua. “I consider myself a global Ambassador of the Prize, and would like to carry forward the message of environmental sensitivity that is being championed by the leadership of Abu Dhabi.”
The finalist, Dr Green is a leading researcher in the field of PV. He is currently developing “third-generation” solar cells that will help decrease costs to less than USD 0.50/W, to potentially USD 0.20/W or better, which will drastically increase the economic viability of this technology.
“I firmly believe that many of our future energy needs can be addressed by photovoltaic technology,” said Dr Green. “I’m proud that as one of the first recipients of this award, PV technology and its importance in the renewable energy mix is also being recognised as a commercially viable solution.”
“It is quite inspirational to be a part of Zayed Future Energy Prize,” said Nobel Laureate Dr RK Pachauri, Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Chairman of the jury for ZFEP. “The technologies and the innovative solutions that we’ve seen through the submission process are a good reminder of the ability of human innovation to solve our global challenges.”
“These winners and their innovations embody the very qualities the Zayed Future Energy Prize aims to recognise – pioneering, ambitious ideas that provide us with a more sustainable future,” Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Director General of the Prize and Chief Executive of Masdar.
Submissions were received from more than 50 countries from every region of the world, including the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, China, Bangladesh, Germany, Brazil, Russia, Canada and Spain. The pool of 204 total submissions was reduced to twenty by a selection committee of senior technical, commercial and energy policy experts.
