Abu Dhabi: The winners for the 10th edition of the Zayed Future Energy Prize were awarded on Monday as part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, with the latest edition of the prize having received 2,296 submissions from 112 countries around the world.
Launched in 2008, the Zayed Future Energy Prize aims to support and encourage sustainable projects around the world, with the prize having impacted 289 million people through its projects.
His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, attended the ceremony and presented awards certificates to winners.
The prizes are given under five categories — Global High Schools, Non Profit Organisation, Small and Medium Enterprises, Large Corporation, and the Lifetime Achievement. The prize fund for each winning school is $100,000, all other categories -excluding the large corporation- receive $1.5 million.
Commenting on the significance of this year’s prize, Shaikh Mohammad stressed that 2018 is a year of special importance to the UAE, a year that marks the memory of Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
“2018 marks a momentous year for the UAE. It will see the nation coming together to commemorate the Year of Zayed and be reminded of our founding father, the late Shaikh Zayed’s wisdom, benevolence and leadership. His environmental stewardship continues to shape the development of our nation, guiding it to greater heights while inspiring sustainability initiatives globally,” Shaikh Mohammad said.
“Under the leadership of His Highness President Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed al Nahyan, his legacy lives on through initiatives such as the Zayed Future Energy Prize that was created to honour him, and the impactful actions of its winners. It’s truly is heartening to witness the Prize’s far-reaching impact across the world in the last decade, improving energy access, quality of life and the environment through innovations in clean technology,” Shaikh Mohammad added.
Dr Sultan Ahmad Al Jaber, Minister of State and Director General of the Zayed Future Energy Prize, also spoke positively about the prize and it’s global reach since its founding 10 years ago.
“Coinciding with the Year of Zayed, the 10th anniversary of the Zayed Future Energy Prize is a proud moment for the United Arab Emirates. The outstanding achievements of this year’s winners, and of all the prize recipients over the last decade, honour the legacy and vision of the UAE’s founding father. The Prize and its winners’ impact is profound.
“Collectively, they have enhanced energy access and the use of renewable energy across the world, simultaneously uplifting the quality of life for many and mitigating climate change,” he added.
“The success of the Prize demonstrates that true sustainable development not only requires leadership, innovation and investment from government and business, but also inventiveness and collaboration at the community level. We commend the 2018 winners of the Zayed Future Energy Prize, who are an inspiration to sustainability innovators,” he said, highlighting the importance of empowering and getting the community involved with such initiatives.
Lifetime Achievement winner
Shuji Nakamura, creator of the blue LED light that has revolutionised lighting across the world.
“When I first embarked on my journey I never expected to reach this far with so much success. I’m happy to win awards because it shows the power of how one person can make such a big change, I started working in a very small company with very little funds to work on my project, and so I hope that can inspire other people to always believe in themselves and do something that they think can change the world for the better.”
Global High School winners
Asia: Bahrain Bayah School, Bahrain
Project: The school is developing a learning platform called EcoLab 360. The platform aims to educate and raise awareness among students on sustainable practices and technology, with a main focus around five key pillars — reduce, reuse, recycle, raise awareness, and renewable energy. The school’s project plans to install a 50kW solar photovoltaic system, 1kW wind turbine, a 25kW/192kWh battery storage system, a gray water recycling system (25,000-30,000 litres/month) and food waste recycling system (6 tonnes/year) at its school campus.
Mariam Raees, student: “We are so happy to win the Zayed Future Energy Prize. As young people, we are the future, and so it’s up to us to take action towards making our environment cleaner. We hope that winning this prize can act as an inspiration to other young people and schools in Bahrain and the region, and for young people to start implementing sustainable actions into their daily lives, because whatever actions we take has an effect on everyone else.”
Oceania: Motofoua Secondary School, Tuvalu
Project: The project plans on installing a bio-digester and piggery to provide organic fertiliser for a vegetable garden and to produce biogas for the school’s energy needs. The project will also use the funds from the prize to install four 10,000-litre rainwater tanks and a 3kW solar photovoltaic system to light the piggery and run a water pump.
Foetasi Taukave, student: We are so excited and happy to have been selected as a winner for the Zayed Future Energy Prize. The money will play a huge role in helping us complete our project, which, will have a very good positive benefit for our country and community. The prize sends out a very good message by supporting young people like us and lets the world know that young people can change the world.”
Africa: Aaouda Saadia High School, Morocco
Project: The school plans on reducing its energy footprint and in turn reducing school costs by adding solar water heaters, photovoltaic panels and LED light bulbs. The school is also planning to improve its waste management by installing composting bins and a solar pump.
Americas: Centro Educativo Mbaracayu, Paraguay
Project: The school is working on a project to install a solar thermal system for electricity and hot water, as well as placing gravity lights that don’t need an external power source. The school is also going to produce biodiesel through its ‘biodiesal trees’ that will be planted from its indigenous Kupa’y tree.
Europe: Vladimir Nazor School, Croatia
Project: The school will use its prize money to install a photovoltaic and solar thermal system to provide electricity and water heating. The installed systems will be able to generate 13,000kWh of electricity every year in addition to 60,000kWh of heat. The school is also looking to reduce its energy consumption by replacing 226 conventional light bulbs with LED ones.
Non Profit Organisation winner
Selco Foundation, India
Project: The organisation works on providing sustainable and renewable energy solutions to poorer communities with the belief that such projects help to reduce the poverty levels for such communities.
H Harish Hande, Chief Executive Officer: The philosophy of Shaikh Zayed was one that put great care towards helping the poor and those in need, and this is very much in line with the work we do, and so we are honoured to receive this award that has been named after him. The prize is going to be so helpful for our organisation because it’s a lot of money, and it’s going to contribute significantly towards helping us achieve our goals and projects.”
Small and Medium Enterprise winner
Sunna Design, France
Project: The company manufactures and sells smart solar street lights. Their lamps have a 10-year lifetime, and also use nickel-metal hydride batteries that allows it to work in extreme temperatures. Their smart lights can also collect and transmit data about their environment and their work performance. The company has also opened a ‘factory of the future’ in France, which is capable of producing 100,000 solar street lights a year, with agreements in place on introducing such factories to countries including the UAE, Brazil and Algeria.
Large Corporation winner
The company was awarded for its involvement in several sustainable initiatives, including being the world’s largest corporate buyer of renewable energy, and investing in sustainable energy projects. The company also remanufactures and recycles one third of its servers to be used again.
Joseph Kava, Vice-President – Data Centres: “For us at Google, sustainability has been core to our belief system since the early days of our company. Climate change is real and it should be made a strategic imperative for all companies to work towards tackling. Here in the UAE, there is a leadership that has the vision to support sustainability, and so for us at Google, it’s a real honour to receive this prize and to be recognised.”
