Now in its twelfth edition, the Eni Award 2019 will be awarded on 10 October in Rome, during the official ceremony to be held at the Quirinale Palace, in the presence of the
Eni announces the names of the researchers and scientists who have won the twelfth edition of the Eni Award, the award established in 2007 has over the years become an international reference point for research in the fields of energy and the environment. The Eni Award aims to promote better use of energy sources and stimulate new generations of researchers in their work, testifying to the importance that Eni gives to scientific research and innovation.
This year the Energy Transition award, one of the three major awards that recognizes the best innovations in the hydrocarbon sector for decarbonising the energy system, was awarded to James A. Dumesic of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who developed catalytic processes innovative for the conversion of biomass to fuels and chemical products, increasing the yield by optimizing the reaction conditions. Among the new processes developed, the conversion of a sugar (fructose) to a compound from which it is possible to obtain biomaterials that can be used as an alternative to common plastic materials of fossil origin.
The Energy Frontiers Award, for research on renewable energy sources and energy storage, was awarded to Michael Aziz and Roy Gordon of Harvard University, who developed a new type of much cheaper batteries with innovative features compared to those currently in use. These batteries have various advantages: long life and quick response.
Finally, the Advanced Environmental Solutions award, dedicated to research on the protection of air, water and land and on the remediation of industrial sites, was assigned to Paul Chirik of Princeton University, whose successful research concerns the field of catalysis. Metals such as Iron and Cobalt can replace noble metals (Platinum, Rhodium, Palladium, etc.) used in catalytic reactions for the production of medicines and consumer products, with positive economic and environmental consequences. Recently Chirik discovered that the iron catalysts he developed are able to recycle butadiene, paving the way for future developments in the field of mitigating the environmental impact of traditional plastics.
Eni's awards to young researchers
For the Young Talents from Africa section, established in the 2017 on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Eni Award and dedicated to young talents from the African continent, the award was presented to Emmanuel Kweinor Tetteh of the Durban University of Technology and Madina Mahmoud of the American University of Cairo .
Tetteh's proposal concerns the evaluation of a process that integrates the use of innovative photo-catalysts with biological wastewater treatment systems and, at the same time, converting CO2 into fuels. Mahmoud's work is instead focused on the preparation of innovative membranes for the treatment of production water.
For the Young Researcher of the Year award, which annually awards two researchers under 30 who have obtained their PhDs from Italian universities, the awards were assigned to Alberto Pizzolato and Matteo Monai. The first, a student of the Politecnico di Torino, presented a work focused on the use of three-dimensional printing modeling methods (3D printing) for the development of systems applicable in the field of energy technologies.
The second, from the University of Trieste, presented a research that consists in the development of nanostructured catalysts based on metal alloys of non-noble elements, therefore at low cost, for applications in the energy field, particularly in the conversion of biomass with fuels and chemicals.
The awards ceremony will take place at the Palazzo del Quirinale the next 10 October in the presence of the President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella.