ROME (ITALPRESS) – The Eni Awards ceremony was held today at the Quirinale Palace in the presence of President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, Eni Board Chairman Giuseppe Zafarana and Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi.Now in its sixteenth year, the award is considered an international benchmark for research in the fields of energy and the environment and testifies to the importance of scientific research and technological innovation for Eni and its commitment to fostering sustainability and access to energy, in accordance with the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Since its inception in 2008, there have been more than 11,000 nominations. The Scientific Commission, which evaluated the submitted research, is composed of scientists belonging to the world’s most advanced research institutes and over the years has seen the participation of 6 Nobel Laureates.Also this year Eni, through Joule, its School for Enterprise, has awarded the Eni Joule for Entrepreneurship Special Mention, intended for teams, university spin-offs, startups and aimed at fostering the application, exploitation and transfer of technologies while promoting the creation of a sustainable innovation ecosystem.In the 2024 edition of Eni Award winners were: for the Energy Transition section, aimed at research in the field of energy efficiency as well as carbon capture, utilization and sequestration, the prize was awarded to Marc Fontecave of the College de France (France). Marc Fontecave’s research is aimed at developing technologies for the valorization of CO2 as an alternative source of carbon for the production of compounds of high industrial interest. To this end, inspired by biological systems, he has developed innovative catalytic systems, characterized by high efficiency and selectivity, used in electrocatalytic CO2 reduction processes powered by renewable electricity.In the Frontiers of Energy section, for research on renewable sources and energy storage, the prize was awarded to Nam-Gyu Park of Sungkyunkwan University (South Korea) for his research on solid-state perovskite solar cells. Through his work, Prof. Park has contributed to the research and development of a class of new materials for photovoltaic devices that in a short period of time have demonstrated advances in efficiency and stability never before recorded for any other solar technology, surpassing even those of silicon, and on their way to becoming major players in the energy market.In the Advanced Environmental Solutions section, which is dedicated to enhancing scientific and technological innovation for the protection and sustainable use of natural resources, the prize was awarded to Holger Braunschweig of Julius-Maximilians-Universityt Wùrzburg (Germany) for his research related to Reduction of Waste and Toxic Elements through direct functionalization of nitrogen with light elements without transition metals. Prof. Braunschweig demonstrated that some light elements, such as boron, can facilitate reactions that up to now only occurred through the use of toxic heavy metals. In particular, his research has achieved significant results in converting molecular nitrogen to ammonia. This discovery makes it possible to avoid costly waste-producing purification steps and save significant amounts of energy, while also preventing the environmental and health problems associated with many toxic metals.For the Young Researcher of the Year category, which honors two researchers who have received their Ph.D.s from Italian universities, awards were presented to Elvira Spatolisano and Stefano Toso.Elvira Spatolisano, who received her Ph.D. from the Politecnico di Milano, led a study to valorize hydrogen sulfide, a compound often found in natural gas, the cleanest fossil fuel and crucial in the energy transition to renewables. Such valorization processes increase environmental sustainability by converting a toxic waste into products with high added value, such as fertilizer or hydrogen.Stefano Toso, who conducted his doctorate at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in collaboration with the Italian Institute of Technology, studied metal halides, a new class of semiconductors with excellent photovoltaic properties and useful for making efficient opto-electronic devices. The nanomaterials he has developed may find applications in photovoltaics, photocatalysis and optoelectronics, as well as in emerging fields such as quantum computing.The Young Talents from Africa section, established in 2017 on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Eni Award and dedicated to young talents from the African continent, awards four prizes in this edition, given to Favour Agbajor, from Durban University of Technology (South Africa), Petra Kienyiy Chui, from Egerton University (Kenya), Lakhdar Hamidatou, from Ecole Nationale Polytechnique de Constantine (Algeria), and Nomthandazo Precious Sibiya, from Durban University of Technology (South Africa).The awardees will receive a scholarship that will enable them to attend a doctoral program at prestigious Italian universities to further explore and develop their innovative ideas developed during their master’s thesis.Favour Agbajor developed innovative models that integrate building design and operation with renewable energy systems, with the goal of achieving carbon neutrality.Petra Kienyiy Chui assessed levels and established microplastic and water quality characteristics of the Njoro River and Lake Nakuru in Kenya.Lakhdar Hamidatou developed and experimentally validated a removable cooling kit for commercial photovoltaic panels using bio-based phase change materials (PCMs).Finally, Nomthandazo Precious Sibiya developed a magnetic coagulation separation technique that can be used for wastewater treatment.For the Eni Innovation Recognition section, which elects the most innovative projects developed by Eni researchers and technical experts, the following were awarded: Cristina Bonanomi, Rino Bonetti, Silvia Pavoni (Eni), Davide Moscatelli, Edoardo Terreni (PoliMI) for the patent idea related to a process for the production of bio-oil from lignin; Riccardo Borgomaneri, Luigi Colombo, Francesca Galimberti, Samuele Gori, Alberto Landoni, Nicoletta Panariti, Rita Ponzo (Eni) for the innovative technological solution “Bio-Slurry,” a one-stage process to convert highly contaminated bio-feedstock into valuable products; Mirko Barbavara, Gabriele Bianchi, Stefano Cardamone, Lino Carnelli, Davide Deriu, Carla Lazzari, Nicola Mancini, Tamara Passera, Giuseppe Sabetta, (Eni) for the technological solution of the Eni TES (Thermal Energy Storage) system.The Special Mention “Eni Joule for Entrepreneurship” was also awarded to three startups that particularly stood out for the innovativeness and sustainability of their proposed entrepreneurial projects: HBI – Human Based Innovation, a startup from Bolzano, Italy, which developed and patented a technology to treat sewage sludge in a circular manner; SLY, a startup from Santa Caterina dello Ionio (Catanzaro), which developed cutting-edge AI technologies for ultra-early identification and classification of forest fires; and RarEarth, a startup from Milan, Italy, which developed an innovative chemical process for recycling rare earths from electric motors of two-wheeled vehicles.
– Eni press office photo –
(ITALPRESS).
