The Energy Transition Award, one of the three main awards, is awarded for exceptional innovation in the hydrocarbon sector towards the decarbonization of the energy system. This year’s recipient is Omar M. Yaghi from Berkeley University, California, one of the most brilliant scientists working in the field of crystalline-porous solids research. He studied their use in the selective separation of CO2 from combustion gases and the capture of atmospheric humidity, a particularly innovative application for desert areas.

The Energy Frontiers Award, for research on renewable energy sources and energy storage, was awarded to Zhong Lin Wang from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta. Professor Wang has developed "triboelectric nanogenerators", a new group of devices capable of converting naturally occurring energy into high-yielding electricity, both on a macroscopic scale (such as waves in the ocean) and on a microscopic scale (body movements, muscular contractions, blood flow), creating a huge scope of potential for energy retrieval and generation.

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