Offering $4 million in prize money, the Zayed Future Energy Prize* is the largest renewable energy and sustainability prize in the world. I call it the “Oscars of Cleantech.” And I’m probably not the first to make that comparison. In its 7th year, this year’s competition is very fierce. The awards ceremony tomorrow will be exciting, without a doubt, and I will record the entire thing on video for sharing later in the evening.
As a quick reminder, the finalists are as follows:
- Large Corporations: Enel Green Power, First Solar, IKEA, Panasonic
- SMEs: Econation, M-Kopa, SELCO
- Nonprofits: Electriciens sans Frontières, Liter of Light, Practical Action, SolarAid, and World Resources Institute.
- 4 high schools spread across 5 regions that are finalists in the 2015 Global High Schools category, including: Abaarso School of Science and Technology, Alliance Girls High School, and Waterford Kamhlaba (Africa); DGEyC E.S.E.T. Nº 4 El Palomar, Colegio Roosevelt, Munro Academy (Americas); Amra Bint Abdul Rahman Secondary School for Girls, Royal College, Rishi Valley Education Centre and Addu High School (Asia), and Melbourne Girls School, Lumé Rural Training Center, and Cashmere High School (Oceania).
The Zayed Future Energy Prize is part of the Opening Ceremony for the World Future Energy Summit and Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. Throughout the week, I’ll be attending panel sessions and events about Zayed Future Energy Prize finalists and renewable energy developments around the world. Professionally, this is my favorite week of the year, but it is also extremely busy!
Aside from attending sessions and events, I will be interviewing many important and powerful people, such as the CEO of ABB (2014 Zayed Future Energy Prize winner in the “Large Corporation” category), the CEO of Masdar, top executives of the 2015 ZFEP winners and finalists, the President of Iceland, the founder and chairman of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the Chair of the World Energy Council, Masdar’s Director of Sustainability, the President and CEO of the UN Foundation, and others. Stay tuned!
Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, by the way, is the world’s largest annual gathering focused on clean energy and sustainability. Over 30,000 delegates from 160 countries make it both wonderful and a tincy bit overwhelming. It includes a lot of inspiring talk; countless useful lessons for businesses, entrepreneurs, and policymakers; and business deals that are transforming the world. Luckily, I can help bring what I see and hear to thousands more people around the world. 😀
Full Disclosure: My trip to and accommodation in Abu Dhabi for the Zayed Future Energy Prize, World Future Energy Summit, and other Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week events is being sponsored by Masdar. That said, I have full editorial control over the work and am even publishing it without feedback. I am only covering things that I find very interesting or important, and that I think others will find interesting or important.
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