The winners of the 2021 Global Energy Prize were announced on 6th September in Kazan. The laureates were: Russian scientists Zinfer Ismagilov and Suleyman Alakhverdiev, alongside American academic Yi Cui.

Zinfer Ismagilov won in the category ‘Conventional Energy’, for his fundamental contribution to the chemistry of carbon materials, heterogeneous catalysis, and climate action. Ismagilov is currently Director of the Institute of Coal Chemistry and Material Science, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Suleyman Alakhverdiev became the Global Energy Prize laureate in the ‘Non-Conventional Energy’ category, for an outstanding contribution to the development of alternative energy; scientific achievements in the design of artificial photosynthesis systems; and a cycle of scientific works in the field of bioenergy and hydrogen energy. Alakhverdiev is currently Head of the Controlled Photobiosynthesis Laboratory at the K.A. Timiryazev Institute of Plant Physiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS, Moscow), Allakhverdiev is also a Chief Research Scientist at the RAS Institute of Basic Biological Problems (Pushchino, Moscow Region).

Yi Cui was selected in the category ‘New Ways of Energy Application’ for exceptional contributions in nanomaterials design, and synthesis and characterisation for energy and the environment, particularly with respect to transformational innovations in battery science. Cui is currently Director of the Precourt Institute for Energy at Stanford University, co-director of the StorageX Initiative, and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering.

Recognising scientific and technological innovation

"By choosing these three laureates, I am sure the Global Energy Prize sent out a strong message that scientific and technological innovations in the field of both conventional and non-conventional energy can lead us to a clean energy future," remarked Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Rae Kwon Chung, who heads up the Global Energy Prize International Award Committee. "I would like to congratulate the hard work of the Secretariat of the Global Energy Association, led by Sergey Brilev, who successfully expanded the number of countries that produced the nominations from around the world and garnered more than one hundred new candidates."

The ceremony announcing the names of the laureates took place in the Kazan Town Hall. Taking part in the gala event were the President of the Republic of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, the President of the Global Energy Association, Sergey Brilev, as well as members of the International Award Committee – Marta Bonifert from Hungary and Dmitry Bassarabov. Joining the event via video link was Rae Kwon Chung.

On the eve of the ceremony, the laureates were determined at a closed session of the International Committee. The Committee required six ballots to determine the winner in some categories. The spirited competition was the result of efforts to internationalise the Global Energy Prize undertaken by the association over the past year and a half.

The prize will be presented in October during the Russian Energy Week forum.

The new nomination cycle will open on 1st December 2021.