Academician Valentin N. Parmon Academic Advisor of the Boreskov Institute of Catalysis SB RAS has been awarded the Global Energy Prize
28 April 2016
The Global Energy Prize 2016 laureate was announced during the official press conference in Moscow. This year prestigious award recognizes RAS academician Valentin Parmon – for a breakthrough development of new catalysts in the area of petroleum refining and the renewable sources of energy as a principal contribution into the energy of the future. The laureate will be awarded by the President of Russia a golden medal and a serious endowment sum - RUB 39 million.
The 2016 laureate was chosen on April, 26 during the GEP International Award Committee meeting but this information remained a secret until the last minute. The Committee is chaired by a world-renowned scientist from the UK – the Nobel Prize winner Rodney John Allam.
“We`ve reviewed 140 nominations from 27 countries. Europe is the most active nominations provider with 62% of the applications we got this year; North America holds the 2nd place with 18%.” - noted Allam. The GEP International Award Committee can choose up to 3 laureates each year. But in 2016 there`s only one - a Siberian scientist Valentin Parmon who turned Russian city of Novosibirsk into one of the country`s centers of innovative energy technologies.
Academic Advisor of the Boreskov Institute of Catalysis of the Siberian Branch of RAS is the author of many breakthrough inventions, which brought a significant commercial effect.
In 2003-2006 new generation catalysts for production of motor fuels, in particular, diesel, complying with the Euro-4 and Euro-5 standards, were designed and industrially introduced under his supervision. Within these 3 years the scientist received RUB 500 million from the state for the project research, and introduction of new catalysts at the enterprises gave additional products – super-gasoline – for almost RUB 10 billion, i.e. 17 times more than was invested. Now about 10% of the whole super-gasoline of Russia is produced using the technologies of the institute headed by V. Parmon.
He develops methods of fuel production from plant raw materials: wood substance, rice hulls (annually more than 15,000 tones of it is produced in the Krasnodar Territory only and 7-8 million tones is produced in the Southeast Asian countries).
Valentin Parmon has also mastered a technology of transforming solar energy into chemical one. A number of solar catalytic reactors were designed and tested under his supervision. Their efficiency of solar energy conversion in to chemical fuel reaches 43% at 2 kW of available capacity (this indicator has not been surpassed yet). One of the first of these catalyst systems was created in Crimea.
Source: Global Energy Prize
