Reported by ZHANG Linghan
Translated by CAO Hui
Edited by Patti Broderick
Updated: 2011-12-6
November 17 it was announced that HAN Hongjun, HIT’s Municipal Water Resources and Environment National Key Laboratory and National Engineering Research Center of Municipal Water Resources Professor, and his former postgraduate student, Dr. WANG Wei, now teaching Municipal Engineering at Hefei University of Technology, were nominated for the 2012 annual Eni Protection of the Environment Award by the Sixth Eni Scientific Secretariat for their research on coal chemical wastewater treatment technologies. The strict award guidelines and the notable names on the selection committee (including Nobel laureates) contribute to it being recognized by global energy industries as the most prestigious and authoritative award in the energy and environment research field, touted by some as the Nobel Prize of Energy Research. This is the first time that a Chinese scientist has received this great honor. The winner will be announced by the Eni Award Organizing Committee by April 13, 2012.
The Eni Award, formerly called the Eni-Italgas Award for 19 years, was officially established in July 2007, and is awarded by Eni S.p.A, a major integrated energy company. According to Forbes Magazine, it is the largest industrial company in Italy and the 37th largest in the world, with 80,000 employees in 79 countries. The aim of the Award is to promote research and innovation on alternative sources of energy and is conferred upon the person or group of people that achieved internationally significant results in research and innovation in the field of the correlation between human activity and the natural environment, with reference to approaches for both environmental protection and recovery.
Professor HAN Hongjun’s team has researched coal and chemical wastewater treatment technologies for many years publishing more than 30 papers, and obtaining more than 10 National Invention Patents. Their research focuses on both innovation and practical application. Dr. Han’s team’s work has received critical acclaim by national, provincial, and city environmental protection departments, as well as large domestic coal and chemical enterprises, design institutes and universities during visits to his technology demonstration projects. Their work has been well received at the Chemical Environment Protection and Coal and Chemical Pollution Control Technology Forum, Zero Wastewater Emissions Research Seminars of the National Coal Chemical Industry Project, The Fourth China International Summit on the New Type of Coal and Chemical Industry, The International Water Association’s 2010 International Conference, The 2011 International Summit on Coal Recycling Economics, The 2011 Technical Session on Mention Quality and Gasification of Inferior Coal among others.
The Eni Award Scientific Commission is composed of a maximum of 27 members chosen by the Organizing Committee among representatives of the International Scientific Community who hail from world-class universities and research institutions like Stanford University, MIT, Cambridge, and University of Stuttgart, to name just a few. More than 60 past award recipients have come from: Australia, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, and the U.S.A, including three Nobel laureates: 1996 Nobel laureate in Chemistry, Sir Harold Kroto; 2000 Nobel laureate in Chemistry, Dr. Alan Heeger; and 2005 Nobel laureate in Physics, Dr. Theodor W. Hänsch.
2012 Eni Awards are conferred for outstanding contributions in five categories including the “New Frontiers of Hydrocarbons Prizes”, the “Renewable and Non-conventional Energy Prize”, the “Protection of the Environment Prize”, the “Debut in Research Prizes”, and the Eni Innovation Awards. In addition to the worldwide prestige of having been selected for the award, the Prize consists of a gold medal specially minted by the Italian Zecca di Stato (State Mint) and a cash prize in the sum of €200,000 (two hundred thousand Euros).
The mere nomination, let alone perhaps the actual award, draws worldwide attention not only to the contributions Professor HAN Hongjun is making to international energy and environmental protection science, but also the priority China as a nation places on energy and environmental protection research.
