Reported By: XIAO Ke
Translated By: HU Yujia
Edited By: Jennifer Taylor
Recently, HIT received a letter from the Scientific Commission of Eni Award, which noting that the research paper Lipid Production for Biofuels from Effluent-based Culture by Heterotrophic Chlorella Protothecoides published in Bionenrgy Research was attracting interest from the international energy and environment sector. They decided to award members from State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Associate Professors from School of Municipal and Social Sciences CHEN Zhiqiang and WEN Qinxue, who are the main authors of the paper , eligibility to be nominated for the 2014 Eni Award. Now the award is in the evaluation phase.
The research provides a mode of microalgae cultivation, effluent-based cultivation; a combination process uniting microalgae biodiesel production with waste water treatment. The goal is to reduce the biodiesel cost and further increase the lipid yield. This paper was published in September. It had 4 other authors from the State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment. They are LI Pengfei, HAN Yuchi, Professor FENG Yujie and Vice President REN Nanqi.
Associate Professor CHEN is the project leader of the paper. He has conducted environmental biotechnology research for a long time. His research focuses on theoretical innovation and practical application of the research，especially in relation to biodegradable plastics of waste carbon oil, waste carbon forming materials and the enhanced biological treatment of contaminants. In recent years he has published more than 20 SCI papers and gained more than 10 national invention patents. As well, his research and development of enhanced sludge filtration technology has seen engineering applications and technology demonstration by cold region towns.
The Eni Award was established by an Italian multinational major integrated energy company called Eni Company. This award is praised by the international energy community as an "unofficial Nobel Prize". The Eni Award was created to develop better use of renewable energy, promote environmental research and encourage new generations of researchers. The Award, which is annual, highlights the critical importance increasingly given by Eni in recent years to scientific research and issues of sustainability. The 2014 Eni Award has total prize money of up to €1,000,000, which is divided into five research areas. An individual prize is € 200,000.
The evaluation experts of the Eni Award come from famous universities and research institutions including Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Cambridge and Universität Stuttgart. Since 2008 when the Eni Award was established, more than 60 scientists including three Nobel Prize winners. from different countries including the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Greece, Switzerland, Finland and other countries have won the award.
