2008 Cleantech Awards recipients

Cleantech Pioneer of the Year
Dr. Hermann Scheer
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Dr. Scheer has been a member of the German Parliament since 1980. His revolutionary one page law on renewable energy back in 1990, called the “Act on Feeding in Electricity,” and his work on the German National Renewable Energy Act propelled Germany to become the world’s leading solar market, and the world leader in production of wind energy. Scheer is the originator of what has come to be known of as the feed-in tariff, which was based on free access to the grid, guaranteed fixed prices, and the obligation for utilities to purchase.

Arup
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Arup is a global firm of designers, engineers, planners and business consultants. It exerts a significant influence on the built environment and is the creative force behind many of the world’s most innovative and sustainable designs. It has over 10,000 employees, 92 offices in 37 countries around the world. Bringing a fully integrated and holistic approach to clients has been the hallmark of Arup, leading to the structural design of the iconic Sydney Opera House to the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.

Cleantech Leader of the Year
Dr. Sultan al Jaber

Dr. al Jaber is CEO of the Masdar Initiative of the United Arab Emirates. He oversees a $15 billion dollar fund from the emirate of Abu Dhabi, the largest pool of capital yet allocated by a government towards cleantech initiatives (see Google, Masdar receive 2008 Cleantech Awards.)

Patrick Tam

Tam is General Partner of Beijing-based Tsing Capital, formerly known as Tsinghua Venture
Capital. Tam was one of the first Chinese venture capitalists to invest in cleantech, and has since invested more in the Chinese market—a market poised to become larger than any other single market for clean technology—than any other investor. Tam was recognized at Cleantech Forum Shanghai.

Cleantech Corporation of the Year
Google
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Search juggernaut Google has launched an ambitious effort to try to make renewable energy cheaper than coal (see Google creates renewable R&D group), is working to make its data centers more energy efficient and to save energy on billions of users' computer desktops (see Green Grid joined by Climate Savers initiative from Google & Intel) and has a multi-million dollar program to help accelerate plug-in hybrid vehicles technology borne out of a pet project by company engineers (see Plug-in hybrids can Google for cash.)

Cleantech Emerging Enterprise of the Year
Ormat Technologies
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Ormat is the third largest geothermal power producer in the U.S. It is a vertically integrated company dedicated to providing solutions for geothermal power, recovered energy generation (REG) and remote power. Ormat has successfully supplied more than 950 MW of geothermal power plants, and owns approximately 323 MW of geothermal and recovered energy-based power generating capacity in the U.S. 

Cleantech European Corporation of the Year
Virgin Group
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Virgin flew the world's first partially biofuel-powered 747, taking off from London and landing in Amsterdam. But it was two years earlier, back in 2006, that founder Richard Branson pledged to invest the equivalent of 1.5 billion pounds, or almost 2 billion Euros in late 2006, into renewable fuels.

Today, Virgin Green Fund is putting money to work in biofuels, the solar sector, transportation, lighting and others.

In 2007, Virgin put aside $25 million dollars for an award it calls The Virgin Earth Challenge, to go to the individual or group able to demonstrate a commercially viable way to remove atmospheric greenhouse gases each year for at least ten years without harmful side effects. And Virgin's internal sustainability and social responsibility initiative Project Aware is intended to help the company manage its impact on society and the environment through its operations, products and supply chain.

Most Promising Technology
DuraCar
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A Netherlands company with a new, all-electric delivery van named the QUICC, DuraCar was voted Most Promising Technology of the Brussels Cleantech Forum in 2008 by investor attendees. DuraCar's QUICC van was exhibited alongside the first European display of Tesla's all-electric roadster at the Cleantech Forum in Brussels.

Simbol Mining Corporation
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Simbol was voted most promising technology by attendees of Cleantech Forum XVI in San Francisco on the promise of its method for extracting valuable minerals and metals from geothermal brines.

Western Shell Cryogentic Equipment
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Western Shell Cryogenic Equipment makes equipment that supplies of methane available to small markets/areas. Voted most promising technology by attendees of Cleantech Forum XX in Shanghai.

Polyflow Corp
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Polyflow intends to be the first to market with viable alternative energy technology to tap the world’s polymer waste stream. It offers an innovative technology that for the first time allows recycling of mixed dirty plastic and rubber waste. The Polyflow process eliminates the need for sorting and increases recycling rates, making municipal blue box recycling programs profitable, and enables single stream recycling.