Neste congratulates the winner of the 2022 Millennium Technology Prize, Professor Martin Green
Neste Corporation, News, 26 October 2022
Photo: Technology Academy Finland
Neste would like to congratulate Scientia Professor Martin Green of the UNSW Sydney, Australia, the winner of the Millennium Technology Prize 2022. The prize worth one million euros was awarded on Tuesday, 25 October in Helsinki, Finland. Neste has been one of the main partners of the Millennium Technology Prize since 2006.
Professor Green’s prize-winning innovation is a Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell (PERC) used in solar panels. Almost 90 percent of the global solar cell market is based on the use of this technology, which was launched in 1983. The efficiency of the PERC cell's operation is based on the fact that by improving the quality of the top and the rear surface of the silicon-based solar cell, the electrons that produce the electric current stay in motion longer and the cell therefore produces more energy than traditional solutions. The technology has clearly brought down the operating costs of solar panels and made it possible for solar energy to compete against fossil alternatives.
“Climate change is the biggest challenge of our time and we need all available means to combat it. We are very happy about Professor Green's recognition, as his innovation has enabled economically viable upscaling in the utilization of solar power. In addition, it underlines the importance of innovation, result-oriented research and cooperation between several industries”, says Lars Peter Lindfors, Senior Vice President, Innovation at Neste.
The Millennium Technology Prize is a Finnish one-million-euro award presented every second year in honour of a pioneering technological innovation that improves people’s quality of life and promotes sustainable development. The winning innovations must have extensive positive social impacts, be commercially viable and promote the welfare of humanity. The Millennium Technology Prize is awarded by Technology Academy Finland.
In connection with the distribution of the award, a two-day seminar Millennium Innovation Forum will be organized in Helsinki. Lars Peter Lindfors will speak today, October 26, 2022, about Neste's innovation work and the importance of renewable raw materials in the Green Transition session of the event. In addition to the event in Helsinki, Neste today organizes its own satellite event in Singapore to bring together industry professionals to discuss future solutions. The event is organized in cooperation with the Embassy of Finland in Singapore.
Read more:
Technology Academy Finland: https://millenniumprize.org/
Further information: Please contact Neste's media service, tel. +358 800 94025 / media@neste.com (weekdays from 8.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. EET).
Neste in brief
Neste (NESTE, Nasdaq Helsinki) creates solutions for combating climate change and accelerating a shift to a circular economy. We refine waste, residues and innovative raw materials into renewable fuels and sustainable feedstock for plastics and other materials. We are the world’s leading producer of sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel and developing chemical recycling to combat the plastic waste challenge. We aim at helping customers to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions with our renewable and circular solutions by at least 20 million tons annually by 2030. Our ambition is to make the Porvoo oil refinery in Finland the most sustainable refinery in Europe by 2030. We are introducing renewable and recycled raw materials such as liquefied waste plastic as refinery raw materials. We have committed to reaching carbon-neutral production by 2035, and we will reduce the carbon emission intensity of sold products by 50% by 2040. We also have set high standards for biodiversity, human rights and supply chain. We have consistently been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices and the Global 100 list of the world’s most sustainable companies. In 2021, Neste's revenue stood at EUR 15.1 billion. Read more: neste.com
