The results of the second TERA-Award Smart Energy Innovation Competition, co-organised by The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited ('Towngas') and the State Power Investment Corporation Limited ('SPIC'), have been announced.
The Hong Kong startup company i2Cool won the Gold Award with their 'electricity-free cooling technology', receiving prize money of US$1 million.
The Silver Award went to the SPIC Research Institute of Smart Energy Company Limited, the State Key Laboratory of Clean Energy Utilisation of Zhejiang University, and the Key Laboratory of Low-grade Energy Utilisation Technologies & Systems of the Ministry of Education of Chongqing University, for their efforts in the 'CO2 reduction with microalgae from coal-fired flue gas' project. HydroPro New Energy Corporation was given the Bronze Award in recognition of their 'Hydropro' project. The two teams were awarded US$100,000 and US$50,000 respectively.
The second TERA-Award Award Presentation Ceremony was held in a physical format yesterday. i2Cool, a Hong Kong startup company, stood out among 275 entries from 41 countries and regions and emerged as the winner. Their 'electricity-free cooling technology' is a zero-energy cooling/heat-dissipating paint that can be applied to architectural coatings, wall tiles and even fabrics. Experiments have shown that the roofs surface temperature of buildings in Hong Kong can be reduced from 60-degreeC to 30-degreeC during the daytime when the paint is applied, and it is estimated that all buildings in Hong Kong could reduce carbon emissions by 600,000 tonnes every year by applying this paint.
Dr Martin Zhu, the co-founder of i2Cool, said that their research was inspired by a species of African silver ants that can survive in the desert at a temperature as high as 60-degreeC. Its hair structure has a unique triangular shape that reflects most of the sunlight and dissipates heat like a mirror. The i2Cool team has imitated the hair structure of the silver ants by using a mixture of nanoparticles to produce an external wall coating with a solar heat reflectivity of 95%. The coating also emits indoor heat with a 95% mid-infrared emissivity, thus greatly reducing the power consumption of air conditioners.
Dr Zhu thanked the Competition organisers for the Gold Award, which he considered a great support to the popularisation of their research results. i2Cool plans to invest in a factory for the 'one-stop' production of related products so that the results can be widely applied among the public.
The Silver Award-winning project uses microalgae for carbon reduction. This project converts carbon dioxide into economically valuable biomass by improving algae strains and using highly efficient photobioreactors. With the new technology, carbon sequestration and algal powder production are five to ten times higher than with the old technology. The carbon sequestered biomass can be used to produce nutritional foods, functional feeds and organic fertilisers, bringing significant economic, environmental and social benefits.
The Bronze Award-winning project, HydroPro, is a next-generation hydrogen generation system with a higher efficiency than existing green hydrogen technology. It boasts an electricity-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of over 80% and a significantly lower cost, which can help accelerate the application of green hydrogen, a clean energy source, in a wide range of industries.
Dr Lee Ka-kit, Chairman of Towngas, revealed that this year's participating teams came from 18 more countries and regions than the previous edition, an increase of nearly 80%, showing that the impact and global reach of the Competition have reached new heights. 'The winner will not only receive investment from Towngas, but will also have the opportunity to receive support in its zero-carbon smart industrial parks as an energy storage application scenario. The inclusion of application scenarios is what sets the TERA-Award Competition apart from the rest and what entrepreneurs are lacking most.' He added that Towngas would also launch the third edition of the Competition in collaboration with the SPIC, and look forward to more entrepreneurs and scientists joining forces to protect the planet.
Mr Qian Zhimin, the Chairman of the SPIC, congratulated the Competition on the new breakthroughs achieved. He said that in the transition from fossil to non-fossil energy sources, the power of technological innovation has a profound impact on the ability to develop and utilise renewable energy sources, and it has become a key point in the energy transition of all the countries. He added that the SPIC is willing to work closely with industry leaders such as Towngas in various areas of innovation, providing an abundance of application scenarios for the award-winning projects, accelerating the application of innovations, and jointly contributing to the achievement of China's '30-60' goals.
In his speech, the Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, mentioned, 'To combat the adverse impacts of climate change, the Government has set out four major decarbonisation strategies, namely net-zero electricity generation, energy saving and green buildings, green transport and waste reduction, under Hong Kong's Climate Action Plan 2050 to tackle major sources of carbon emissions and achieve carbon neutrality. I am thankful that all the participants of the Towngas TERA-Award Competition have devised innovative smart energy breakthroughs with a view to discovering visionary technology and solutions to drive the development of the energy industry and the construction of smart cities, which are of paramount importance to meet the carbon neutrality target.'
A new award category, Rising Stars, and a pioneer award were introduced at the second TERA-Award to encourage more innovative submissions. Towngas will provide strategic investment or application scenarios with resource-matching services for all award-winning projects to accelerate their implementation.
The second TERA-Award Smart Energy Innovation Competition continued with the theme of 'Exploring Zero-Carbon Innovations for the Future' to discover innovative technologies and solutions for smart energy around the world and to contribute to the country's '30-60' dual carbon goals.
Contact:
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Email: addie.lam@towngas.com
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