Australian Scientist Wins "Alternative Nobel Prize" from Sweden

Professor Martin Green, Director of Research at UNSW's Centre for Photovoltaic Engineering, has won a Right Livelihood Award, for "his dedication and outstanding success in responding to the key technological challenge and moral imperative of our age: the harnessing of solar energy".

Founded in Sweden in 1980, the Right Livelihood Awards are presented annually and are usually referred to as "Alternative Nobel Prizes". They were introduced "to honour and support those offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today". Their founder, Jakob von Uexkull, a Swedish-German philatelic expert, believes the more widely recognised Nobel Prizes ignore "much work and knowledge vital for the future of humankind".

Professor Green will receive his Award in the Swedish Parliament in Stockholm on 9 December. The Right Livelihood Award Foundation described him as "the world's foremost researcher and inventor in the field of solar photovoltaic (PV) technology". He has been researching solar energy technology at UNSW for over 25 years.

Professor Green is also Director of the ARC Special Research Centre for Third-Generation Photovoltaics, at UNSW. This centre is bringing together novel methods of raising the efficiency of solar cells towards their theoretical maximum efficiency of 87 per cent - far beyond the efficiency of present-day technologies.

Professor Green said: "The developments recognised by this award will, I hope, allow the rapid spread of these technologies. For me, this would have the particularly pleasing result that the cost of developing new energy sources would not be carried by those most in need of them, who are unfortunately the poorest communities, but would be pioneered by more affluent communities".

Professor Green was nominated for the award by Dr Herman Scheer, a "green" member of the German Parliament and general chairman of the World Council for Renewable Energy, whose strong advocacy has created a market for wind and solar technologies in Germany.

Contact Details: Martin Green, (02) 9385 4018; Judy Brookman, UNSW Media Manager, tel. (02) 9385 3249 or mob 0421 061 251.