The opening ceremony of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2023 was not quick on inspiring rhetoric, however the winners of the Zayed Sustainability Prize offered some real-world examples of what motion on the native stage actually appears like.
The Masdar-hosted Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) kicked off with a celebration of grassroots motion within the sustainability area within the type of an award ceremony for the Zayed Sustainability Prize (ZSP).
Established in 2008, the $3 million ZSP acknowledges organizations and excessive colleges that may reveal real-world impression via revolutionary sustainability options within the fields of well being, meals, vitality, water and international highschool. Every winner will obtain $600,000. A constant function of the varied group of nominees and winners of the 2023 ZSP is the usage of photo voltaic.
The highest award within the vitality class was taken by Jordan-based Neurotech, an organization that develops AI-based algorithms with a blockchain-based transaction system, to raised handle vitality entry in refugee camps. A spokesperson for Neurotech stated pv journal that earlier than his sensible vitality administration intervention, greater than 10,000 Syrian refugees in Azraq, Jordan, had been restricted to a most of 13 hours of vitality entry per day.
“Our answer now allows 24-hour entry to vitality and will be replicated in different distant websites in an tailored manner,” stated the spokesperson.
By optimizing the vitality coming to the camp from PV and from the grid, Neurotech reduces the stress on the camp’s medical amenities throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly enabling the 24/7 part in respiratory.
Neurotech’s ZSP-winning answer additionally pioneers vitality administration for laymen. A Neurotech spokesperson stated the know-how answer supplies easy informational notifications to assist uneducated folks average their electrical energy consumption.
Ryan Carter / UAE Presidential Court docket
Photo voltaic colleges
It is no secret that the youthful era adapts to a sustainability mindset extra shortly than the older era. Among the many new colleges to obtain the 2023 ZSP awards are Kamil Muslim School in Fiji and Romain-Rolland Gymnasium in Germany.
College students from Kamil Muslim School stated pv journal the 14 kW rooftop photo voltaic set up at their college is the idea for the advantages of your complete group. The varsity system is ready to function each on and off the grid, making it a hub for the local people in instances of want.
Because of the college’s dependable solar energy, the student-led program will create, amongst different issues, an onsite nursing infirmary. The scholars are actually wanting to make use of the ZSP prize cash to increase photo voltaic capability, add a photo voltaic water pump with an “air to water converter,” and doubtlessly put money into vitality storage, but in addition a hydroponics system to make meals for varsity lunches. . The varsity hopes to generate 219 MWh of solar energy yearly within the close to future.
The Romain-Rolland Gymnasium in Berlin is simply as ahead pondering. The varsity proposes to construct a working pupil constructed and powered photo voltaic electrolysis based mostly hydrogen gas cell. Pupil representatives stated pv journal they need their college to be an “innovation hub the place college students can see how these applied sciences work.”
By increasing this undertaking the college hopes to extend their renewable vitality use from 2% to 10%, whereas encouraging college students to analysis the sector of renewable vitality era.
UAE minister of business and superior know-how, chair of Masdar and director normal of ZSP, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, stated that “because the UAE prepares to host COP28 later this yr, the Zayed Sustainability Prize stands as a a crucial reminder of the UAE’s dedication to accelerating the sensible options wanted to assist societies mitigate and adapt to local weather change.
The writer attended the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week as a visitor of Masdar.
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