Eni Award 2011, Cerimonia di Premiazioni - Award Ceremony

Now let's listen to ENI's President
Mr Giuseppe Recchi
Mr President of the Republic,
Authorities, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to express
to President Giorgio Napolitano
the gratitude of the Eni's
Board of Directors
and my personal
thanks for allowing us to celebrate here
the ceremony of the
Premi Eni Award 2011
in this prestigious and symbolic venue
in his presence
Only recently nominated President of ENI,
the company that demonstrates
Italian excellence to the world
I am especially proud to
be able to honour this role by taking part,
in one of my first public experiences,
in this important ceremony.
I am from Turin,
educated at the Polytechnic.
I know this award well
it used to be known as
"Premio Italgas per la Ricerca e l'Innovazione",
and was deeply rooted in my city
in collaboration with the University I studied at.
It also today reminds me
of many friends
and the many talents I have met
in my professional career.
Talents to make us proud to be Italian,
representing us in the world.
I have watched this award grow,
strengthen its content
and scientific reputation,
until its definitive arrival
on the international scene where it is now
thanks to the intuition to turn it
into one of ENI's strategic tools
adding to its prestige
and increasing its business possibilities.
We believe this is the strongest
and most genuine way to step up to the
call you, Mr President, have
authoritatively launched.
Mr President, we deal with energy, but the
largest energy that
Italy can express
is that which it can
make spring from its men
discovering and helping them grow
enabling them to serve development and
well-being of their country.
Thanks again to the President of the Republic
the Authorities involved,
the members of the Assessment Commission
the award winners Martin Landro
Gabor Somorjai, Gregory Stephanopoulos,
Jean-Marie Tarascon,
the young winners called
for their research debuts
Fabrizio Frontalini and Simone Gamba
and all those present.
I also want to thank ENI's research teams
and everyone who has worked on ENI Awards,
I'll leave Paolo Scaroni
the task of continuing this introduction, but first
I would like the honour of presenting
the ENI Award 2011 Commemorative Medal
to the President of the Republic.
Over to ENI's CEO
"Cavaliere del Lavoro", Mr Paolo Scaroni
Mr President of the Republic, ladies and gentlemen,
I add my thanks to those of Giuseppe Recchi
for the hospitality offered here today.
Thank you to everyone who has worked to
ensure that ENI Award 2011 maintains the level of excellence
achieved in its past editions.
A special thanks to the Selection Committee
who had to evaluate 1,030 candidates.
As always their choice was made with respect to the motivations of ENI Award
and the technical scientific content of ENI.
The winners represent world excellence in
our sectors of activity
and their work has a positive effect
both globally and on our business.
At ENI we are convinced that research
represents the terrain on which to build
our competitive advantage
and our future in the world of energy.
The energy needs of our planet will
continue to grow
for the demand from emerging economies
and the availability of energy
is the inescapable engine of economic
development and generator of
well-being of the populations
that have access to it.
Economic progress is accompanied by
environmental
consequences produced by energy use.
These effects, alongside changing geopolitical structures,
force us to diversify the sources and the
ways of supplying energy, constantly
bringing the technology we use up to date.
This is the direction ENI's research moves in,
a central element of our growth strategy.
From 2005 to 2010, Mr President,
we have invested almost 2 billion euros in Research and Development
and our intellectual output has grown constantly.
Over the 2008-2010 period we
registered 290 patent applications,
roughly double that of the previous three year period.
The prizes that ENI Award assigns
are an integral part of our research activities.
In the first place the award concerns
the technology at the centre of ENI's metier:
exploration, production, refining, and distribution of hydrocarbons.
In consideration of the centrality of these themes
for ENI and the number and value of the nominations already
received for the next edition this award will be doubled and
divided into two awards for a comprehensive value of 400,000 euros.
This year prizes were awarded to both Martin Landro
for his modelling applications for
increasing the productivity of the deposits, and
a team from our E&P division that has
studied how to valorise a particular type of deposit,
in thin sandstone layers,
little known but which has
great potential in Italy, especially in the Adriatic.
Gabor Somorjai and young Simone Gamba
on the other hand won awards for the innovative
processes designed to produce cleaner fuels
and capable of improving motoring performance.
Another branch of ENI's strategic research is renewable energy
that in the mid-term will give an essential contribution
to reconciling the conflict
between energy needs and sustainability.
We have laid our bets on solar photovoltaic
which is absolutely the most promising renewable source,
it is a fact that every day the sun
sends us more energy than we use in a year.
The problem is that the technology available
for capturing solar energy
is still not very efficient
and not economically sustainable
without resorting to subsidies which
weigh, and will continue to weigh on the consumer.
The aim of our research, performed in a collaboration
between our Centro Donegani in Novara
and MIT in Boston,
is that of managing to convert light's
energy in a efficient and effective way.
At our Solar Center Frontier in Boston
photovoltaic cells have been developed that
are as thin as paper, light, flexible and inexpensive, and that
will make it possible to extend the use of photovoltaic
systems in ways that today are unthinkable.
We have just given the President one of
these cells, small and light, but capable
of running a display.
Obviously it must be possible for the electricity
produced to be stored.
Efficient batteries are essential,
and it is in this area of research that
Jean-Marie Tarascon is being recognised today.
Another theme in ENI's research
is the production of bio-fuels.
We have decided to use raw materials
for the production of bio-fuels
not competing with food production,
by using organic waste.
This approach also resolves a
an environmental issue, valorising
waste that would otherwise need to be disposed of.
Gregory Stephanopoulos and our team at ENI's Centro Donegani in Novara
have presented two different solutions
for producing bio-fuels from organic waste
and have won the awards in their respective sections.
All this concerns the future of energy,
there are however open questions concerning how to
counter the damage caused by human activities.
This is why ENI Award dedicates particular attention to
environmental renewal.
Fabrizio Frontalini, a winner today,
a young researcher at the University of Urbino,
has developed an internationally praised study, which
exploits the reaction of special microorganisms
present in aquatic environments
to identify levels of pollution.
ENI Award has reached truly extraordinary results
in terms of reputation
and is considered as the world's
Award of reference for sustainable energy.
This is shown by the number of candidates,
continually growing.
The candidates in 2011
were five times those of the 2008 edition.
The greater part of these are
world calibre researchers, including
various Nobel Prize winners.
All of this to say
the winners we are presenting today
have faced truly tough
competition, and
are an example of the level of excellence
ENI seeks out and promotes.
Thank you.
The President of the Republic
will now present the
Eni Award 2011 awards.
Professor Gabor Somorjai
has done fundamental research
in the catalysis sector.
For his highly innovative research used
used in the processes oil cracking
a key technology for guaranteeing yield
and quality of fuels, the
ENI Award Scientific Commission assigned
the "Hydrocarbons new frontier" Award to
Professor Somorjai
jointly with Prof. Martin Landro.
Professor Martin Landro has conducted important
research into development and application
of 4D seismic modelling, which
permits a substantial increase in the factor
of the recovery of hydrocarbons.
This is why the ENI Award Scientific Commission has
assigned the the "Hydrocarbons new frontier" Award to
Professor Landro.
jointly with Prof. Gabor Somorjai.
Professor Gregory Stephanopoulos
has conducted particularly important research
on gene transcription reprogramming
of special bacteria
to make them more efficient
in transforming renewable raw
materials which do not compete
with the food production
sector, into hydrocarbons.
For its great interest in this theme, the
ENI Award Scientific Commission has
assigned the the "Non-conventional renewable energy"
Award to Professor Stephanopoulos.
Professor Jean-Marie Tarascon
has distinguished himself in his fundamental research
in the lithium ion
electric battery sector.
The availability of high
performance batteries at a modest cost
represents a determining factor for the
wide distribution of electrical devices not directly
hooked up to the grid, with important
consequences
in the electric vehicle sector.
For this reason the
ENI Award Scientific Commission has
assigned the "Environmental Protection"
Award to Professor Tarascon.
Doctor Simone Gamba
has developed interesting research
on the interpretation and modelling
of the hydrocracking processes
of hydrocarbons obtainable
from Fisher-Tropsch synthesis,
an interesting path
for the production
of high quality fuel and lubricants
starting with synthesised gas.
For this reason the
the ENI Award Scientific Commission
has awarded Dr Gamba
the "Research Debut" Award.
Doctor Fabrizio Frontalini
has contributed to development research
into benthic foraminifera
amoeboid protozoa
widespread in marine environments
whose sensitivity to changes in their
environment
can be used as a
bio-indicator of polluting substances in the water.
For this reason the
ENI Award Scientific Commission has
has awarded Dr Frontalini
the "Research Debut" Award.
Dr Aldo Bosetti,
Dr Daniele Bianchi, and Dr Giuliana Franzoni
and Dr Marco Ricci
have developed research
into the energy valorisation
of organic waste such as
organic urban waste,
the sludge from civil sewage treatment
and waste from food processing
to produce a bio-oil
for use as fuel or for
producing
second generation bio-fuels.
In this way the
energy value of waste can be
valorised and its management optimised
with advantageous
environmental and
socio-economic consequences.
Dr Marco Ricci will collect the award.
Dr Elena Maria Rebesco,
Dr Pietro Scolretti,
Dr Fausto Alberici,
Dr Giuseppina Pisaniello,
Dr Marco Mongardini
and Dr Giacomo Rispoli
have refined a radically
innovative fuel for
automobiles, and its use
in the Milan area
has shown
performance advantages
as well as reduced environmental impact
and especially
an appreciable limitation
of particle emissions.
Dr Elena Maria Rebesco will collect the Award.
Dr Walter Chelini
and Dr Maria Teresa Galli
have refined
a method for studying
thin layer deposits
making it possible to accurately assess
the volumes of the hydrocarbons present,
which has helped increase production and
accuracy of the estimates of reserves.
This has enabled
improved development planning
based on more effective strategies
for completing production wells.
Dr Walter Chelini
and Dr Maria Teresa Galli will collect the award.