Swiss Researcher Wins Prize For Photosynthesis-Based Solar Cells.

Swiss Researcher Wins Prize For Photosynthesis-Based Solar Cells.

The AP (6/10, Huuhtanen) reports, "Swiss scientist Michael Graetzel won the 2010 Millennium Technology Prize on Wednesday for helping to develop cheap solar cells for renewable energy projects." Graetzel, a professor at Ecole Polytechnique de Lausanne "was awarded the euro800,000 ($960,000) prize by the Technology Academy of Finland for his innovation, which led to the development of electricity-generating windows and mobile solar panels." The AP notes the "runners up -- Sir Richard Friend and Stephen Furber, both British -- were each awarded euro150,000 ($180,000) for plastic electronics and microprocessors." The article also notes previous winners of the award and their accomplishments.

        BBC News (6/9) quoted Graetzel as saying, "Natural photosynthesis was the inspiration, and our solar cell is the only one that mimics the natural photosynthetic process." The devices "have recently been launched in consumer products, including as battery charging backpacks, and Professor Gratzel said that the €800,000 prize would benefit his research and go back into science." Friend was awarded for inventing "organic Light Emitting Diodes, which Finland's Technology Academy said was 'a crucial milestone in plastic electronics,'" while Furber "is the principal designer of the ARM 32-bit RISC microprocessor, an innovation found in gadgets ranging from Apple's iPhone to Microsoft's Zune."

        Regarding the composition of the solar cells, Popular Science (6/9, Boyle) reports "the cells use nanocrystal films" in which "particles are so small that they don't scatter light, and can collect solar energy from all sides. The cells are fairly cheap to make -- they use dye squeezed from berries, for instance -- which the Finnish academy said could be a breakthrough for solar energy."

        Groups Urges Tripling Of US Energy Research Spending. The New York Times (6/10, B3, Broder) reports a diverse group of business executives, including Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft; Jeffrey R. Immelt, chief executive of General Electric; and John Doerr, a top venture capitalist, warn in a study to be released Thursday that the US "is badly lagging in basic research on new forms of energy, deepening the nation's dependence on dirty fuels and crippling its international competitiveness," and "urges the government to more than triple spending on energy research and development, to $16 billion a year." The group "recommends creation of a national energy board to guide investment decisions toward radical advances in energy technology." The article notes that "Gates and his fellow executives are stepping forward at what may prove a pivotal moment in American energy policy," as "oil continues to spew" in the Gulf of Mexico and "the Obama administration is pushing for a new approach to energy and climate policy." The Wall Street Journal (6/10, Power) also reports this story.