Dubai – Heliatek is the winner of the Online Global Innovation Award 2020. The announcement was made at the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) Thursday by H.E. Fahed Al Hammadi, the acting Assistant Undersecretary for Green Development and Climate Change at the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment.
By Arthur Blok
“We are deeply honored to win the Global Innovation Award 2020 initiated by the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment”, said CEO of Heliatek Guido van Tartwijk. Heliatek created a patented solar energy solution for the building industry called HeliaSol®. The patented foil supports a wide variety of building surfaces; from horizontal to vertical and non-flat surfaces.
“With our innovative organic solar films we provide a perfect solution to energize buildings with a clean energy generation technology. This will helps to achieve the UAE 2021 vision of sustainable environment and infrastructure,” said Van Tartwijk.
New competition
The Online Global Innovation Award 2020 is a relative new competition launched by Globally Great in collaboration with the UAE’s Ministry of Climate Change and Environment. It aims to find outstanding sustainable innovations which could be applicable in the Middle East. Other nominees were Phoenix Biopower, Conves, Graviky and Imetland.
The winner will have direct access to the UAE's government agencies and a prominent place to present his or her solutions to the Middle East during ADSW. The winner was selected by a special panel that judged the submissions on the impact they have on sustainable living in the Middle East. Preference was given to innovations which had a proven track record of making a positive impact on our planet.
Online UAE Innovation Award 2020
At the same event it was announced that Neutral Fuels is the winner of the Online UAE Innovation Award 2020. “We are delighted to be chosen as the winner of this award”, said Karl W. Feilder CEO of Neutral Fuels. Other nominees were Eshara Water, and Hyperloop One.
“We surely hope that more companies and schools will now realize that we can provide a solution to significantly reduce both carbon footprint and air pollution”, he continued. Neutral Fuels is active since 2011 when it opened the UAE’s first cleantech biofuel refinery in Dubai. The facilities use local waste cooking oils from McDonald’s and transform them into clean, green net zero biofuel which can run in any diesel engine without any modifications.
The conditions for participation in both awards were a direct relevance to the ADSW pillars, including offering an innovative solution to a pressing sustainability challenge, an alignment with the UAE Vision 2021, and the innovation needs to be applicable in the United Arab Emirates.
In 2019 the prestigious award was won by The Waste Transformers, an innovative company that creates decentralized, nutrient and energy hubs (called Waste Transformers) by transforming non-consumable (food) waste streams into clean energy feeding back into the building, and turning the nutrients into a natural fertilizer. A process that is completely executed on-site where the waste is produced.
Neutral Fuels CEO Feilder: “This award is a superb recognition of the pioneering work we have been doing in the UAE and overseas to provide real world solutions TODAY to the Net Zero fuel challenges of sustainability. A heart-felt thank you to our customers, our magnificent team, and the Ministry of Climate Change for their support.”
