Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited [AIM/ASX:CFU], a leading developer of high efficiency and low emission electricity generation units for homes and other buildings, today announced its BlueGen gas-to-electricity generator has won the 2010-11 'CEO Award' - DuPont Australia and New Zealand's most prestigious innovation award.
BlueGen also won the 'Design for a Sustainable Future' award, one of seven categories at the biennial DuPont Australia & New Zealand Innovation Awards. The announcement was made at a dinner on Friday night at Melbourne's Grand Hyatt Hotel.
The 'Design for a Sustainable Future' category - included in the awards for the first time -
attracted entries from throughout Australia and New Zealand.
First held in 2003-04, the DuPont Australia & New Zealand Innovation Awards recognise the commercialisation of outstanding science and technology. Categories include Building Innovation, Agriculture and Food Production and Marketing, Performance Materials, Design for a Sustainable Future, and Medical and Healthcare.
The 'Design for a Sustainable Future' category is a broad-ranging category for innovations adopted for commercial use between 1 January 2008 and 31 March 2010 in Australia and/or New Zealand.
Entries were judged on degree of innovation, scope of application (current and potential), commercial significance and benefit (current and potential), degree of collaboration, and environmental sustainability.
Announcing the award from the United States, DuPont Chair and CEO Ellen Kullman said Ceramic Fuel Cells "is helping to reduce dependence on fossil fuels by providing a source of cleaner, more efficient, low cost energy. Currently collaborating with multiple partners across the globe to help bring cleaner electricity to markets in Europe, the United States and Japan, as well as Australia, tonight's winner is a great example of the important innovation happening in Australia and New Zealand that can benefit people everywhere."
Ms Kullman said: "Since 2004 these awards have recognised the commercialisation of outstanding science and technology solutions that are meeting the big challenges - in Australia and around the globe. Global population will pass the seven billion mark in 2011, and exceed nine billion people by 2050 - or about 150,000 more people on the planet every day. This translates into critical needs in the areas of feeding the world, reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, and keeping people and the environment safe.
"These megatrends are driving our science and innovation. But providing for the food, energy and protection needs of a growing population will require more than DuPont science. So we are building alliances with people, companies, governments and organizations around the world in an effort to improve the lives of people everywhere."
Brendan Dow, Managing Director of Ceramic Fuel Cells, said: "We are thrilled to accept two such prestigious awards, and are delighted that our ground-breaking technology has been recognised by a company such as DuPont, which has been creating sustainable solutions for a better, safer and healthier world for more than 200 years."
Ceramic Fuel Cells' BlueGen gas-to-electricity units connect to a building's existing natural gas pipeline and mains water. BlueGen units operate constantly, generating 1.5 kilowatts of electricity plus heat for hot water, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, regardless of weather.
Over the course of a year each BlueGen unit can produce about 13,000 kilowatt hours of electricity - more than twice the power needed for an average Australian home. The heat by-product is enough to produce 200 litres of hot water each day.
BlueGen has a peak electrical efficiency of 60%, and a total efficiency, including the heat, of 85%. The BlueGen unit has the highest electrical efficiency of any small-scale power generation system in the world
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