STOCKHOLM, March 29, 2010 − Six remarkable innovators have been nominated for the Globe Award Sustainability Innovation Award 2010. The Innovation Award − one of four categories of the Globe Award 2010 − is given for original innovations which successfully contribute to increased knowledge on sustainability. One winner will receive the prestigious award on April 29th, at a gala dinner at the Nordic Museum in Stockholm, Sweden.

Globe Award 2010 is presented for the fourth consecutive year. The aim is to discover and encourage researchers, innovators, cities and companies which distinguish in sustainable development. Globe Award’s mission is to highlight and acknowledge particular cases and initiatives within sustainability area.

The nominated innovators are:

• Beakon Technologies AB, Sweden
• Danone Sp. z o. o., Poland (Winner of Globe Award 2009 the Polish edition) 
• Marine Current Turbines Ltd, UK
• Intimates (Pvt) Ltd, Sri Lanka
• Plantagon International AB, Sweden
• Southwest Windpower, Inc, USA

The jury consists of highly experienced and internationally recognized experts. Chairman of the jury for Globe Award’s Sustainability Innovation Award is Philip DesAutels, Microsoft’s Director of Academic Evangelism and researcher at Bentley University. 

“We know that humanity is facing significant challenges, what we want to know is what to do about them... Innovators from around the globe see this challenge as an opportunity. They are tackling the world's most difficult problems head on - finding sustainable solutions that represent significant opportunities for people, planet and profit. The jury of noted experts from across the world faced a daunting challenge - choosing finalists from among the incredible applicants to this year's Globe Award for Sustainable Innovation. Careful deliberation of each candidate led to the identification of six nominees that stand out as exemplars of sustainable innovation. On behalf of the jury, I extend our gratitude to all of the innovators who applied for this year’s award and our thanks for their participation. For the finalists who stood out among this crowd of exemplary candidates, the jury extends its congratulations for their leadership and inspiration”, says Philip DesAutels. 

The Globe Award statuette for the most sustainable innovation will obtain a project which fulfills all criteria to the highest extension. The jury has offered six sequential criteria which have been used to evaluate and judge sustainable innovations:

1) Prime: Is it a genuine innovation?
2) Prosperity: Is it economically viable?
3) People: Is it socially viable?
4) Planet: Is it ecologically viable?
5) Perpetual: Is it renewable into perpetuity?
6) Principle: Is it ethically viable? 

The winner will be announced on the 7th of April. 

For more information please contact:

Lars-Olle Larsson, Chairman of the Globe Award jury, Partner PricewaterhouseCoopers, Sweden
Mobile: +46-70 929 39 83, e-mail: lars-olle.larsson@se.pwc.com 

Martina Nee, Manager Globe Award, Globe Forum, Stockholm, Sweden
Mobile: +46-73 317 53 55, e-mail: martina.nee@globeforum.com

Press room: www.mynewsdesk.com/se/pressroom/globe_forum 


Information about the nominees:

Beakon Technologies AB, Sweden:
“Beakon Technologies is putting a patented Swedish breakthrough physical invention in the field of thermoelectric on the market converting waste heat, wherever it occurs, back into useful electric energy. The technology can also be applied to more energy efficient cooling and heating, replacing compressors wherever they are used.”
www.beakontech.com 

Danone Sp z o. o., Poland:
"Danone presented the calculation of emissions at each stage of product manufacture - including the production and delivery of raw materials and packaging, the usage of packaging by the consumer, as well as the determination of a goal for the company in the CO2 emission reduction area”
www.danone.pl 

Marine Current Turbines Ltd, UK:
“SeaGen is a World First. It is the first commercial-scale tidal turbine, a novel technology where tidal currents can be used as an energy resource to drive submerged rotors, much like an underwater windmill but driven by flowing sea water. The SeaGen prototype was installed in May 2008 in Ireland. Hence the SeaGen prototype is unique in being the first machine to deliver energy from the sea on a commercial scale and as such it will be the starting point for a huge new clean power industry.”
www.marineturbines.com

MAS Intimates (Pvt) Ltd, Sri Lanka:
“MAS Intimates Thurulie is the world's first purpose-built eco-manufacturing plant for apparel. The company acclaimed sustainability plan. Transforming the supply chain towards sustainability was one of its targets. M&S teamed with MAS Intimates to design and construct a model green factory for apparel as part of Plan A. As a model, it was intended to demonstrate feasibility and technology as well as inspire other manufacturers to follow suit.”
www.masholdings.com

Plantagon International AB, Sweden:
“The core of the Plantagon solution to a vertical greenhouse is a spiral-shaped transport mechanism that slowly moves thousands of soil-filled planting boxes upward as the plants grow. The Plantagon automated greenhouse is estimated to be 5–10 times more efficient than traditional ones when it comes to staff, and 2–4 times when it comes to profit per square meter. Compared to existing greenhouse technology, the Plantagon Greenhouse produces up to than 10 times more crops per ground area used.”
www.plantagon.com 

Southwest Windpower, Inc., USA:
“Southwest Windpower has always been about providing low cost energy to the people in order to better the planet. Its products are by no means the solution to the world’s energy challenges but they are the first to demonstrate on a micro scale that distributed renewable energy can be cost-effectively owned by the consumer. Their products are used to produce electricity for applications such as remote home/cabin lighting, water pumping & desalinization, telecom, remote clinics & schools, sailboats and village communication systems.”
www.windenergy.com  


The Jury:

Philip A. DesAutels, Chairman, Microsoft’s manager of Academic Evangelism, USA. Researcher at Bentley University, USA

Pierre Berthon – PhD, Holds the Clifford F Youse Chair of Marketing and Strategy at Bentley University, MA, USA

Charlotte Masiello-Riome, Communication Expert Consultant for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, UK

Francesca Polini, Former Global Communications Director for Greenpeace and Founder of Wecare, UK

Prof. M.S. Swaminathan –UNESCO Ecotechnology Chair and Chairman of the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai (Madras), India 

-----