ConocoPhillips, Penn State Recognize Innovative Ideas
To Diversify Energy Sources, Improve Energy Efficiency
ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) and Penn State have awarded the first
ConocoPhillips Energy Prize to David A. Gonzales II to further develop
the Layered MagWheel, a new technology to provide magnetic acceleration
and frictionless braking for vehicles, increasing energy conversion and
efficiency.
2008 marks the inaugural year of the ConocoPhillips Energy Prize, which
recognizes new ideas and original, actionable solutions that can help
improve the way the United States develops and uses energy. The Prize
focuses on innovative ideas and solutions in three areas: developing new
energy sources; improving energy efficiency; and combating climate
change.
Speaking at the award ceremony, Sig Cornelius, senior vice president,
Finance, and chief financial officer of ConocoPhillips, said, “Developing
diverse sources of sustainable, reliable energy; reducing greenhouse gas
emissions; and significantly improving energy efficiency all require
technological advances.” He continued, “Along
with our partners at Penn State, we are pleased to recognize David A.
Gonzales II and the finalists for their innovative ideas to maximize our
existing resources and identify new opportunities.”
“Like ConocoPhillips, Penn State believes that
the nation needs fundamentally new knowledge and applications of that
knowledge to diversify its energy supply, while simultaneously improving
the efficiency by which it generates and utilizes that energy,”
said Dr. William Easterling, dean of Penn State's College of Earth and
Mineral Sciences. “The development and
commercialization of energy technologies based on novel ideas, such as
those represented by the ConocoPhillips Energy Prize, will assist the
United States in meeting its energy needs while spurring economic growth.
More than 300 proposals were submitted for evaluation by a panel of
energy and environmental experts, which selected five finalists.
Proposals were judged on the basis of creativity, scalability,
commercial viability and sustainability.
The first runner-up was Corban Tillemann-Dick and team for the Radial
Expansion Engine, which increases the efficiency and decreases the
weight and cost of internal combustion engines by increasing the
percentage of the combustion chamber reacting productively and capturing
energy otherwise lost through the exhaust system.
