Prof. Ruzhu Wang, the director of Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics at School of Mechanical Engineering, a Chair Professor of Shanghai Jiao Tong University has been honored with the Global Energy Prize in 2023 for his groundbreaking research in refrigeration, heat pump and thermal management. His work has revolutionized the utilization of low-grade thermal energy to achieve highly efficient cooling and developed a desiccant-based heat pump, which doubled the energy efficiency of cooling and heating.

 

 

The Global Energy Prize is an international award in the energy industry that recognizes outstanding scientific research and scientific-technical developments in the field of energy. It aims to promote greater efficiency and environmental security for energy sources on Earth in the interests of all mankind. The shortlist for the 2023 Global Energy Prize included 15 scientists from nine countries: China, India, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Switzerland, and the USA. The Nobel Prize laureate is as the Chairman of the Global Energy Prize International Award Committee.

 

 

Prof. Ruzhu Wang was awarded in the category of New Ways of Energy Application. As an expert in refrigeration, heat pumps, and thermal and humidity control, Prof. Ruzhu Wang has made systematic innovative achievements in the efficient conversion, storage, and utilization of low-grade thermal energy. His pioneering work in the field of sorption cooling has opened up new avenues for efficient cooling using low-grade thermal energy. Additionally, his development of a desiccant-based heat pump has doubled the energy efficiency of cooling and heating. His invented high-temperature heat pump for steam generation has provided a revolutionary new method for industrial heat decarbonization. His leading research has contributed a lot to the development of China's refrigeration and heat pump industry. His significant contributions to the Energy-Water-Air Nexus have promoted cross-disciplinary advancements between thermal science and materials science. He has also made important contributions to high-density thermal energy storage and thermal management.

 

 

Prof. Wang has received numerous international academic achievement awards, including the Gustav Lorentzen Medal from the International Institute of Refrigeration, Peter Ritter von Rittinger International Heat Pump Award from the International Energy Agency, the Georg Alefeld Memorial Award from International Sorption Heat Pump Community, the Nukiyama Memorial Award from The Heat Transfer Society of Japan, and the J&E Hall Gold Medal from the UK Institute of Refrigeration. He has also received several national awards in China, such as the National Natural Science Award, the National Technological Invention Award, the Science and Technology Innovation Award from Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation.

 

 

Prof. Zhonglin Wang, Founding Director of Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, was awarded in the other category of Non-Conventional Energy in 2023. Since the prize establishment in 2002, the Global Energy Prize has been awarded to 48 scientists from 15 countries, including Nobel Prize laureates Akira Yoshino (2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry), Shuji Nakamura (2014 Nobel Prize in Physics), Martin Green (known as the "father of solar energy"), Nick Holonyak (known as the "father of the LED"), and two Chinese-American scientists, Prof. Peidong Yang from the University of California, Berkeley, and Prof. Yi Cui from Stanford University.

 

Links: https://globalenergyprize.org/en/2023/07/06/global-energy-prize-2023-laureates-are-two-scientists-from-china/

Introduce to the laureates: https://globalenergyprize.org/en/laureates-2/