Franziska Tanneberger  e-charger inventor, Thomas Speidel win  $540,000 German climate prize

Admin I Monday, October 28, 2024

 

BERLIN – Praising the strength of a democratic system over populism and autocracy, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier awarded two scientists the German Environmental Prize.

The prize, from the German Federal Environment Foundation (DBU), carries a €500,000 ($540,000) award and is one of the most highly endowed environmental prizes in Europe. It recognizes achievements in protecting and preserving the environment.

Moorland researcher Franziska Tanneberger and e-mobility entrepreneur Thomas Speidel will share the prize – and the money.

Tanneberger heads the Greifswald Moor Centre in north-eastern Germany and showed the importance of moorlands. They are crucial not only for the climate and biodiversity but also for water security, said Tanneberger. Moorlands make up about 5% of the area in Germany, but 95% of them are drained. Worldwide, that figure is about 15%.

Many people would probably never have thought of “what a blessed significance the eerie moorlands of our childhood nightmares have for our climate and our environment,” Steinmeier said.

Tanneberger intends to spend the prize money on a scientific start-up. Speidel, an electrical engineer near Stuttgart, won his award for inventing a prototype of a charging box, roughly the size of a telephone booth, where an electric car can be charged in about 10 minutes. He wants to either invest the money or pay off debts.

How quickly e-mobility becomes a widespread reality depends on “whether we find ways and means of overcoming the technical and factual obstacles that still exist in everyday life” said Steinmeier. This includes the still insufficient widespread availability of electric energy supply.

The DBU, founded in 1990, gets its money from the privatization proceeds of Salzgitter AG. Its current endowment is €2.48 billion. To date, it has funded nearly 11,100 projects with around €2.07 billion, it said.