Prestigious award for new catalytic production strategies for olefins and alcohols

Prof. Johannes Lercher receives Eni-award

Professor Johannes Lercher, Chair of Technical Chemistry II at the Technical University of Munich, receives “The New Frontiers in Hydrocarbons – Downstream” award for his research achievements establishing new strategies for the catalytic production of alkenes and alcohols from hydrocarbons.

Both groups of substances are important basic products for the chemical industry. They are therefore produced on a scale of millions of tons per year. Improvements of production processes therefore result in substantial savings in raw materials and energy consumption.

Christopher Ballentine (University of Oxford) receives the second award in the field of hydrocarbons, the Upstream prize. In the category of renewable energy the prize went to Emiliano Mutti (University of Parma), in the category of Environmental Protection David Milstein from the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel) was honored. Two Research Debut prizes go to Federico Bella from the Technical University of Turin and Alessandra Menafoglio, Technical University of Milan.

Over the years the Eni Award, established in 2007, has become an international benchmark for research in the field of energy and the environment. The Award aims to promote a better use of energy sources and to foster new generations of researchers. With 200,000 euros in prize money awarded in six categories, the award is one of the best endowed industrial science awards worldwide.

The Eni Award 2016 prizes will be presented to the winners on October 20 during an official ceremony at the Palazzo del Quirinale in Rome, in the presence of the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella.