On September 19, 2023, The Earthshot Prize announced the 15 finalists for this year during the second "Earthshot Innovation Summit", coinciding with the United Nations General Assembly. The event is designed to celebrate and support innovators dedicated to addressing the world's most urgent climate challenges.
All declarations for the award are required to be submitted by nominators. In 2020, the Bluetech Clean Air Alliance was invited to serve as the official nominator for the "Earthshot. " This year, the 15 finalists for The Earthshot Prize were selected from over 1,100 nominations following a rigorous evaluation by a panel of scientific, academic, and professional experts. Ultimately, five projects will be awarded, each receiving a prize of £1 million.
All 15 projects that have advanced to the finals will be invited to join the exclusive network for The Earthshot Prize finalists, where they will receive mentorship and access to resources provided by the organizers. This support will be facilitated by the prize's robust business, investment, and climate experts who are partnering with the award.
In 2023, among the projects nominated by the Bluetech Clean Air Alliance, GRST from Hong Kong, China, has made it to the finals. Established in 2015, the GRST team has successfully overcome technical challenges in manufacturing lithium-ion batteries using an all-aqueous process. By using water as a medium to replace traditional production methods that involve toxic organic solvents, the production of lithium batteries becomes not only more cost-effective but also generates lower pollutants and carbon emissions, while being conducive to recycling. This project stands as the sole finalist from China in the competition.
Against the backdrop of Regulation Concerning Batteries and Waste Batteries（EU）and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, environmentally friendly battery manufacturing technologies are garnering increased attention. GRST's aqueous manufacturing and battery recycling technology, WATMAR³, can significantly reduce the use of toxic substances in the battery production process. Through original innovation, the aqueous process substantially mitigates the challenges associated with recycling and reusing lithiumion batteries, establishing itself as a benchmark technology for future green lithium battery production. Compared to traditional battery manufacturing, this technology can reduce fixed asset investment by 15-30%, lower production energy consumption by 40-50%, and, in comparison to traditional recycling methods, achieve up to an 80% reduction in carbon footprint.
In October 2022, GRST established a subsidiary, the Pillar Energy, in Jiashan County, Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province. The company also set up a 1 GWh aqueous lithium-ion battery production line. The Pillar Energy is the world's first large-scale high-tech enterprise integrating lithium-ion battery research and development, production, and sales based on low-carbon and environmentally friendly aqueous production technology. The batteries produced by the company have been applied in scenarios such as solar air conditioning, electric two-wheeled, energy storage facilities, and golf carts. Within the factory, a demonstration line for the recycling of used batteries has been established, making the recycling process of lithium batteries more convenient and efficient. This initiative contributes to the national strategic goals of " carbon peak " and "carbon neutrality."
GRST is also the winner of the 2022 Bluetech Carbon Neutrality Pioneers Award. The Bluetech Clean Air Alliance cooperates with the Greentech Financing Platform to jointly launch the Bluetech Carbon Neutrality Pioneers Award in 2022. The purpose of establishing this award is to support and promote technological pioneers in the field of carbon neutrality, promote low-carbon technological innovations, and help China and the world achieve the goal of carbon neutrality.
On September 19, 2023, the organizer has launched the nomination process for 2024 The Earthshot Prize. The Bluetech Clean Air Alliance will select outstanding projects from the Bluetech Carbon Neutrality Pioneers Award and other channels for nomination, contribute Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions to the world, and lead the world towards a greener future.
