A hydro-electric power project developed by Joe Spiteri Sargent of Fgura won the National Energy Globe Award for Malta for 2012.
The water pump, a fuel-free electricity-generating machine, was awarded the national prize in the Fire category. The other categories were Earth, Air, Water and Youth.
The pump operates under a water surface and harnesses latent hydrostatic energy by a submerged buoyant unit.
This phenomenon is naturally present in any body of water, transferring energy to producean artificial waterfall, then producing electricity via an existing hydro-electric power machinery system.
By exploiting a combination of the forces available from gravitational pull, buoyancy and the properties of flows within fluids, a tiny energy input is expended to create disequilibria, which converts a disproportionately greater energy release as natural forces restore an alternate equilibrium.
According to Mr Spiteri Sargent, the main benefits of this innovative product are that it has very low running costs and operates without the useof consumables.
Furthermore, it can be placed in a large tank filled with water under or above land at any site like the desert, places like Malta with no waterfalls, or in large buildings such as hotels or isolated countries in the world and produces energy 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
There are no emissions from this energy transfer process.
The international jury, chaired by Maneka Gandhi, evaluated 1,175 projects from 115 countries for this prestigious award. The award will be presented to Mr Spiteri Sargent on Tuesday to coincide with World Environment Day.
The International Energy Globe Awards, theworld awards for sustainability, were an initiativeby Austrian engineer and environmentalistWolfgang Neumann.
They have been held annually since 1999 torecognise projects that make careful and economical use of resources and employ alternativeenergy sources.
Energy Globe is also conducting a Global Online Action Day at www.energyglobe.info on Tuesday.
All those who visit www.energyglobe.info will be able to obtain information on personal home energy savings through interactive energy analyses and interactive energy checks, and view photovoltaic energy options through a global interactive solar tool.
sargent@go.net.mt
info@joespiterisargent.com