Environment and energy: an international award to Vito Pignatelli

The President of the Biomass Association Itabia has received the award "Il Monito del Giardino" (The Warning from the Garden) for the activity of research and promotion in the field of bio-energy. The prize money will be reinvested in promotional activities for the sector

The award for the environment Il Monito del Giardino, estabilished by the Fondazione Parchi Monumentali Bardini e Peyron (Monumental Parks Foundation) and sponsored by Florence Mutual Savings Bank, is now in its fifth edition – the award ceremony took place May 14 in Florence at the lecture theatre of the Rectorate of the University – and this year has focused its attention on the issue of energy, highlighting the importance of research, the best practices related to substainability, energy efficiency and savings. From its creation in 2007, The Warning from the Garden has always had an international character and brought to Italy outstanding personalities and experiences which shaped themselves abroad: from United States to Australia, from Africa to England or France. This time, it has been chosed to award “our compatriots”, most of all if they represent an example of cutting-edge knowledge and practices.

The Scientific Committee, made of experts in the various specialties (such as renewable sources, green chemistry, energy saving and efficiency, sustainable building, etc.) presented a list of candidates for the award, who could witness the best quality and variety of the Italian reality. With great satisfaction for Itabia, among the six awards given by the jury, the first prize went to Vito Pignatelli for his thirty-year experience as a researcher at the Enea. Pignatelli was particularly appreciated for his effort in bringing together two seemingly distinct worlds: the agricultural and energy sectors, by imagining and experimenting the possibility of integrating cultural patterns and traditional cultivations with inovvative technological systems. Also thanks to his efforts, both nationally and internationally, today agro-energy and green chemistry are considered as a point of strength for an economy dedicated to the respect for the environment and the health of people. A further aspect considered by the jury as an element of merit has been the relevant and continuing activity of information and promotion (scientific publications, articles, attendance to tv and radio programmes and conference presentations) addressed to all levels of society (citizens, students, administrators, businesspeople, mass media, etc.) with the aim to publicize, outside laboratories, the results of his research and reliability of his firm beliefs with regards to the concrete opportunities offered by green economy. It is for these reasons that Pignatelli, the only winner awarded with a prize money, declared that he would assign the entire amount to activities useful for the development of the sector with a positive impact in social terms, by paying a special attention to the promotion of know-how. For further information, visit www.ilmonitodelgiardino.it.