Weekly Intelligence Brief

SALTIRE PRIZE: $20 Million for Renewable Ocean Energy

8 May 2008

Calling all marine renewable energy innovators! The Scottish Government announced a new prize at the beginning of April designed to encourage world scientists to push the boundaries for new clean, power generated from the sea. The Saltire Prize is worth a cool $20 million (£10 million) to the person or team who demonstrates innovation in marine renewable energy technology and is deployed in Scotland. The details of the prize are still being worked out, but it is time to get cracking if you have a great idea.
The Saltire Prize was inspired by other innovation prizes you may be familiar with like, the Ansari X Prize that led to the first private spacecraft launch, and also the Virgin Earth Challenge created by Richard Branson. Richard Branson’s prize is for scientists to create new ways to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. These challenges have created incredible innovation with a great return on investment. Did you know that the Ansari X Prize awarded $10 million, but led to $100 million worth of R&D? The Scottish Government hopes their prize will lead to similar if not better innovations and further advance renewable energy technology