BERKELEY, CA —  The World Technology Network (WTN) has announced that Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Environmental Energy Technologies Division (EETD) has won the 2003 World Technology Award for Energy, in the corporate category. Selection as a winner also means that Berkeley Lab's EETD has been elected as a corporate member of the WTN. The competition this year included more than 50 innovative companies and organizations involved in creating technologies that have impacts in the real world.

The winners were announced on June 25 at a ceremony in San Francisco. The awards honor individuals and corporations from 20 technology-related sectors selected by their peers as being the innovators doing work of the greatest likely long-term significance. Award categories range from biotechnology, space and energy to ethics, design and entertainment.

The mission of Berkeley Lab's Environmental Energy Technologies Division is to perform research and development leading to better energy technologies that reduce adverse energy-related environmental impacts. Its work increases the efficiency of energy use, reduces its environmental effects, provides the nation with environmental benefits, and helps developing nations achieve similar goals through technical advice. The majority of the research and technology development in the Division is supported by the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy program of the U.S. Department of Energy.

The WTN is a London-based organization that was created to "encourage serendipity"—happy accidents —among those individuals and companies deemed by their peers to be the most innovative in the technology world.

"We're very pleased to have our nearly 30-year history of research on energy efficient technology and environmental impacts recognized by the World Technology Network," says Mark Levine, Director of EET Division. "We hope that our participation in the WTN will help inspire new avenues of research and development toward increasing the energy efficiency of the global economy."

Nominees were identified through an intensive, global process in which current WTN members (primarily winners and finalists of previous awards cycles) nominated and voted their preferences based on who they think are most innovative within their particular field.

Last year, EETD's Ashok Gadgil won an individual award in the energy category for his achievements in developing energy-efficient technologies.

A small selection of WTN members include Marc Andreessen, Loudcloud, Inc.; Tim Berners-Lee, World Wide Web Consortium (W3C); Sir Arthur C. Clarke, Institute for Modern Technologies; Michael Dell, Dell Computer Corporation; Amory Lovins, Rocky Mountain Institute, Inc.; Paul MacCready, AeroVironment, Inc.; Gordon Moore, Intel Corporation; Craig Venter, Center for the Advancement of Genomics.

Berkeley Lab is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory located in Berkeley, California. It conducts unclassified scientific research and is managed by the University of California.