The Challenge
The Scottish Government has created the opportunity to award one of the biggest international innovation prizes in history through its plans for the Saltire Prize - a £10 million ($20 million) challenge prize for advances in clean energy.
The Saltire Prize draws inspiration from great innovation prizes of the 20th century including aviation prizes that led to the first crossings of the English Channel and the Atlantic, the Ansari X Prize that led to the first private spacecraft launch and, more recently the Virgin Earth Challenge which saw Richard Branson challenge scientists around the world to come up with a way to remove CO2 gases from the atmosphere.
Scotland positioned to lead
Much as Sweden shines a spotlight on individuals' achievements in their fields through the Nobel Prize, Scotland can shine a spotlight on the critical work taking place in clean energy. Even more importantly, in the tradition of world-changing innovation prizes, Scotland can challenge scientists and businesses around the world to tackle one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century in bringing the vast potential of alternative energy online years sooner than might otherwise happen.
Scotland is particularly well-placed to do this given both its history and present reality of technological innovation and its vast reserves of renewables potential, including:
- 25 per cent of Europe's wind power
- 25 per cent of Europe's tidal power
- 10 per cent of Europe's wave power
The Pentland Firth has been called the "Saudi Arabia of tidal power." A well-publicised innovation prize designed to advance renewables technology (for example, through storage, transmission, etc.) can lead to leap-frog technology that is good for Scotland (jobs, business), good for Europe (reliable source of energy) and good for the world at large as the breakthrough leads to renewables potential coming online sooner.
What it will take for success
Simply put, innovation prizes are successful when people want to win them. We want the Saltire Prize to achieve the profile that will engender the kind of ROI that makes innovation prizes successful (for example, the Ansari X Prize of $10 million led to $200 million in R&D).
The key elements of the Saltire Prize are:
- capturing imaginations: challenge that can inspire a revolution in green energy
- global challenge: high profile prize open to teams from across the world
- relevant to Scotland: relevant to area in which Scotland has strong natural resource and can be demonstrated in Scotland
- capitalises on Scotland's expertise: challenge will reflect area in which Scotland has strong technical expertise and people already working
- achievable in the short-medium term: challenge ideally achievable within a 2-5 year timeframe
With 16 per cent of electricity already generated by renewables, Scotland is a world-leader in alternative energy. The Saltire Prize capitalises on Scotland's strengths and carries the potential for Scotland to advance its own economy and energy independence while making a substantial contribution to the world's most pressing challenges.
The Saltire Prize was announced by First Minister Alex Salmond in Washington DC in April 2008.
Read the FM's statement to the National Geographic Society and the news story here.