21 January 2021
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On January 20, 2021, the third winner of the Marc Cornelissen Brightlands Award was announced at the Chemelot Campus in Sittard-Geleende. Panos Kouris of the company Vertoro was the lucky one, keeping the other finalists Werner Schouten of De Jonge Klimaatbeweging and Dysmus Kisulu of Solar Freeze behind him. Kouris is rewarded with a cash prize of 35,000 euros for his contribution to a more sustainable world.
The Marc Cornelissen Brightlands Award is a prize for start-up entrepreneurs who have an idea with which they can contribute to a more sustainable world. The award, named after the Kerkrade-based polar explorer and sustainability pioneer who crashed during a polar expedition in 2015, is presented once every two years.
Lignin from wood residues and agricultural products
Winner Panos Kouris is testing the conversion of wood residues, agricultural products and paper waste into lignin in a pilot plant at the Brightlands Chemelot Campus with Vertoro. This liquid can serve as a replacement for polluting diesel in ship engines and as a raw material for naphtha crackers instead of fossil oil. "The maritime sector is responsible for a significant portion of CO2 emissions," said Kouris. "So if we replace the diesel with lignin, those emissions will drop significantly and we won't have to pump up oil anymore. I am very happy with the prize. With the money we can bring science even closer to society."
Losing finalists
The jury also had high praise for the two other nominees: Dysmus Kisulu of Solar Freeze and Werner Schouten of the Young Climate Movement. With Solar Freeze, Kisulu wants to bring affordable, communal cooling systems for farmers on the market that allow them to keep their fruits and vegetables longer. The mobile refrigerators must run on solar panels, and farmers can rent the refrigerator per hour at low cost, is the idea. The Young Climate Movement carries the sustainable voice of young people and connects this voice through, among other things, the drafting of a climate agenda and transition plans and campaigns with politicians, policy makers and the business community. Important, according to the jury, that the voice of the young generation is heard. And reason to offer the organization a workplace on the campus.