Amongst the finalists for the awards are a number of inventors who have made it possible to use energy in a more efficient, eco-friendly way.

Nominees include Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) founder Adolt Goetzberger, the inventor of powerful long-life batteries used in the Toyota Prius, Schoichi Sasaki.

The winners of the prizes in the four categories of industry, SMEs/research, non-European countries and lifetime achievement will be revealed at a ceremony in Prague on 28 April 2009.