[Brief translation]
Stopping global warming is one of the most pressing global environmental issues of our time. Recipients of the award included twenty-two technologies either designed to curb global warming or related to new energies, an area closely linked to global warming. The winners, from both Japan and abroad, were recognized for their active development of such promising new technologies. An ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) system being developed by Saga University is designed to extract energy from the ocean by taking advantage of the difference in surface and deep-sea temperatures. This technology is being closely watched by many people both at home and abroad.

The Global 100 Eco-Tech Awards The awards were co-sponsored by the Japan Association for the 2005 World Exposition and Nihon Keizai Shimbun in commemoration of the 2005 World Expo held in Aichi prefecture and commend 100 global environmental technologies that contribute significantly to the resolution of global environmental problems and to the creation of a sustainable future for humanity and the planet. The selection criteria also included the novelty of the approach taken to developing the technology appropriate to society in the 21st century and its universality. The Global 100 Eco-Tech Awards are officially recognized by the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE). The only official awards for pavilions this year were the Nature's Wisdom and Global Eco-Tech awards.

Comment by Screening Committee Chair, Jiro Kondo, Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo We took three things into consideration in screening for the Global Eco-Tech Awards. The first was that the technology had to be practical, realizable. Next, it had to truly help to protect the environment. Third, it had to be useful not only within a specific region, but applicable to other countries. This last criterion was very important, as we considered the technologies' feasibility on a global scale.