Millennium Technology Prize 2024 awarded to professor Bantval Jayant Baliga for innovation with the world's largest negative carbon footprint

Professor Bantval Jayant Baliga has been awarded the prestigious €1 million Millennium Technology Prize for 2024 for his groundbreaking development of the Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT). This innovation has significantly reduced global ener

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Sep 05 2024
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Millennium Technology Prize 20

Professor Bantval Jayant Baliga has been awarded the prestigious €1 million Millennium Technology Prize for 2024 for his groundbreaking development of the Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT). This innovation has significantly reduced global energy consumption in electrical devices and helped cut fuel usage in transportation due to the electrification of vehicles. Baliga, who serves as a professor of energy at North Carolina State University in the U.S., developed the IGBT technology in the 1980s, revolutionizing energy efficiency worldwide.

IGBT has become the most critical power semiconductor component globally, enabling more efficient electricity use and reducing reliance on fossil fuels. Over the past 30 years, Baliga’s technology has helped reduce global carbon dioxide emissions by over 82 gigatons, equivalent to three years' worth of human-generated emissions during that period.

A Key Enabler of Green Energy Transition

IGBT plays a pivotal role in society’s shift toward renewable energy and the global green transition. It is a core technology in wind and solar power plants, converting the energy produced into a usable form for consumers and industries. The technology is also essential in electric and hybrid vehicles and powers many electrical devices used in homes, hospitals, and industries around the world.

“IGBT technology is behind countless products that improve the quality, comfort, and health of humanity, while also reducing carbon emissions to fight climate change,” said Baliga. “This recognition is a great honor, and I’m excited that this hidden technology is finally getting the attention it deserves.”

Forbes named Baliga the person with the "world's largest negative carbon footprint" in 2016. Currently, he and his research team are working on new innovations, such as the BaSIC (Baliga Short-circuit Improvement Concept) technology to improve semiconductor components in electric motors and BiDFET (Bi-Directional Field-Effect Transistor), which aims to revolutionize voltage converters and enhance energy efficiency.

A Technology With Enormous Impact

The Millennium Technology Prize committee highlighted the global importance of Baliga’s work. "IGBT is essential for electrification and the transition to renewable energy, key elements in fighting climate change," said Minna Palmroth, chair of the Technology Academy Finland (TAF), which awards the prize. "This technology has had massive but largely unrecognized global impacts."

Professor Päivi Törmä, chair of the prize’s international selection committee, emphasized IGBT's role in powering modern societies, particularly in automation and energy systems. “For the past 40 years, IGBT has been the most important power semiconductor in electronics, and it remains crucial today.”

The Millennium Technology Prize, Finland’s leading award for technology innovation that improves the quality of life and the planet’s well-being, will be presented to Baliga at a ceremony in Espoo on October 30, 2024, by President Alexander Stubb.