Legislation to create and fund an “H-Prize” has been re-introduced in the 110th Congress (S. 365, 3 co-sponsors, HR 632, 37 co-sponsors). The bills would “authorize the Secretary of Energy to establish monetary prizes for achievements in overcoming scientific and technical barriers associated with hydrogen energy.”
Prizes would be given in the following areas:
Rep Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) has introduced a bill that includes a section requiring the Secretary of Energy to enter into an arrangement with the National Academies of Sciences to evaluate the feasibility of prizes to promote the development of farms that are net producers of both food and energy.
110th CONGRESS,1st Session H. R. 80
This prize program is part of S. 280, a bill to address global warming. The high powered sponsors include Senators Lieberman, Carper, Clinton, Coleman, Collins, Durbin, Lincoln, McCain, Nelson, Obama and Snow.
This is a fairly significant prize program. It seems as though a single award can exceed $100 million, with the approval of the Secretary of Energy.
110th CONGRESS, 1st Session, S. 280
In April 2007, Senators Bingaman (D-NM), Domenici (R-MM), Dorgan (D-SD), Lugar (R-IN), Akaka (D-HI), Murkowski (R-AK) and Craig (R-ID) introduced legislation dealing with energy efficiency. One section of the bill requires the United States Treasury to create a Bright Light Tomorrow permanent fund, without a fiscal year limitation, to finance prizes for energy efficient lamps. There are three specific prizes.
There are, it seems, twelve prizes and awards. Among the more interesting are these:
The MacRobert Award for Innovation in Engineering
According to Thiru Balasubramaniam, the WHA has now adopted a resolution on the WHO’s Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property. We are waiting for the official text. However, it seemed better than many had predicted earlier this week. The U.S., while not blocking the resolution, noted it did not join the consensus on the text. Now attentions will turn to the WHO’s next move, which will be the July draft of the global strategy and plan of action.
The Gotham Prize for cancer research tests the use of prizes to encourage more openness for cancer research. According to their web site:
Statement by Thiru Balasubramaniam on behalf of KEI, regarding the WHO IGWG resolution:
“The 60th World Health Assembly is taking another important step to change the way the WHO and Member States deal with innovation and access.
Peter Pitts doesn’t like the KSR decision, and he also doesn’t like prizes. His recent Spectator article says:
DISTURBINGLY, SOME FOLKS ARE now advocating a “prize” system where there are no drug patents. Instead, the government would pay a drug maker a lump sum for its innovation, and then the new drug would immediately be placed in the public domain.
Prize4Life is an effort to accelerate treatments for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). It was created by 32 year old Avichai “Avi” Kremer. According to news reports Kremer was diagnosed with ALS in 2004, and has only a few years to live. He started Prize4Life to raise money for prizes to stimulation research.
Here are some extracts from this moving story in the March 28 issue of the Boston Globe: