27-year-old Ghanaian student, Eyram Norgbey, has won the Green Talent Award organized by the German government for his research on promoting sustainable environment.

The Msc. Environmental Science and Engineering at Hohai University in China is among 25 young people from 21 different countries across the world who were awarded at a colourful ceremony in Berlin, Germany.

In attendance was Ghana’s Ambassador to Germany Gina Blay. In all the winnerswere selected from 602 applicants from over 95 countries.

The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research hosts the prestigious awards as part of the “Green Talents – International Forum for High Potentials in Sustainable Development programme” to promote the international exchange of innovative green ideas.

The winners come from numerous countries and scientific disciplines and are recognised for their outstanding achievements in making societies more sustainable.

Selected by a high-ranking jury of German experts, the award winners are granted unique access to the country’s research elite.

Eyram’s research which won him the prize focuses on using industrial waste material to partially replace asphalt in the construction of sustainable and cheaper road surfaces, to help reduce the dependence on oil products.

In his project, he modifies asphalt with lignin, a sustainable, renewable and environmentally friendly waste biomass. Lignin is readily available as a by-product obtained from the paper-making and corn industry.

                                           

“Asphalt modification with Lignin will produce cheaper, sustainable and environmentally-friendly composite material for sustainable permeable roads construction development,” Mr. Norgbey explained after picking up the award.                                                   

The jury was impressed by the array of problems that Eyram’s project has the potential to solve, from lowering costs, decreasing environmental damage and reducing the impact of flooding.

Eyram was also commended for his re-use of a waste substances as a means to support industrial development.