Zayed Future Energy Prize award will boost school’s green projects

Minu Kim, a 16-year-old junior at the South Korean school said the prize allows him and his schoolmates to work on more green energy projects.

ABU DHABI // Korea Science Academy of Kaist received US$100,000 (Dh367,295) in funding at the Zayed Future Energy Prize awards on Monday.

Kim Minu, a 16-year-old junior at the South Korean school, said the prize would allow him and his schoolmates to work on more green energy projects.

“Our school focuses on science and engineering so for us, who want to work on projects, the funds will allow us to do more and improve what we already have,” he said.

His school received the award because of the wide diversity of projects it had worked on. Pupils have been working on increasing the efficiency of solar power plants and are planning on installing one to two kilowatts of wind energy for power at their school in Busan.

“One of the more interesting projects we are working on is trying to convert the gym into an energy producer,” he said. “The idea is that students working out on treadmills would actually be generating electricity.”

The school, in the heart of the country’s industrial capital, is also trying to convert all the roof space into a garden, which will both provide food for the school and lower the temperature inside the building during the warm Korean summers – helping to cut down on the cost for air-conditioning.

“Our school is the first science-gifted high school and we also have a lot of festivals in our community, but with this prize now we can really expand,” he said.

Minu plans to study appropriate technology at university, which is the study of using simple materials and mechanical processes to help provide developing countries with technological solutions.