The full list of award winners can be viewed here.
Tom Standage, Business Editor at The Economist, said, "George Craford and Roland Haitz's pioneering work on the development and commercialization of LEDs means that the proportion of human energy consumption attributable to lighting will finally go down."
Craford said: "I am honored to be receiving this award and to be recognized for making a difference in my field of research. It is wonderful to think that my work and that of my colleagues has helped to create a practical replacement to conventional lighting, that is both energy-efficient, and that can significantly reduce the impact of lighting on the environment by using less toxic materials and reducing CO2 emissions."
Held annually, the Economist awards recognize the individuals who have made significant contributions to the development of new products, processes and markets in seven areas: bioscience; computing and telecommunications; social and economic innovation; 'no boundaries' business process; consumer products; and energy and the environment.
Previous winners of the Economist Innovation award for Energy and the Environment include:
* 2006 - Johannes Poulsen, for the commercialization of wind energy
* 2005 - Stanford Ovshinsky, President and Chief Scientist and Technologist, Energy Conversion Devices, for his work developing High-powered NiMH Batteries
* 2004 - Takeshi Uchiyamada, Director, Toyota Motor Corporation, for leading the team that developed the hybrid gasoline-electric consumer automobile.
