Austrian Commercial Counsellor Kurt Altmann presents the winner’s certificate for the Energy Globe Award Saudi Arabia to Mohamed Abusharifah, leader of the team, Estimadah, in Riyadh on Thursday.

Austria honored a group of young Saudis in Riyadh on Thursday with the Energy Globe Award-Saudi Arabia for their outstanding performance in building the first Saudi solar car.

The team, Estimadah, led by Mohamed Abusharifah, was honored in a festive ceremony with the winner’s certificate from the commercial counsellor, Kurt Altmann, at the Austrian Foreign Trade Center in Riyadh.

When two students of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals decided in 2010 to participate in the World Solar Challenge (WSC), there was less than a year left to build the very first Saudi solar car.

The team faced many challenges in envisioning, designing and manufacturing their car named Wahj. Nevertheless, they successfully participated in this event. Wahj was able to prove the effectiveness of renewable energy to Saudi society by crossing 3,000 km of the Australian continent and finishing the race.

“In the upcoming weeks many more national Energy Globe winners will be honored in their countries in cooperation with the foreign trade centers of the Austrian Economic Chamber,” Altmann said here during the event held at the Kingdom Tower.

The counsellor pointed out that the winning projects range from high-tech to simple but effective ideas, and provide answers to most of our environmental problems — through energy efficiency, renewable energy use, or the careful use of resources, such as water.

All national Energy Globe winners from more than 170 countries will be introduced online at www.energyglobe.info in the realm of Energy Globe’s unique and global online Best Practice Week. The kick-off date is UN World Environment Day on June 5.

Under the aegis of UNESCO and in cooperation with UNEP, this unique awareness campaign from Energy Globe runs under the motto “We save the planet by acting, not by talking. Sustainability starts with you!”

Speaking to Arab News, Abusharifah said that the team started with seven members and has grown into a group of 20. “We produced two cars. The second is an improved version of the first production,” he said, pointing out that the car can run 500 km at a speed of 62 km/h. “We followed government specifications in the manufacture of the car such as the weight, space and size of the vehicle,” he said, adding that each vehicle had cost them SR1 million.

The initial funding was done by the King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Dhahran, where the members of the group completed their higher studies.

In a bid to expand the project, he said the group is contacting King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) and some establishments in the private sector to explore how the project could be funded for further improvement.

“Our dream is to translate the renewable concept for the betterment of the nation. We have succeeded in making headway in the use of solar power which is freely available in the Kingdom,” Abusharifah said, adding that the group needs the support of the bodies concerned to forge ahead.

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