The European Commission has honored Alcatel-Lucent’s Alternative Energy Program with its Sustainable Energy Europe Award 2010 (see the press release). The commission’s competition had five categories, with a total of 272 entries and a selection of 26 finalists.  Alcatel-Lucent won in the “Market Transformation-Voluntary Commitments” category.

From left to right: Günther H. Oettinger, European Commissioner for Energy; Gabrielle Gauthey, Alcatel-Lucent, Senior Vice-President of Public Affairs; Christophe Grangeat, Alcatel-Lucent, Technology Development, Alternative Energy Program; Frédéric Wauquiez, Alcatel-Lucent, Marketing, Alternative Energy Program; Christophe Rouverand, Alcatel-Lucent, Product Management, Alternative Energy Program

Watch further in this post the award ceremony video highlights along with interviews of the jury and of the Alcatel-Lucent team present at the event.

More than one billion people are still cut off from the communications networks that are now part of the basic infrastructure for development, because of an energy challenge: they live in areas where there is no electricity grid, and therefore where it is extremely difficult for telecom operators to roll-out and operate their networks. Wireless networks autonomously powered by alternative energies can help, but today, wireless network base stations equipped to use solar or wind energy are generally designed and built on a site-by-site basis, which is both costly and time-consuming.

To answer to these limitations, Alcatel-Lucent Alternative Energy Program is bringing to market the first integrated, pre-tested, mass-produced, alternatively powered wireless base station solution that can be deployed on a global scale in large volumes and with standard delivery times. Launched in 2009, the program is designed to address a market of more than 100,000 sites by 2012, representing yearly savings of about 7 million tons of CO2.

Bringing together our experts with external partners and institutions specialized in alternative energies, we are creating an eco-system bridging telecoms and alternative energies expertise at our Alternative Energy Lab. Opened in 2009 near Paris, it is the world’s first and only alternative energy laboratory and pilot site dedicated to telecommunications.

With its Alternative Energy Program, Alcatel-Lucent ultimately contributes to bringing to more than 1 billion people worldwide all the social and economic benefits that advanced communications services offer.

This honor comes just three months after winning France’s Digital Green Growth prize (see our post).  We are honored that the work we are doing to develop sustainable technology for the communications industry is now being recognized at the European level.

Video highlights of the award ceremony:

Interview with Fiona Hall, Member of the European Parliament, President of the jury:

Interview with Sonja van Renssen, ENDSEurope, Member of the jury:

Interview with Gabrielle Gauthey, Alcatel-Lucent, Senior Vice-President of Public Affairs:

Interview with Frédéric Wauquiez, Alcatel-Lucent, Marketing, Alternative Energy Program: