Each year the Willoughby Prize is awarded to the author or authors of a Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law article of outstanding merit. The winners of the 2020 Willoughby Prize are Florencia Heredia, Agostina L Martinez and Valentina Surraco Urtubey, of Buenos Aries, Argentina. The authors wrote \u2018The Importance of Lithium for Achieving a Low-Carbon Future: Overview of the Lithium Extraction in the \u201cLithium Triangle\u201d\u2019, which was published online in July 2020 and in print in the August issue of the Journal. The article was particularly important since there is a growing world demand for lithium, a metal that will likely help power millions of electric vehicles in the near future. It has it been noted that perhaps as much as 75 per cent of the world\u2019s lithium is found in Argentina, Bolivia and Chile. The authors\u2019 efforts have been extremely well received by researchers worldwide who have already made the article the 10th most downloaded article in the journal\u2019s 40-year history.<\/p>\n
The Prize is awarded in memory of Geoffrey Willoughby (1936\u20131989), who played a leading role in the development of UK energy law. He also co-authored a leading UK energy law text, United Kingdom Oil and Gas Law, with Professor Terry Daintith. Achieving this prize is of special significance because the winning paper sits atop an annual submissions list that now numbers nearly 125 each year.<\/p>\n
In announcing the winner, Judith-Aldersey-Williams, trustee of the Energy, Petroleum, Mineral & Natural Resources Law and Policy Education Trust charity that awards the prize, said this about the article: \u2018We thought that the importance of lithium to the energy transition was clearly explained, your exploration of the geopolitics was fascinating and your treatment of the legal issues raised by lithium extraction clear and comprehensive\u2019. The three co-authors will join a long line of distinguished authors whose articles have contributed enormously to the evolution and understanding of energy and natural resources law.<\/p>\n
By Don C. Smith.<\/p>\n