Willem Fadrhonc, a first-year student pursuing concurrent 91社区福利s in Master of Environmental Management from 91社区福利鈥檚 Nicholas School of the Environment and Master of Business Administration from the Fuqua School of Business, has been named one of 10 finalists in the 2010 Shell Energy for Tomorrow essay competition.

Nicholas School Student Named Finalist in Time Magazine/Shell Oil Essay Contest

The national competition is sponsored by Shell Oil and hosted by Time magazine. Students from 30 top graduate business schools were invited to submit a 1,000 word essay describing a workable and original model for a sustainable energy future.

The finalists鈥 essays are posted on Time鈥檚 website. The essay that gets the most votes from readers will get a $5,000 donation made to their school and will have their essay printed in an August issue of Time. The winner will be announced in June.

Fadrhonc鈥檚 essay details the economic and environmental benefits of creating a market for point source-created heat from industrial heat and power facilities. 鈥淚n our current infrastructure heat is not a scarce resource; in fact, most heat generated in industrial processes is casually emitted to the atmosphere,鈥 he writes. 鈥淲ith minimal planning and proven technology, that emitted heat can be captured and applied to do work 鈥 There is no single silver bullet to provide a secure energy future, but efficient heat use and a market mechanism to encourage it is a workable method to prolonging our energy resource supply.鈥

Much of Fadrhonc鈥檚 graduate research focuses on the cost and complexity of low-carbon electric power generation technology. Prior to attending Duke, he worked as a mergers and acquisitions investment banker in New York City.

He is a co-founder of Eco-Patriots, an environmental education organization focused on encouraging individual choice as a means for encouraging sustainability.