The Spiteri Water Pump, a fuel-free, electricity-generating machine, walked away with the national prize during an awards ceremony held at the European Parliament in Brussels.

Developed by Joe Spiteri Sargent, the machine operates under a water surface and harnesses latent hydrostatic energy naturally present in a body of water, transferring it to produce an artificial waterfall to produce electricity via a hydro-electric power system. Present for the 2007 Energy Globe Award ceremony were Mr Spiteri Sargent and hydrologist Marco Cremona, who was also involved in the project.

A total of 853 project submissions were made from 109 countries, falling under five categories: earth, fire, air, water and youth. The Malta project was submitted in the fire category. A working prototype has been constructed in Malta and worldwide patents have been filed.

According to Mr Spiteri Sargent, the main benefits of this innovative product are that it has very low running costs and operates without the use of consumables.

Furthermore, it can be placed in any water body in the world and produces energy 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There are no emissions from this energy transfer process.

The winners were selected by a panel including members from the UN Industrial Development Organisation, the World Bank and the European Renewable Energy Council. The awards were an initiative by engineer and environmentalist Wolfang Newmann Wolfgang Newmann.

The awards have been dished out annually since 1999 to recognise projects that 'make careful and economical use of resources and employ sources'.

For the second year in a row, the ceremony was held at the Plenary Hall of the European Parliament in Brussels. A number of high-profile personalities were present including EP President Hans-Gert Pottering, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan as well as former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev as honorary guest.