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Company Case Study - Ceres Power
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EnviroDaq 100
(as of 27/02/08)

132.26

Today: +0.17
Last 7 days: +0.75

Britain’s Climate Change Targets to be Reviewed
Environment Secretary Hilary Benn has said that Britain’s goal of cutting carbon dioxide emissions will be reviewed by the end of the year.

"The scientific evidence has moved rapidly, and as part of a new global climate deal, developed countries may have to cut their emissions by as much as 80 per cent by 2050. That's why we announced a review of the UK target last year," Benn said.

The bill will also be revised forcing the government to regularly assess the impacts of climate change on the country, and reporting this to parliament.

To read more click here.

UK’s Carbon Emissions down in 2006
Emissions of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide fell by half a percent in 2006, despite rises from international aviation emissions.

"As a country we must do much more across the board," said Environment Secretary Hilary Benn, adding that the UK was on track to meet and go "well beyond" its Kyoto commitments.

Benn also said that plans were in place “to remove barriers to renewable energy” and the green light has been given to low-carbon emitting nuclear power plants.

To read more click here.

Britain invests in Waste Digesting Plants
The government is planning on investing £10m in helping to build several commercial-scale anaerobic digestion plants.

The plants work by taking in green organic wastes and breaking them down in the absence of oxygen to produce heat or electricity and reduces the amount of methane emitted to the atmosphere, which is a potent greenhouse gas.

Germany is a world leader in the technology and builds around 1,000 digesters a year. Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks said that the plants would receive "the top level of support" under proposed reforms to the government's renewable energy policy.

To read more click here.

$10bn to be Invested in Renewables
US institutional investors pledged at to invest $10 billion over two years in technologies that aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to pressure companies to disclose their risks associated with climate change.

The group also urges companies to divulge such emissions and warns them that climate change could hurt them through shareholder activism.

Mindy Lubber, president of Ceres, said that this "reflects the many investment opportunities that exist today to put a dent in global warming pollution, build profits and benefit the global economy".

To read more click here.

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Vectrix confirm fleet sales in UK and USA
Vectrix Corporation, the high performance zero emission electric vehicle company, has received the first fleet order for its Vectrix Motorcycle in the United States.

The City of Los Angeles Port Authority, which is responsible for the running of North America’s leading seaport, has ordered four Vectrix Motorcycles for use by the Los Angeles Port Police. This order represents the first sale to a fleet operator in the United States.

In the United Kingdom, Strathclyde Police has also placed an order for a full liveried, blue light equipped “Police Vectrix” which will be deployed for security purposes at Glasgow Airport.

To read more click here.

QuestAir get involved in Japanese Hyrdogen Project
QuestAir Technologies Inc. has received an order valued at approximately CDN $1 million for an H-3100 hydrogen pressure swing adsorption ('PSA') system.

The order was placed by Iwatani International Corporation ('Iwatani'), Japan's leading supplier of merchant hydrogen, and the PSA will be used in a new hydrogen recovery project at an undisclosed location in Japan.

Jonathan Wilkinson, President and CEO of QuestAir, said, 'Hydrogen recovered from industrial sources has an extremely low greenhouse gas footprint when compared to more conventional methods of hydrogen production. Iwatani has shown great leadership in the development of low cost, low-carbon sources of hydrogen for both industrial and fuel cell customers in Japan.'

To read more click here.

Jetion contract to supply 22MW of solar modules in 2008
Jetion Holdings Limited, the manufacturer of solar cells and modules, has announced that it has entered into a sales agreement with Solar Tec AG to supply 22MW of solar modules throughout 2008.

Solar Tec is a German solar system integrator company which develops and markets solar energy systems. Solar Tec is based in Munich with a number of international offices.

In line with the Company's strategy, Jetion accelerated the conversion of solar cells into module products in the second half of 2007. At 2007 year end the Company had an annual module capacity of 40MW. This sales agreement confirms the demand for Jetion's higher value products.

To read more click here.

Solar Integrated win $3m French Contract
Solar Integrated Technologies has won a $3 million order for a BIPV roofing system to be installed on a new Chocolatier building being constructed in Perpignan, France.

The BIPV project is being managed by Urbasolar, a turn-key PV engineering company based in Montpellier and Solar Integrated's distribution partner in France. The project, planned for completion in 2008, is supported by the Regional Council of Languedoc - Roussillon.

Stephanie Giraud, CEO of Urbasolar, stated: "We continue to develop additional project opportunities as we partner with Solar Integrated to rapidly sell and deploy their BIPV roofing systems in France. Solar Integrated's single layer BIPV product has a strong competitive position in France where there is a premium feed-in tariff of €0.55 per kWh for such systems."

To read more click here.

Kurawood expand New Zealand Facility
Kurawood PLC, the manufacturer of organically modified softwood, has announced that it has commenced expansion of its production facilities in New Zealand which will expand production capacity from 30,000 cubic metres to 300,000 cubic metres per annum.

The Directors expect this work to be completed by the end of June 2008. This represents a substantial increase in capacity and will enable Kurawood to meet the needs of a number of its qualified prospective customers who require certainty of supply.

Kurawood continues to progress negotiations with its qualified prospective customers with a wide range of different customers and will update the market when supply contracts are concluded.

To read more click here.

Ceramic Fuel Cells partners with CeramTec
Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited has signed a Co-operation and Supply agreement with CeramTec AG of Germany to secure a high volume supply of fuel cell components.

CeramTec is a world leader in producing high-quality industrial ceramic products for a wide range of applications in the automotive, electronic, medical and machine and plant construction industry.

Under the agreement, CFCL and CeramTec will collaborate to produce advanced solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) components, in particular anode supported cells. CFCL will license its relevant intellectual property to CeramTec and provide ongoing assistance to optimise the performance of the cell against CFCL's rigorous specifications. CFCL and CeramTec will also collaborate to continually improve cell performance and manufacturing processes and to reduce unit costs.

To read more click here.

Enova Systems and Traction Technology in hybrid drive deal
Enova Systems, an early stage production company in an emerging industry and a leading developer of proprietary electric, hybrid and fuel cell digital power management systems, has announced that their 120kW System has been chosen to power four Optare Solo Buses, integrated by UK-based, Traction Technology Plc.

This award follows extensive competitive trial evaluation by Merseytravel. This is the first time that Traction has been part of a head to head evaluation of its hybrid system and their success in this trial is seen by Enova as a critical indicator in Traction's plans for the adoption of its offering in the UK market and beyond.

Enova Systems’ Terry Morano stated, “The fact that these vehicles are running with ultracapacitors illustrates the flexibility of Enova’s Electric Drive System’s towards diverse power systems, such as batteries, fuel cells, bio fuels, hydrogen, and now, ultracapacitors.”

To read more click here.

DS Smith invest £104m in paper manufacturing facility
DS Smith, the international packaging manufacturer and office products wholesaler, announces that it is substantially strengthening the competitiveness of its UK Paper and Corrugated Packaging business through an investment to produce high-quality lightweight corrugated case material (CCM) at its prime UK paper mill at Kemsley in Kent.

It has agreed with M-real Corporation the terms of the acquisition of the adjacent New Thames Paper Mill (NTPM) as well as the 50% balance of Grovehurst Energy Limited, the mills’ energy and services supplier, not already owned by DS Smith.

The acquired facility currently produces fine uncoated paper and, using the latest paper-making technology, DS Smith intends to invest, over the next 12 months, a further circa £37 million in the modification of the acquired facility to enable it to produce high-quality lightweight recycled CCM with effect from January 2009.

To read more click here.

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New Earth lands pre-IPO round
Waste treatment group New Earth Solutions has raised £4m pre-IPO funding from Impax Asset Management, a specialist investor in environmental industries.

New Earth uses a range of composting methods to treat biodegradeable municipal waste, with one 50,000t/a facility in Dorset and another under construction in Kent. The funding supports the development of a further six plants in the run-up to the company's planned IPO in 2009.

New Earth also recently signed a £50m finance package with Norddeutsche Landesbank.

To read more click here.

Carbon Trust ups Whitfield stake
Whitfield Solar has secured a £1m interim round from existing investor Carbon Trust and new investor Kilsby Ltd.

Whitfield, a spin-out from the University of Reading, is developing low-cost concentrating photovoltaic installations. The new money goes towards completing product development and launching a demonstration site in Spain.

To read more click here.

Clessidra chips in for Prenergy
Italian private equity group Clessidra Capital Partners has taken a one-third stake in Prenergy Power, the company building the world's largest woodchip-fired power plant in south Wales.

Utilities investor Clessidra paid an undisclosed amount for the stake in Prenergy's parent, Global Wood Holding. The company is investing around £350m in constructing its 300MW plant on the site of a former steel factory in Port Talbot.

To read more click here.

Venture News provided by Clean Ventures for EnviroDaq.

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The following case studies of companies in the EnviroDaq index were penned by the companies themselves and have not been edited by the EnviroDaq editor. We therefore accept no liability for the accuracy of the information contained within them and they should not be used as a prospectus for investment purposes.

Company: Ceres Power

AIM-listed Ceres Power, formed in 2001 to develop mass market fuel cell products based on its unique technology, is committed to providing alternative energy solutions to address the challenges of reducing emissions, increasing fuel efficiency and improving energy security. Ceres is targeting global opportunities in micropower generation - creating energy at the point of use to avoid the heat and transmission losses associated with centralised generation.

One of the most significant opportunities is Ceres Power’s residential combined heat and power (CHP) unit, which aims to substantially reduce home energy bills and carbon emissions. The integrated wall-mountable unit is designed to provide heating, hot water and the majority of the electricity for a typical house, and has the potential to reduce a typical British Gas customer’s household CO2 emissions by up to 2.5 tonnes per year when replacing a standard boiler, and to lower total annual energy costs by around 25%. The UK Government has estimated that, over time, micropower products could supply over one-third of Britain’s total electricity needs and help the country improve its energy security, meet its environmental obligations and deliver energy savings to consumers.

Last month Ceres entered into a development, supply and distribution agreement with British Gas, in which the energy giant placed a substantial forward order to purchase Ceres CHP units. By partnering with companies which have millions of customers, Ceres is building the necessary channels to get products to market in volume. CHP products also have major potential in overseas markets which Ceres plans to exploit over time.

In tandem with its CHP programme, Ceres has also targeted a number of other mass-market applications. These include ‘auxiliary power units’ working alongside the prime mover in cars, trucks and recreational vehicles, and able to provide power for electrical systems with improved efficiency.  Another focus is ‘energy security’ systems, where fuel cells can support mains electricity grid outages, or provide reliable independent power where the grid is unavailable or unreliable.  Ceres has already secured a contract with EDF Energy Networks to develop a product for this application.

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The EnviroDaq 100 Index is the first index for UK-listed environmental technology companies. It indexes the 100 largest UK-listed companies which derive at least 60% of their turnover from environmentally-focused goods and services. These include renewable energy; energy efficiency equipment; renewable materials; waste management; water and waste water treatment; air pollution control equipment; environmental monitoring and instrumentation; and cleaner technology processes.

The EnviroDaq 100 website (www.envirodaq.com) provides detailed company information, including key financials, company background, broker recommendations and investment ratios. It includes a graphing feature which allows you to create flexible and customisable share graphs for each of the EnviroDaq component securities.

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