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EnviroDaq
News In Brief
EnviroDaq 100 Company News
E5xpo - Making Climate change Your Business
Company Case Study - Helius Energy
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EnviroDaq 100
(as of 29/08/08)

104.06

Today: +0.99
Last 7 days: +1.27

MIT Develops Way to Bank Solar Energy at Home
A US scientist has developed a new way of powering fuel cells that could make it practical for home owners to store solar energy and produce electricity to run lights and appliances at night.

Solar has been growing as a power source in the United States -- last year the nation's solar capacity rose 45 percent to 750 megawatts. But it is still a tiny power source, producing enough energy to meet the needs of about 600,000 typical homes, and only while the sun is shining.

"If you can only have energy when the sun is shining, you're in deep trouble", Daniel Nocera, an MIT professor of energy, said in an interview at his Cambridge, Massachusetts, office. "If I could provide a storage mechanism, then I make energy 24/7 and then we can start talking about solar."

To read more click here.

China Leapfrogs UK on Renewables Index
China has made the top five for the first time in the five-year history of the Ernst & Young Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Indices. The latest figures, which track and score global investment in renewable energy in the first six months of 2008, show the UK has dropped from fourth to sixth place in the all renewables index, with China taking fourth place instead.

Ernst & Young said the Chinese success story is partly a result of the government's renewable energy policy, which aims to generate 15% of the country's energy from non-carbon sources by 2020.

"China's stellar growth in renewables can also be attributed to the speed at which it has built up its supply chain capability, to the point where it is likely to have nine gigawatts of manufacturing capacity in a few years," said Jonathan Johns, head of renewable energy at Ernst & Young.

To read more click here.

Could US$100 Oil Turn Dumps Into Plastic Mines?
Long a symbol of humanity's throw-away culture, existing landfill sites are now being viewed as mines of potential which as the world population grows could also help bolster the planet's dwindling natural resources.

"By 2020 we might have nine billion people on the planet, we could have a very big middle class driving millions more cars, and we could be in a really resource-hungry world with the oil price climbing and a supply situation in Libya, Russia and Saudi where natural gas is limited," said Peter Jones, one of Britain's leading experts on waste management.

"Over a period of a very long time -- many decades -- we have had a policy of burying whatever we can in landfill sites -- so there are valuable resources in those sites," said Steve Whatmore, of Orchid Environmental, a waste and recycling firm. "And wherever there are valuable resources, there is always the temptation to investigate whether its worth recovering them. The logic is sound, but the practicalities are complex -- and you have to balance those out with the commercial viability."

To read more click here.

Google Puts US$10m into New Geothermal Technology
Google's philanthropic arm, Google.org, said the investment would go toward enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), a technology that circulates water through hot rocks in the ground, producing steam to power a turbine.

"This is an exciting new approach to geothermal that could meet thousands of times US energy needs," Dan Reicher, head of climate and energy initiatives for Google.org, said in an interview. "It's 24-7, it's potentially developable all over the country ... and for all that we really do think it could be the 'killer app' of the energy world."

Last year, Google said it plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to help drive the cost of electricity made from renewable sources below the price of power generated from dirty coal-fired plants.

To read more click here.

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New Contract for Clyde Process Solutions
Clyde Process Solutions plc, a provider of customer-driven, material handling solutions for process industries, announces that it has been awarded a £1.5 million order with one of the world's leading steel producers, with the possibility of securing subsequent orders with this producer.

Commenting on this new order, Alex Stewart, Chief Executive of Clyde Process
Solutions plc said: 'We are delighted to secure this £1.5 million order with one of the world's leading steel producers, which will enable them to deliver consistent levels of productivity, as well as providing significant energy consumption savings within their production facility.'

'We continue to see energy as a critical area of focus in our key customer
markets. Our ability to provide low energy, environmentally enhancing solutions
is adding strong economic and operational benefits to our customers. This order
was secured with healthy levels of contribution and is in line with management
expectations.'

To read more click here.

Clean Air Power Dual-Fuel™ combustion technology
Following an initial, successful trial Sainsbury's is using Clean Air Power's "Genesis" Dual-FuelTM combustion technology for heavy duty diesel engines to enable it to run a Mercedes-Benz Axor using a combination of diesel and bio-methane obtained from a landfill site managed by Gasrec. The "Running on Rubbish" initiative will operate on the 500km round trip from the Sainsbury's distribution centre at Emerald Park in Bristol to the supermarket's new environmental store in Dartmouth.

John Pettitt, Chief Executive of Clean Air Power said: "I am delighted that we have been able to support the Sainsbury's initiative to become the first supermarket to use trucks that are converted to run on waste gas, bio-methane, generated from rubbish in landfills. We will continue to work with Sainsbury's in support of its environmental initiatives. Bio-methane is a cleaner and cheaper fuel than diesel and with Genesis can deliver significant and practical fuel-cost savings to the operator".

Sainsbury's environmental initiative is conducted in partnership with Clean Air Power, Gasrec and BOC.

To read more click here.

Sale of Dallas Clean Energy
Camco International Limited, a leading climate change business, has announced the sale of Dallas Clean Energy LLC, its landfill gas recovery facility in Dallas, Texas. Camco has agreed to sell Dallas Clean Energy LLC to Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (Nasdaq: CLNE), a leading provider of natural gas (CNG and LNG) for transportation in North America, for a total consideration of $19.1m (€13m) in cash.

Scott McGregor, Camco CFO, said "We are very pleased that the sale enables us to release this short term asset investment from our balance sheet, at the same time making a pre-tax 21% (30% annualised) return for our shareholders from our asset development business in the U.S.. The sale forms part of Camco's asset management strategy as we continue to evaluate the development of an in-house asset management team."

Camco will use the proceeds from the sale to finance the continued growth of its leading climate change business with services ranging from emission assessment, carbon management and project development.

To read more click here.

Leaf completes $10 million investment
Leaf Clean Energy Company, an AIM listed company incorporated for the purpose of investing in clean energy companies and projects in North America, has announced the completion of a $10 million Series A preferred stock financing in MaxWest Environmental Systems, Inc.

MaxWest seeks to deploy proprietary waste-to-energy gasification technology using a variety of waste streams including municipal solid sludge, agricultural waste and other biomass-based material. The MaxWest gasification system represents a low cost, environmentally friendly solution that is an alternative to traditional waste disposal and provides a source of clean renewable energy.

Peter Tom, Chairman of Leaf, said: "This investment in MaxWest further balances Leaf's portfolio with unique waste-to-energy technologies and capital project opportunities. Now, with Leaf's other investments, the Leaf portfolio includes investments across a spectrum of clean energy, including waste-to-energy, biomass energy, alternative fuels, solar energy, and hydroelectric."

To read more click here.

Turbo Power Systems Announce New Rail Contract
Turbo Power Systems Inc, the innovative electrical machines and electronic systems provider has announced that is has received a new contract order from Bombardier Derby for the supply of Battery Chargers for their new generation of Bombardie Turbostar trains.

The contract, which is valued in excess of £600,000, is for 93 off units. These units maintain the charge in the railcar batteries packs, providing back-up power to the lighting, emergency and ancillary systems in the event of a main power failure. This equipment is an updated version of an established product previously supplied to Bombardier.

Commenting on the initial contract, Paul Summers, Chief Executive Officer of Turbo Power Systems, said "This new contract with Bombardier is another good example of the way in which TPS through its technology has been able to establish itself as a reliable and trusted supplier to the leading players in the rail sector and attract orders from blue chip customers".

To read more click here.

Portable USB Solar Charger Product Launch
PowerFilm, Inc, the developer and manufacturer of thin flexible solar panels, has announced the launch of its new USB and AA Solar Charger at the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2008 trade show in Salt Lake City.

The ultra compact and lightweight portable solar charger is for recharging an iPod or other consumer electronics via its USB port, or for charging AA batteries directly. The product weighs only 4.5 ounces without batteries and folds to the size of a billfold.

Power is generated by the PowerFilm thin film solar panels and then stored in two internal removable AA NiMH batteries so consumer electronics devices can be powered during the day and at night. The solar-recharged AA batteries also may be used to power devices separately. This product is an addition to the existing PowerFilm Solar portable charger product line.

To read more click here.

Planning approval granted for repowering of Goonhilly Downs Wind Farm in Cornwall
Renewable Energy Generation Limited, the international renewable energy group, today announces that it has received planning approval for the repowering of its Goonhilly Downs wind farm on the Lizard Peninsular in Cornwall.

The planning approval allows for an increase in the wind farm's current capacity from 5.6MW to approximately 15MW. By replacing all of the existing turbines with more modern equipment, the project will harness the proven wind resource more effectively and will provide enough energy to supply over 7,000 homes.

Commenting on developments, Andrew Whalley, Chief Executive Officer of REG, said, "Goonhilly, together with our project at Loscar in South Yorkshire, which received planning permission last month, will significantly increase our UK operating wind plant to around 35 megawatts."

To read more click here.

Wave Farms in Bermuda
Renewable Energy Holdings plc, has announced that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Triton Renewable Energy Limited, based in Bermuda.

Once operational the joint venture would ideally enter into a power purchase agreement with the local Bermuda electric utility company, which is seeking to diversify its energy portfolio. It is intended that the joint venture would supply Bermuda with electricity, and the option of desalinated water.

Mike Proffitt, Chief Executive Officer of REH, commented, "It is currently very expensive to generate electricity in an island environment, due to the high cost of imported fuel oil. CETO provides an economic and clean solution to this problem. Bermuda has an excellent wave regime and there are several sites which we believe would be suitable for a CETO wave farm. There is also the added advantage of being able to provide desalinated water with the CETO technology, which is another benefit of deploying our technology on islands."

To read more click here.

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September 24th 2008 | Kingsgate Centre, Peterborough

The inaugural East of England Energy & Environment Expo' (E5xpo) will promote and showcase innovative businesses and organisations in the Environmental Goods and Services (EGS) sector whose environmental solutions can help businesses become more resource efficient, sustainable, and ultimately more profitable by beating rising fuel prices.

E5xpo will provide excellent networking and collaboration opportunities for those organisations that buy or supply environmental technologies, products or services.

Alongside the exhibition, seminars will provide guidance and support for organisations working to improve their resource efficiency and to reduce their environmental impact. These will be based on resource efficiency and environmental enterprise, with topics including visions for renewable energy technologies, sustainable construction and business support.

Speakers include representatives from Rolton Group, Caterpillar, Perkins Engines, BRE, Wind Direct, Renewables East, Opportunity Peterborough, EEDA and UK CEED.

Exhibition and delegate places are selling fast, however places are still available to book online at www.e5xpo.co.uk

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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: Helius Energy

The Helius Group was established to install and operate biomass fired renewable electricity generation plants. These will help meet the growing need for reliable power from renewable fuels that help to overcome the issues of climate change associated with fossil fuels like coal and oil. The management team has over 50 years collective experience in the energy, manufacturing, biomass and agribusiness sectors, with extensive knowledge of renewable energy markets, biomass energy technologies and related economics.

Biomass could supply as much as 50% of the world’s primary energy needs by 2050. The Helius Group will be at the forefront of these developments by delivering sustainable energy from biomass. Using its extensive knowledge of renewable energy markets and biomass energy technologies, Helius Energy is developing both large (50-65MWe) and small modular (5MWe - 7MWe) biomass-powered electricity generation plants.

Our power plants will be sited where the availability of the feedstock is optimised. For larger 50-65 MWe plants this means having the right transport infrastructure, while our modular GreenSwitchT 5 MWe - 7 MWe plants are designed to be located where sustainable and renewable feedstocks are readily available, such as breweries and distilleries, avoiding the costs of transporting wet feedstocks. GreenSwitchT will generate onsite electricity and export any surplus to the local electricity network, providing potential customers with an environmentally sustainable and economic method of utilising processing by-products.

Helius Energy is also working to develop similar sites in Southern Africa, which is facing an ever-growing energy crisis. The current power output of countries such as South Africa is now close to installed capacity and the use of biomass is forecast to increase significantly. Helius is in discussions with Eskom, one of the largest electricity exporters in South Africa, and with the Governments of the Kingdom of Swaziland and Zambia, with respect to power supply and the upgrading and construction of existing and new power plants.

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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 (http://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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