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News In Brief
EnviroDaq 100 Company News
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Company Case Study - Renew Holdings
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Britain Meets Biofuel Targets Through Imports
Britain is meeting its 2.5 percent target for biofuels use in motor fuel but is relying heavily on imports, according to government data. Britain produced only 10 percent of the biofuel, well behind the world's two leading producers; United States (27 percent) and Brazil (15 percent) while the origin of 32 percent of the fuel was classified as unknown.

Biofuels, which are currently mainly produced from grains, vegetable oils and sugar crops, are seen as a way to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and cut emissions of the greenhouse gases believed to contribute to climate change.

"This data shows that biofuel importers are pretty much in the dark when it comes to the origin of their products," said Mariana Paoli, forest campaigner for Greenpeace. "Government targets were set too hastily, and are currently allowing all sorts of unsustainable biofuels slip through the net.

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UK Approves Building of Major Offshore Wind Farm
The British government has approved construction of a 500-megawatt offshore wind farm in Cumbria, northwest England, the government has said.

It said the Duddon Sands farm, planned near Walney Island off the coast of Barrow-in-Furness, was one of the country's three largest offshore wind farms approved so far. It would comprise up to 139 turbines.

Morecambe Wind Ltd, a consortium of Scottish Power, Eurus Energy from Japan and Denmark's state-controlled DONG Energy, is to build and operate the farm.

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London Mayor Unveils Climate Crisis Plan
Mayor Boris Johnson has unveiled a plan to help London tackle the challenge of climate change with less carbon dioxide, more trees, better drainage and increased water efficiency.

Some 15 percent of London is deemed at high risk from flooding due to global warming -- an area including 1.25 million people, 480,000 properties, 441 schools, 75 underground and rail stations, 10 hospitals and one airport. The estimated total cost of all affected assets total £160bn.

"We need to concentrate efforts to slash carbon emissions and become more energy efficient in order to prevent dangerous climate change," Johnson told reporters at the iconic Thames Barrier flood defence system.

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Italy Growth is Not Enough to Plug Gap in Solar Power Demand
Growth in solar power installations in Italy may not be enough to plug a gap in global demand as Spain prepares to slash subsidies, say Italian industry experts. Solar power firms face a drastic slowdown in the Spanish market next year and some are pinning their hopes on Italy, but Italian officials and manufacturers are cautious over growth prospects.

Italian manufacturers said they faced considerable red tape. Angelo Nogara, managing director of Solkraft Italia, said many Italian solar plants had to wait a year after being built to be connected to the grid.

Elsewhere, generous subsidies in Spain will expire this month after encouraging the installation of 1,000 megawatts in new solar plants this year. That has made Spain the world's biggest market after Germany, where the government expects 1,350 MW of new solar plants to go on line in 2008.

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PowerFilm Licenses Technology from HP for Thin Film Electronics
PowerFilm has developed manufacturing technology for depositing the thin film semiconductor dielectric and metal layers which will be patterned by the SAIL process to create the transistor array. The SAIL technology invented in HP Labs, HP's central research arm, enables circuits to be created on flexible thin films in a single lithography step.

Using a single imprint and a flexible substrate in a low-cost roll-to-roll manufacturing process, this combination of technologies will allow low-cost fabrication of thin film transistor arrays for eventual mass production.

"The licensing of the SAIL technology from HP represents an important milestone in the advancement of our thin film electronics program. The development of backplane drivers for the flexible display market represents another use of our core technology that is a potential future revenue stream in addition to our solar business," said Frank Jeffrey, Co-Founder and CEO of PowerFilm.

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Wind Farm Approval for Camco
Camco International Limited, has been granted planning permission approval for Maerdy Windfarm. Maerdy Windfarm is a development by Renewable Energy Partnerships Ltd (REP), a Camco Group joint venture. Camco holds a 10% shareholding in REP via its Camco Ventures division which invests to commercialise climate change mitigation technologies, projects and services.

Maerdy Windfarm is located in the Rhondda Valleys in South Wales. The planned development is for eight 3MW turbines with estimated electricity generation of 64,000 MWh per year.

Jeff Kenna, Camco CEO, said "Planning permission is a key milestone in the development of the Maerdy Windfarm and we can now look forward to implementation of this first REP wind project in South Wales. We will continue to look at options to maximize the value of this successful Ventures investment."

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World first approval for Proton’s new fuel cell module
Proton Power Systems plc, has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Proton Motor Fuel Cell GmbH has been awarded the world's first ever fuel cell seal of approval by TÜV SÜD for its new fuel cell module.

The award is given to systems meeting specific requirements in terms of safety and technical perfection. The approval will enable the Company to start automated volume production at its plant in Puchheim, Germany, leading to a capacity of several thousand stacks a year.

Thomas Melczer, CEO of Proton Power, said: "This is a significant milestone for the Group and is testament to the high quality of our technology. With the rising shortage of fossil fuels, there has been an increased demand for hydrogen and fuel cell technology”.

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SIT Wins First Project in Czech Republic
Solar Integrated Technologies has been awarded a contract to supply BIPV roofing systems for a warehouse in Kourim, Czech Republic. The project will feature 190 kilowatts (kW) of Solar Integrated's proprietary BIPV membrane product on a portion of the warehouse that is being re-roofed, as well as 72 kW of the Company's recently launched M2TM product for metal roofing applications on the remainder of the warehouse. The project is expected to be completed in 2008.

"This, our first project in the Czech Republic, shows the increasing opportunity for us as we expand our sales into new and exciting European solar markets," stated R. Randall MacEwen, President & CEO of Solar Integrated. "We continue to broaden our growth exposure while also reducing our country concentration risk. This was punctuated with the completion of 52 projects in 11 European countries in the first half of 2008."

The Czech Republic, which typically experiences 1,400 to 1,700 hours of sunshine per year, has a feed-in tariff of €0.46 per kWh for 15 years. The Czech Republic has pledged to the EU to produce 8% of electricity from renewable sources by the year 2010.

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Ludgate Environmental Fund to invest in water technology business
Ludgate Environmental Fund Limited has announced its commitment to invest A$550,000 into Phoslock Water Solutions Limited. PWS is an Australian public company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.

PWS owns the patents and global trade mark for 'Phoslock'. Phoslock is a modified clay
product which removes phosphorus from the water column and sediment pore water of water bodies. By removing the phosphorus, Phoslock effectively controls the growth and proliferation of algae through limiting one of their essential nutrients. Application of Phoslock in a water body will break existing algal blooms and prevent future blooms.

Phoslock was invented and developed by the Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia's national scientific organization. PWS manufactures Phoslock at its joint venture manufacturing operation near Kunming, China.

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New Order for Catalytic Solutions
Catalytic Solutions has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Applied Utility Systems, has won an order from Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. valued at approximately U.S. $16.5 million, with revenues expected to commence in September 2008 and an anticipated project end date in the third quarter of 2009.

The initial purchase order from Jacobs, (the acting agents for and on behalf of BP Products North America, Inc., one of the world's largest energy companies) includes the design, engineering and fabrication of five selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems intended for existing boilers installed at a BP Refinery located in Whiting, Indiana.

Commenting on the order, Charles F. Call, Chief Executive Officer of Catalytic Solutions, Inc. said: "We are delighted that Jacobs recognizes the value proposition in selecting us for their boiler applications. This win further illustrates the success of the steps we took in 2007 to position our Company as a total solution provider for gas-turbine owners and industrial boiler owners."

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Sabien wins Norwich Union Contract
Sabien has announced it has been awarded a contract by Norwich Union (an AVIVA company) worth £188,000 to install Sabien's M2G technology at its offices in the UK. AVIVA is the world's fifth-largest insurance group and the largest insurance services provider in the UK.

The contract for Sabien's M2G energy efficiency technology demonstrates AVIVA's commitment to the environment and will be important in reducing its energy consumption and carbon footprint.

Gregory Luxford, Norwich Union (Energy & Utilities) said: "AVIVA has a well established CSR policy and is committed to reducing its impact on the environment. As part of this, Norwich Union sets targets each year to reduce its carbon footprint. The reductions achieved by M2G in a wide range of case studies at other organisations were impressive and we wanted to confirm these ourselves with a pilot scheme managed by Sabien at a number of our sites. Sabien were open and easy to work with and this, together with the impressive savings achieved, made a strong case to adopt M2G across the Norwich Union estate."

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Grupo Bimbo adopts Symphony's D2W technology
Symphony Environmental Technologies Plc, the degradable plastics and waste-to-energy Group, has announced that a major environmentally responsible initiative for d2wTM plastic technology has been launched in Mexico with Grupo Bimbo.

Bimbo has decided to use d2wTM additive technology in its packaging following extensive successful trials. The distribution and support services will be led by Symphony's Mexican, Central American and Latin American distribution network.

Michael Laurier, Chief Executive of Symphony Environmental Technologies plc, said: "We are delighted to be associated with Grupo Bimbo on their initiatives to improve their packaging products with the incorporation of d2wTM additive technology. We are also excited to be involved with creating some important environmental changes in Mexico and Latin America and playing a part in Bimbo's strategy of excellence which forms part of their efforts to continually improve their corporate and social responsibility standards.”

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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: Renew Holdings

Renew Holdings plc, formerly Montpellier Group Plc, and prior to that YJL Plc and Y.J. Lovell (Holdings) Plc has a history spanning over 200 years. The “Y.J.” of Y.J. Lovell were the initials of Young James Lovell, a surveyor who in 1876 acquired the century-old Marlow building firm of Thomas Corby, a business which had begun almost a century before. The fifth son of a Dorset carpenter, Young James was a man of great flair who made the most of his opportunities and gave the company the impetus to continue developing over the next century.

The company went public in 1968 and over the following years the Group’s activities expanded to include a Building Division, Plant Hire Operation, Developments Division, Timber Operation, and overseas interests in land development.

In the late 1990s and early part of this century, the Group reorganised its activities substantially, selling various businesses and acquiring three companies which today form a major part of its operations, Allanbuild, Britannia Construction and the VHE Group.

Following the appointment of Roy Harrison as Chairman in 2004 and of Brian May as Chief Executive in 2005, the Group was renamed Renew Holdings plc, a holding company of a Group providing specialist construction services through individually branded subsidiaries across the UK.

In 2007, Renew acquired Seymour Civil Engineering Contractors, an engineering services company specialising in the water industry.

Today, the Group is organised into two business streams; Specialist Engineering with expertise in nuclear, land remediation and water through its subsidiaries Shepley Engineers, VHE and Seymour; and Specialist Building incorporating retail, social housing, science & education and restoration and refurbishment through its subsidiaries Allenbuild, Britannia Construcion, YJL London, YJL Infrastructure and Walter Lilly.

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Gareth Jones, EnviroDaq Manager
UK CEED, Eco Innovation Centre, City Road, Peterborough, PE1 1SA
t: 01733 311644 | f: 01733 808168
g.jones@ukceed.org | www.ukceed.org | www.envirodaq.com

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