You might think that the PhotonStar LED Group was one of many suppliers offering increasingly cheaper LED lights. They do make LED lights, but they have always aimed up-market with what they call intelligent lighting and are transitioning to become “…a retrofit connected lighting and building management business”. The terminology can be confusing. One of [...]
AFC Energy, the developer of alkaline fuel cells, is moving steadily from laboratory prototype to commercial introduction. Of the several different types of fuel cell, alkaline cells are best known for their use in space missions of the 60’s. However they were not developed commercially because of the expensive catalysts needed, and because the cells [...]
How pleasant it would be if there were no landfills. Even more pleasant if we could generate electricity in the process. Incinerators have been able to do this for many years, with Denmark, for example, sending less than 50 per cent of its rubbish to landfills. The UK, in contrast, sends 90 per cent. The [...]
The Committee on Climate Change and the Parliamentary Advisory Group on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) both released reports on CCS during the summer. They were spurred into action by the lack of any government plan following the cancellation last autumn of the CCS competition and the associated £1 billion budget. Although the two reports [...]
Interim results of Proton Power Systems (PPS) for the six months to 30 June 2016 show flat revenues of £384,000 and increasing loss of £6.7 million (2015 full year: £9.2m). At first sight these results look grim, but they do not reflect the full picture. PPS was incorporated in February 2006 and soon after bought [...]
Aggregated Micro Power Holdings (AMPH) have recently acquired their third wood fuel supplier this year. In March they completed the acquisition of Forest Fuels for £2.82million (m) in cash and £2.5m in shares and in August that of Midland Wood Fuel for £1.4m. Then in October they bought the customer base of Cornish company Mi [...]
On 6 October the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid, approved Cuadrilla’s application to explore for shale gas on the Preston New Road site, thereby overturning Lancashire County Council’s rejection. Javid is also minded to approve exploration on the Roseacre Road site providing Cuadrilla can satisfy him on highway safety issues. [...]
At an investors’ meeting on 21 September Intelligent Energy forecasted revenue for their financial year to end September 2016 of £90 million (2015: £78 m) for a loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of £42 m (2015: £46 m). Cash and cash equivalents are expected to be over £20 m (2015: £24 m). Share [...]
Active Energy Group (AEG) is hoping that their CoalSwitch technology will be a breakthrough in converting coal-fired power generators to biomass. In the meantime they continue to rely on the revenues generated by their woodchip plant in Ukraine. Since AEG entered the forestry and biomass business in 2013, their main operation has been a plant [...]
The volatility of the PV supply chain continues to give headaches to PV Crystalox, makers of the silicon wafers used in photovoltaic cells. In their half-yearly report, released on 25 August, they reported favourable market conditions up until May, after which wafer prices plunged to new historic lows. At the same time the price of [...]