A group of the UK’s most promising clean technology companies have been chosen to attend the Clean and Cool Mission to Colorado in December. The sixteen companies, which were recently unveiled at an official ceremony in London, will visit Colorado, the fastest-growing cleantech ecosystem in the U.S, to showcase their innovations and explore business opportunities associated with tackling climate change.
The week-long Clean and Cool Mission to Colorado, organized by the UK’s innovation agency, The Technology Strategy Board, together with The Long Run Venture and UK Trade and Investment, will see the sixteen UK cleantech companies learn from key leaders in the field. They will also network with potential investors in Boulder, Denver and Fort Collins as well as participate in the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) Industry Growth Forum, the premier clean energy investment event in the U.S.
As the number one U.S market for renewable energy and second best state for entrepreneurship and innovation, the Mission to Colorado will let participants learn first-hand how to accelerate their business in the important U.S market.
Among the delegation are companies whose innovations address some of the most pressing climate challenges in the country and worldwide, including increasing transport pollution, improving energy efficiency in residential homes and easing reliance on peak grid supply.
“The U.S has one of the most innovative and dynamic cleantech ecosystems,” said David Bott, Director of Innovation Programmes at the Technology Strategy Board. “The Mission will provide the participants with the opportunity to establish partnerships, secure investment and help launch their business to a large, continually expanding and thriving technology market.”
Simon Carter, Deputy Director, Head of Renewable Energy at UKTI, explained, “We are delighted to sponsor the Clean and Cool Mission to Colorado and support UK innovation internationally. Colorado is a fast and reliable gateway to the U.S and to global markets and the Mission will allow the firms to learn how to turn their innovations into tangible business opportunities.”
Taking place from November 30 to Dec 6, the 16 companies will have an opportunity to extend their international operations in sectors ranging from solar and wind, smart grids, energy storage, system integration, to smart buildings and transport.
The companies earned their place on the Clean and Cool Mission 2013 by demonstrating the potential of their technologies to the Technology Strategy Board, the UK’s innovation agency. The first two here, Wind Power Performance and Magnifye will be of most interest to the wind industry.
The U.S. has a target of 20% renewable energy by 2020, and this target has been behind the development of a new grid-scale energy storage battery from Wind Power Performance that promises to lower energy storage costs globally. The rechargeable Bi-Metal battery has been designed by Wind Power Performance to help:
• Prevent grid curtailment
• Defer infrastructure costs
• Balance energy generation, supply and demand
• Hit efficiencies over 80%
• Deliver 1 to 100 MWh energy over 4 to 6 hours
The low cost battery is based on proven chemistries and architectures used daily in the metal-refining industry, so the battery configuration is already at grid-scale. Existing battery systems competing for the grid scale storage space all have limitations such as low cycle/lifetime, high operating temperatures and/or energetic couples requiring expensive materials, aggressive chemistries and complex designs, and costs are significantly higher. The inherent robustness, longevity and maintainability of the Wind Power Performance battery give it significant competitive advantages, which include a predicted 30 year life.
Looking to expand in the US, where the renewable energy program is rapidly expanding and looking for solutions that can support its own renewable energy targets, Wind Power Performance want to scale up awareness of its technology on the Mission.
- Magnifye superconducting permanent magnets can be used to improve the efficiency of any electrical machine. Ten-times stronger than conventional magnets, they are small enough to fit into the palm of the hand and large enough to power a train or a cruise liner. With almost limitless applications, Magnifye could transform the way the world powers electrical machines.
- Agility Global has blended Formula 1 and aerospace design with advanced engineering and electric technology to manufacture the world’s first high-performance, clean tech motorcycle. Saietta, is a premium, electric urban sports motorcycle that more than lives up to its name. Strikingly designed, fast and powerful, it is also clean and green.
- Alquist has pioneered an award-winning Data Center temperature management system, targeted to become the new world standard for a $17 billion industry segment growing at 28% per annum. Alquist’s monitoring system lets Data Center operators manage risk and reduce energy spend, resulting in reduced carbon emissions.
- Arcola Energy is a developer, manufacturer and retailer of fuel cell-based low carbon energy solutions, converting chemical energy from a fuel, such as hydrogen, into electricity. Ultimately, this makes electricity more accessible and cost-effective for consumers and businesses. Arcola’s technology can be used in the home and within the construction, entertainment, education and automotive industries.
To support the continued roll-out of smart grids throughout the U.S., Each For All Productions has developed the Merismus micro-grid which is plugged into a smart meter to automatically manage grid and microgeneration energy usage to lower energy bills through very little effort.
Energy created through the roof which could eliminate heating, cooling and hot water bills is the aim of a new product from Flint Engineering which blends a photovoltaic and solar thermal collector in a roofing/cladding material for use on new and refitted domestic and commercial buildings.
The energy output of the sun is about 386 billion megawatts, presenting a free and inexhaustible power source that can be captured and converted into electricity. Fullsun Photovoltaics is doing exactly that by using High Concentrated Photovoltaic (HCPV) technology in a lightweight solar module designed for utility and commercial/industrial rooftop markets.
Current technology is incapable of realistically meeting future demand for sustainable aviation biofuels. The mission of Green Fuels Research, a new venture building on 10 years’ CleanTech heritage, is to develop enabling technologies at every step in the value chain from primary producer to airplane
In the US, a massive $7.4 billion is spent on cooling datacentres annually. Iceotope supports these applications by providing massive processing power, memory, and storage in an integrated computing system cooled with liquid, which saves energy and lowers costs.
Moixa Technology plans to put millions of smart batteries into customer premises to reduce peak period demand on the grid and improve the energy efficiency of essential direct current devices such as lights and mobile phones. Use of Moixa’s technology helps to significantly reduce bills and improves energy security by enabling the storage of energy at off-peak times.
PJH Partnership has developed an innovative and domestically applicable solar power storage unit. The system is targeted to address grid-scale storage and balancing needs resulting from the continual growth of electricity generation from domestic houses.
Renovagen has developed a transportable solar power solution that is capable of generating ten times more power than existing technologies. Designed for temporary or semi-permanent use in remote off-grid locations where self-sufficient power generation is essential.
Considerable energy savings in both domestic and commercial environments can be realised by using high power heat batteries. Sunamp has developed a Heat Battery that is super-compact but can store heat from conventional and non-conventional heat pumps and boilers, delivering it quickly and with maximum energy efficiency as needed.
Through innovation and ingenuity Straw Fuels has created a range of eco-friendly fire logs. Made from straw, the logs are clean, easy to use and produce much lower levels of smoke than traditional wood.
Public vehicles, particularly buses, have a reputation for polluting roads, but a new hybrid-electric system from Vantage Power has been designed to help the bus industry to meet the increasing demands for lower emissions, improve air quality, and cut fuel consumption simultaneously, without the need for investing in new hybrid buses.
Cleand and Cool Mission
www.cleanandcoolmission.com
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