Scottish technology developer Artemis Intelligent Power, based in Edinburgh has been named overall winner of this year's Carbon Trust Innovation Awards by an independent panel of renowned clean technology-experts.
The judges rigorously assessed each application against a range of strict criteria including genuine innovation, carbon saving potential, novel application and commercial potential.
Artemis Intelligent Power has developed ground breaking technology with multiple applications, and has made good progress in turning a vision into a commercial reality.
The company has developed the world's most efficient and controllable hydraulic machines, that can be integrated into many structures ranging from wind turbines through to cars, leading to substantial cuts in carbon emissions and helping to tackle climate change.
The company was spun out of the University of Edinburgh in 1994 and has grown steadily through its long term development projects with market-leading industrial partners.
As well as being named overall 'Innovator of the Year' Artemis Intelligent Power, won the 'Power' award category. This was in recognition of its technology's potential to produce lightweight, robust power transfer systems which make wind turbines cheaper to build and maintain.
Artemis' technology allows reduction in weight and simplification of power electronics, resulting in lower costs than the current technology.
Commenting on this year's Awards, Tom Delay, Chief Executive, the Carbon Trust said: "As the UK looks to develop new low carbon solutions to tackle climate change, the breadth and depth of innovation here is deeply encouraging.
“Whilst many of the technologies that we looked at are still in their infancy, others already demonstrate strong commercial potential.
“This clearly shows not only the UK's capacity for scientific discovery and bright ideas, but also the fantastic opportunity that we have to make the clean tech sector a thriving part of the British economy."
The awards were judged by a panel of experts including David MacKay, Chief Scientific Advisor of the Department of Energy and Climate Change; Tim Smit, co-founder and Chief Executive of the Eden Project; Damian Carrington, Head of Environment at the Guardian; Chris Mottershead, Vice Principal of Research and Innovations at Kings College London; Dick Strawbridge, 'eco king'; Jeremy Webb, Editor of The New Scientist; and Tom Delay, Chief Executive of the Carbon Trust.
Dick Strawbridge, Eco-King commented, "Engineering and innovation are passions of mine, but reading through the submissions was a humbling experience.
“One of the special things about these awards is that you get to see how British companies, institutions and individuals are pushing technology to its limits to try and reduce our impact on the planet whilst allowing us to maintain our privileged lifestyle.
“The entries were extremely high quality, and inspiring, so it would be great to see them all succeeding in the global market place."
This year's nationwide hunt attracted submissions from nearly 250 of the UK's most inspiring innovators in the development, deployment and use of low carbon technology solutions, across a range of areas from power generation to buildings to transport.
The full roll call of winners includes: TMO Renewables for the Transport award, CamSemi for the Buildings award and Oxsensis for the Industry award. For the innovative deployment of low carbon technologies, The Commercial Group was named private sector winner and Oxford City Council the public sector winner.
Full details on all of the winners and finalists in each category:
Power
As well as being named overall 'Innovator of the Year' Artemis Intelligent Power won the 'Power' award category. This was in recognition of its technology's potential to produce lightweight, robust power take-off systems (the device that transfers power from an engine to a generator), which will make wind turbines cheaper to build and maintain. Costs will be reduced due to lower weight in the nacelle and simplification of power electronics, resulting in lower operating and maintenance costs than the current alternatives available.
Hot on the heels of Artemis Intelligent Power were finalists Cheshire based Acal Energy Ltd, and Stirling based Cascade Technologies. Acal Energy is a fuel cell developer whose innovative technology generates significant amounts of power, whilst dramatically cutting the cost of fuel cells by substantially reducing the need for expensive platinum catalyst. These systems could replace combustion engines and drive combined heat and power (CHP) units.
Cascade Technologies has developed a laser-based technology that enables fast and accurate measurement of gas compositions.
There are numerous potential carbon saving applications of the technology: one of the most exciting will be to monitor the performance of power stations fitted with carbon capture technology. It can do this by providing real-time measurements of the composition of emissions, before and after they have been 'cleaned' using carbon capture technology.
Cascade's technology can also be deployed in the maritime sector where, for the first time, it will possible to analyse the ship's exhaust and use feedback from this to optimise the fuel/air mix and hence ensure that a ship's engine is combusting fuel as efficiently as possible.
Transport
Winner of this year's 'Transport' award was cutting-edge, Guildford based biofuels company TMO renewables, which uses the bacteria found in compost heaps to make sustainable ethanol-based fuel from municipal waste and food by-products such as distillers' spent grain.
Detailed research into the best bacteria has enabled TMO to identify a particularly voracious organism that will work at high temperatures to convert tougher, woodier waste products into fuel. This fuel can be blended with gasoline to significantly reduce carbon emissions from vehicles.
In the 'Transport' category, Artemis Intelligent Power was again shortlisted for its pioneering hydraulic hybrid technology.
In the transport sector, Artemis Intelligent Power's technology has also been demonstrated in an existing hybrid passenger car where its small, compact and reliable format has been successfully tested by BMW.
It removes the need for a battery and electric motor, as power is stored by a hydraulic system which makes the engine more efficient and able to harness energy usually lost, through a 'regenerative' braking system.
Williams Hybrid Power Ltd was highly commended for its flywheel technology that builds on its Formula One experience.
Also highly commended was Ma Innovation Ltd, whose Supercharger Air Hybrid Vehicle reduces fuel consumption through a combination of a fuel efficient diesel engine and "regenerative" braking.
Buildings
The finalists in this year's 'Buildings' category demonstrated the wide range of ways in which technology can help to reduce emissions from buildings. From construction materials and insulation, through to lighting and technology to reduce the energy consumed within buildings, the competition was fierce.
This year's winner was Cambridge University spin-out CamSemi, whose technology is helping to manage rapidly growing electricity demand within buildings, caused by IT equipment, photocopiers, video equipment, phone systems and mobile phones.
In response to a challenge from mobile phone manufacturers to reduce emissions associated with plugging in mobile phone chargers, Camsemi has succeeded in developing technology that not only cuts stand-by energy consumption by up to 90%, but makes chargers simpler and cheaper to produce.
Finalist Luminanz's LED lighting solutions can be used in a wide range of situations from ambient lighting through to signage. Novacem, another finalist, has set itself the ambitious goal of turning cement from a source of carbon emissions into a material that is a net absorber of carbon dioxide.
Bolton-based finalist Web Dynamics has created an insulating membrane, described as a 'space blanket for buildings' that controls the movement of water vapour and air, enabling the building to 'breathe' whilst also being comfortable and energy efficient.
Industry
This year's 'Industry' category recognises solutions which can be used to reduce carbon emissions across a wide range of industrial uses.
The winner was Oxfordshire based Oxsensis, which has developed the world's highest temperature sensors. The sensors can be used in gas turbines, for example in planes or power stations, and are capable of measuring heat and pressure in the harshest conditions where temperatures can reach nearly 1500°C - hundreds of degrees hotter than traditional sensors can stand.
With more accurate readings comes the possibility of running turbines at higher combustion temperatures, thereby increasing efficiency and reducing carbon emissions.
Finalists in the industry category were London based smart grid technology developer RLtec and Cheltenham based Spirax Sarco. RLtec's "dynamic demand" software system can be incorporated into electrical devices, enabling them to adjust their energy consumption and reduce demand on the electricity grid at times of peak demand. Spirax Sarco has developed a closed steam system that enables energy to be recovered and 'recycled' into boilers, the first of its kind.
Two further companies were recognised as highly commended: Mootral, developed in Wales is a revolutionary product that helps reduce carbon emissions emanating from ruminants such as cows (i.e. methane from flatulence and belching). Enerfast's ThermoNut is the first product that measures the tension in bolted joints at the high temperatures which are commonly found in chemical plants and refineries. This simple test allows monitoring of joints in situations where loosening of bolts can result in greenhouse gases and other chemicals leaking into the atmosphere.
Innovation in deploying clean technologies The awards also recognised stellar examples of UK organisations that are deploying new technologies to reduce their own carbon emissions. In the private sector the winner of this category was the Commercial Group. The public sector winner was Oxford City Council.
Commercial Group is a fast growing office services company, based in Cheltenham which has dramatically reduced its carbon footprint by revolutionising its fleet of vehicles, which underpin hundreds of deliveries each day.
Using a sustainable biodiesel fuel to reduce emissions, it has developed a smart communication system which enables each vehicle to communicate to the pump the exact mix of fuel required. In addition, Commercial Group has introduced a "Dynamic Routing System" which analyses key information, ranging from vehicle capacity and planned road works to customer delivery requirements, to ensure its fleet is used as effectively - and carbon efficiently - as possible.
Fleet efficiency and industry leadership was demonstrated by private sector finalist TJX Europe, which has worked with logistics partner DHL to transform its supply chain.
The retailer, headquartered in Watford and the parent company of TK Maxx, has cut its carbon footprint through a number of initiatives including the introduction of electric and hybrid vehicles; use of more aerodynamic, lighter weight delivery trailers; application of telematics to assess driver performance; limiting of truck speeds to improve fuel consumption; and undertaking route planning to reduce 'empty running'.
It is also contributing its experience to other retailers and even partnering to share delivery routes eliminating the need for multiple parallel trips to the same location.
In the public sector, Oxford City Council was selected as the overall category winner, for an ambitious carbon management programme called "Getting our House in Order".
Spanning energy efficiency measures across its estate and plans to site up to three wind turbines on council owned land that will generate renewable energy, the Council has a target of cutting carbon emissions by a quarter by 2011 and by 3% year-on-year afterwards.
The public sector finalist this year was The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, which has created an "eco-building" at its main site.
The School recognised early in its design studies that over-heating could be a major issue in the building and addressed this by introducing a low-energy cooling system that taps into local ground water and further reduces its environmental impact.
They also used a novel combination of solar panels and shading to help with heat management, whilst also generating electricity.
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