First published on the Cleantech Investor website July 2011
The Energy Efficiency & Infrastructure sector dominated this year's Tech Tour Cleantech Summit. Tech Tour’s hand-picked selection of the 25 most promising European Cleantech companies presented to the investment community over two very busy days in Geneva on July 6 and 7. This biannual event is among Europe’s finest Cleantech events of this kind, with the organisers taking a proactive role in promoting networking which extended to the Gala Dinner aboard a Lac Leman cruiser.
The selected companies represented all the foremost cleantech categories, including energy generation (eg Sweden’s Cortus AB), energy efficiency and infrastructure (eg UK’s KiWi Power), materials (eg Germany’s AZZURRO Semiconductors AG), energy storage (Highview Power, UK), clean transportation (eg CPM Compact Power Motors, Germany), and water and waste water (Ireland’s SCFI).
The Keynote speech was delivered by Sir David King, Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and Business, Oxford (formerly the chief scientific advisor to the UK Government). In his speech, “ Energy, the Environment and Fukushima”, Sir David reiterated his faith in nuclear energy, citing the fact that the 16 reactors on the Fukushima site shut down within two minutes of the powerful earthquake, and had the subsequent 16m high tsunami not overwhelmed the 5.6m high defences, there would have been no crisis. A key point of his speech was that by focussing on carbon reduction, Europe can create a new growth path, generating prosperity and employment as more people are recruited into the new energy sector. Lean, green manufacturing will revive Europe’s economy and rebuild the link between science and manufacturing (although governments must get their policies right, he added).
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First published in Cleantech magazine 2011 Issue 3. Copyright Cleantech Investor Ltd
By Arthur Girling
One winner at the 2012 London Olympics may be sustainable building. But does London have a 'cluster' of companies working in this field? This was the focus of debate at the first Cleantech Cluster event, on 16 February 2011. The event was hoted by BDO and organised by Cleantech Investor and Rushlight Events.
A cluster was defined as a grouping of experts and companies sharing knowledge and promoting innovation, creating an ecosystem of companies where new start-ups can thrive. Ian Klesmer of the London Hydrogen Partnership said that London is well placed to host a 'cleantech cluster'. The scale of building projects for the Olympic Games in 2012 provides a driver for innovation, according to Gia Kroeff of building contractors, Bovis Lendlease. This may have additional benefits: "For us, developing standards with industry and suppliers and knowledge sharing are important parts of our work," she said. Niall McNevin, from the Olympic Park Legacy Committee, cited several projects bringing together diverse sustainability expertise, including a woodchip combined cooling and heating (CCHP) plant and a black water system reusing wastewater for irrigation.
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First published in Cleantech magazine 2011 Issue 3. Copyright Cleantech Investor Ltd
By Denis Gross
The recent Cleantech Cluster event, hosted by Burges Salmon in Bristol, focused on many of the aspects of Bristol and the South West that make the region a hot spot for cleantech. The panel, which was moderated by Anne McIvor of Cleantech Investor, comprised:
Alan Bailey: Chairman, Low Carbon South West
Denis Burn: Chair of the University of Bristol Council
Mark Preston: Principal, WHEB Partners
Nick Sturge: Centre Director, SETSquared
Philip Tellwright: Managing Director, SWAIN (South West Angel and Investor Network.
In response to the question “what is the cleantech edge” in the region, Alan Bailey, Chairman of Low Carbon South West, said that low carbon was a theme cutting across all activities, rather than being a separate sector in itself. With around 2,000 members in the region, Low Carbon South West is arguably the largest cleantech trade association in the UK, and exactly the sort of sector specialist body that Bailey believes will be vital in the era of public spending reductions. After further pressing, he pointed to waste to energy emerging as a major sector.
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Event Reviews
The Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW) 2011 concluded end 2011 with more than 20,000 participants from over 60 countries taking advantage of the valuable exchange of best practices and networking opportunities available at the many events taking place during the week. Among the lineup were three new partner events: The PV Asia Pacific Expo, notably the largest solar show outside of China; Asia Smart Grid; and energy trading event EMART Asia.
The Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW) 2011 at the end of 2011 saw more than 21,000 delegates from over 60 countries converging to take advantage of the bountiful business development and networking opportunities available, and provided the platform for Singapore to bolster its strong position in the regional cleantech industry. The success of this broad range of B2B events and networking functions - more than seven major conferences and exhibitions across the entire energy spectrum from oil & gas to clean energy, smart grids and energy trading - points to the growing importance of SIEW in the global energy calendar.
