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I agree Bioenergy a newly established company which seems to specialise in drying and thermal treatment systems like pyrolysis/torrefaction which are worlds apart compared to producing Coalswitch.

Carefully reading yesterdays RNS with Rowan announcing he's walking away leaving $2.5 million of specially designed equipment at PDI's facility because it's not essential for future Coalswitch production is starting to again sound like another complete change in direction for the Rowan master plan.

The supposedly highly valued AEG patents are based around using a steam explosion technique which requires highly pressurised reactors and have taken AEG years to perfect and millions in research and development.

Now we are being asked to believe Rowan is just going to discards this highly specialised equipment so he can slip away and play with a torrefaction process and shareholders are not going to spot what Guvnor refers to as yet another's Magicians sleight of hand trick.

No steam explosion means the current AEG patents are irrelevant and both the torrefaction/pyrolysis processing methods are older than the Romans so offer no protection.

You therefore must ask why is Rowan leaving that valuable equipment with what is now a potential competitor.

Has anyone taken any time to study who Omega Thermal Solutions are and what expertise/funding they bring to the table.

Now AEG has lost it's technology partner and manufacturer for their Coalswitch product its going to be crucial they find a replacement manufacturing method asap.

Good afternoon Seattle.

That's a very interesting appraisal but there are several important questions needing to be asked before the Board can start doing high fives because they've finally found themselves in a lawsuit which their lawyers think they might finally be able to win.

Firstly why did Rowan stupidly make payments of $1.4 million to PDI when the agreement announced at the 2022 AGM was for PDI to build the full plant at their own cost and AEG having an exclusive agreement to buy the Coalswitch produced at a wholesale price for retailing to it's customers.

Secondly if this is such an easy slam dunk case for Rowan to win what assets can be seized to secure the return of the $1.4 million paid along with compensation for contract breech and how does this help suffering AEG shareholders who still have no product to sell. A simple Google search of PDI's facility reveals a remote location which won't command a high price on the real estate market and that's only if it's owned with no debts registered against it. Then there's what's in the bank account but please remember Rowan failed to pay PDI $700k for worked carried out at Lumberton and they we're forced to take shares which are now worth a fraction at today's value. Finally there's the potential income from existing ongoing engineering contracts but these will quickly get absorbed into other companies as the legal mudslinging starts to hit the courts.

Thirdly why have AEG shareholders again been placed in another terrible position with no product to sell and no means to produce it. Rowan's previous excuses have blamed Spinks, Scalzo, Esposito, Winyah River Alliance and even the North Carolina Government but still salaries are being paid for total failure and just crazy excuses.

We are constantly reminded by Rowan just how much the demand for a Coalswitch type product is needed in the market and more companies are joining the race to provide this service so it can't be the products fault.

Seeing how PDI were the first to instigated legal action against AEG once again doesn't give me confidence Rowan is honestly spinning this new saga correctly to his shareholders and the fact PDI are going alone with their own steam exploded black pellet only adds further doubts the patents are also just a sham.

Seeing how the significant shareholders register on the AEG website was updated on the 12th February 2024 (so must be correct) surely there must be enough appetite to call an EGM to hold the Board to account. I'm also closely watching how AEG intends to release the £2 million plus in shares it has sitting in the Alpha Prospect investment account so would another interesting question at the EGM.

Oh dear oh dear Janoz has someone been out for a good old Friday liquid lunch and is now full of Dutch courage and wanting to start a fight because the drunken demon voices in your head are starting to make sense and you're realising Rowan has taken you like many others for complete mugs.

10 million for some process patents which have never produced more than a few tons of CoalSwitch product in 7 years sounds very reasonably priced.

Why don't you reach out to Dave on his Twitter account. I'm sure he'll be very welcoming and amused at your expertly calculated valuation.

Janos if you do a simple Google search you will find Enviva, the company where the senior management worked, is also on the verge of collapse. Unfortunately these candidates failed to do background checks into Rowan's project delivery history before leaving so literally jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire which won't be using Coalswitch as it's fuel.

As for the patents Tyler Player has already announced his company will be using a different process to produce their steam exploded black pellet so believe they can avoid the tight protection Rowan has constantly promoted as giving AEG's shareholders security from copycats. Looking at these patents it clearly reads they are for the process and not the finished product so I'm sure legal brains will happily be arguing over their wordings until the very last penny in the bank account is spent

That's a very good point Bioenergy but wasn't this because AEG failed to obtain the correct permits even though they'd RNS all permits were in place before purchasing the complex.

Every shareholder should also remember in 2018 before relocating to Lumberton Rowan announced the plant in Salt Lake City was also fully commissioned and producing Coalswitch only for this to be proved completely untrue when he mistakenly let slip at the 2022 AGM the plant had never correctly performed.

There's a long history of Rowan and his Board allowing what can only be described as misinformation being released. If there can be just a little light at the end of this very dark tunnel for all shareholders hopefully it will be the regulators finally bring his travelling circus to account and prevent him repeating his act on other naive investors.

Thanks seattle the exit amount did seem to fit in with the breakdown in understandings between Rowan's and Tyler's relationship but this will still need addressing to alleviate any further erosion of confidence amongst other shareholders.

Its a big surprise to see John Celaschi reducing his exposer considering he's been a very big supporter of Rowan for many years and he certainly has a following of investors who like to duplicate the investments he makes.

Looking on the AEG website it still looks like he's holding onto just over 6 million shares so hopefully Rowan will man up and not allow this relationship to disintegrate into the gutter like what happened with the Grand Chief Ron Derrickson. I'm sure the chances of Rowan bumping into an angry Celaschi in the plush city wine bars he likes to vacate is a far greater risk than meeting the Indian Chief dancing around his camp fire in a distant Alberta Canada.

Hi Seattle. Is this just pure speculation because Tyler holds a similar amount of shares to the 10 million which exchanged hands on Monday morning at 2p?

There are several significant shareholders holding more than this and I remember just a few years back Gravendonck suddenly off loading a large amount in one trade way below market value which also caused a price collapse.

I was expecting an RNS this morning confirming and obviously if it is Tyler walking away the implications are far more serious than another shareholders releasing funds perhaps for Christmas.

AEG's RNS on Monday was certainly worded showing Rowan's disapproval to having his weekend disrupted by Tyler's unexpected chat with the Biomass Magazine.

@DaveGuv Twitter has again shared some very concerning information into the timeline on how and when did AEG discover Player Design (their technology delivery partner) had suffered yet another set-back commissioning their Coalswitch plant. Yesterday AEG stated in their RNS they were only informed over the weekend of the latest delay but it now seems Tyler Player the owner of Player Design and also a significant shareholder in AEG thought it would be a great idea to notify the market much earlier via an interview which was published last week in the specialist Biomass Magazine https://biomassmagazine.com/articles/success-by-design. In the article it states

"Many of the well-known and respected companies in the wood pellet industry have built their businesses on trust, solid work and a good reputation. That fits the bill for Player Design, which has underscored these traits over the past 15-plus years"

The article then explains the many successful projects Tyler has delivered so we must conclude he is not a stupid man and he would have been very aware of the strict reporting rules behind the release of sensitive price information. So you must ask what was his motivation to take such an unusual and potentially dangerous root because not only was this going to have a substantial impact on his own personal holdings in AEG but by not notifying them and getting approval for publishing this article would probably break legal contracts and also destroy the relationship trust and reputation which he professes to be so very important and taken over 15 years to build in the wood pellet industry.

If this story is to be believed like the way Rowan is trying to spin it, it would again seem he's suffered yet another unfortunate relationship break up with his beloved technology partner like the many others shareholders have endured during his 7 year reign on the AEG Board. I however have a very strange feeling there's much more to this storey and just like we are seeing with the UK Covid enquiry as more information becomes known the players will always start throwing each other under the bus.

I can't say todays news has come as any real shock. The lack of positive updates or progress photos on AEG's twitter feed were always a signal proceeding again were not going to Rowan's master plan but perhaps Zak7795 is on to something and could be right. Even the most stupid village idiot wouldn't have waited to near the final hour pretending everything to be OK only to find out over the weekend the plant is still months away from being completed.

On @DaveGuv's Twitter feed he has been asking some very simple but important questions which could easily be answered if Rowan's true intention were to deliver this project in the time frames as published to shareholders in numerous RNS but all have remained unanswered.

The mismanagement from a person who promotes himself as a qualified lawyer, investment manager and corporate financer is quite staggering unless you look at it from a different angle and perhaps this is now being set up to fail. DaveGuv has already exposed Rowan as being very loose with the truth during the 2022 AGM when Rowan confirmed the plant had never properly run even though it totally contradicted what he had published in an earlier Final End of Year Results Chairman's Statement therefore seriously breaking AIM rules

Today DaveGuv has also highlighted AEG owning over 20 million shares in Alpha Prospects which during a very recent cash raise at 10p would mean AEG's holding to be worth over 2 million UK pounds. https://www.alpha-prospects.com/shareholder-information

I think all shareholders should keep a very close eye on this investment because AEG will probably be needing new funding very soon and releasing this would be the best way to stop any further debt equity type schemes Rowan prefers to use at shareholders pain and expense.

Looks like Rowan's master plan is once again working as scheduled. I was hoping today's news would have been an announcement Player Design had on their 3rd attempt finally successfully

commissioned a running Coalswitch plant but we still have the whole of November to live in hope.

Not a good sign when you announce the appointment of new management expertise only to see the share price drop to near all time lows but ex team Enviva are amassing numbers which might see some interesting unexpected changes very soon.

Thanks BioEnergy so when you read the RNS Rowan made on the 24th May 2023 it clearly states they've got the full go ahead to commence fuel production which is very different to not yet having a licence to operate.

Michael Rowan, CEO of Active Energy, commented:

"We are delighted that PDI has received the Permit which will allow them to commence production of our next generation biomass fuel, CoalSwitch®. Active Energy has continued to raise the profile of CoalSwitch® with potential customers, both in the US and internationally, and will be sending product to these customers immediately after first production. We look forward to working closely with PDI towards production and we would also like to thank the State of Maine for their ongoing support throughout this process."

Seeing how Player Design are now fully responsible for covering the costs of building/commissioning the plant I do wonder if Tyler would want to deploy vital capital into this project until more guarantees are given by the Maine's Environmental air licensing dept hence the delays receiving key components.

The contents of the 24th May RNS caused the shareprice to rally over 50% so I would expect because of AEG's track record the NOMAD carried out the correct checks to validate it claims before such price sensitive information was released and to prevent those who once again bought into the hype from feeling cheated.

BioEnergy thanks for sharing your concern regarding the permits.

Are you simply counting forward 6 months from the 24th May 2023 RNS or do you have additional information into the permits special conditions.

On DaveGuv's Twitter he's been asking AEG to share a link on the Maine Government website to examine the terms but it seems they're reluctant to respond.

Since this being highlighted I've also tried to track them down but can't locate anything which resembles permission for Player Design to operate a Coalswitch plant which is very strange seeing there are plenty of applications for their other business activities.

After witnessing the confusion around the Lumberton saga I would have expected Rowan might try to be a little more transparent.

Just as we're getting near the AGM good old Aladdinsane returns accusing anyone who dares question Rowan's failing plan as being Dave.

You state you will again be attending this years AGM as usual but last year confessed you missed the AGM and had to rely on secondhand information as to the events.

This clearly shows your plans are as much in a muddle as Rowan's or were you to scared to go into the big boys room preferring to hide outside in fear Dave might take a negative view to the allegations you've made against him.

Come-on man up, stop hidding behind your pseudonym name and get yourself in the AGM so you can debate Dave. If you'd been at last year's AGM you would have heard all the Board except his Coalswitch knowledge is extensive and the only reason this product sits in AEG is because of the deal he cleverly brokered.

Thanks Ollie. I expect reasonable care would include making sure information released in AEG's audited accounts to also be completely correct.

Below is a copy paste from the RNS Rowan made just ahead of the 2018 AGM which also included AEG's Final audited Results for Year End 2017.

19 June 2018 Active Energy Group Plc ('Active Energy', 'AEG', the 'Company' or the 'Group') Final Results for the Year Ended 31 December 2017

Michael Rowan Executive Chairman

18 June 2018

The Board's main focus during the year was to commercialise the CoalSwitch™ process, following the successful testing at the initial demonstration plant in Salt Lake City during 2016. I am delighted to report that this was achieved post year end, with the opening of our inaugural five-tonne-per-hour CoalSwitch™ plant in Utah, and significant progress has been made in relation to our roll out and expansion of commercial activities during H1 2018.

I've also looked back on the Investor Meet Company website to find the live broadcast of last year AGM and found the archive of the event. Strangely it states the original recording was 57 minutes long but its now edited down to just 36 minutes and surprisingly Rowan's answer to why he moved from Salt Lake Utah to Lumberton NC and the plant never actually producing Coalswitch has been removed.

Hopefully someone may have a recording of the missing 11 minutes and could either share a transcript or link for us to again listen to the exact wording. Perhaps the current AEG Board might also consider sharing the full recording on their AEG Twitter account. I sure it would be seen as positive transparent PR and eliminate any negative conspiracy theories developing ahead of the next AGM.

Kiwitwo I understand your pain and if like myself along with many others you bought shares back in 2018, which in today's money would need the shareprice to hit around 130p to break even because of the 35 to 1 share swap, an opportunity may have unexpectedly presented itself at last year's AGM because of new information Rowan shared.

In 2018 several RNS announcements were made including one at the AGM by the then AEG Board explaining the Coalswitch plant based in Utah had been successfully commissioned and was producing product into the market. This news obviously clearly helped promote the shareprice and because of the sensitivity such information would have needed to be completely checked to be correct before allowing to be released.

Many investors like myself took this as another important milestone in the proof of concept and made investments.

However fast forwarding to last year's AGM and after 4 years of turmoil for investors Rowan was questioned to why he had decided to jump from Utah where the plant was producing product and locate to Lumberton where since output had been zero. His response unbelievably was the plant had never ever actually properly run.

This therefore totally contradicts what was announced in those earlier RNS's because being fully commissioned is the complete opposite to not actually ever properly running so could possibly be viewed as providing misinformation into the market.

Hopefully there may be some readers on here who have a good understanding of LSE rules and advise of the possible consequences should PLC listed companies break these. Also can PLC directors be held personally accountable just like regular limited company directors for misrepresentation.

With the next AGM due to be announced very soon this may be a good time to open discussions.

Guvnor is posting on his @DaveGuv twitter feed more information about Rowan's incredible and costly management methods.
This time he's sharing information and asking questions into why Rowan has decided to hit Phil Scalzo AEG's ex lead design engineer and Coalswitch inventor with a new Utah court lawsuit.
Allegations seem to stem around infringment of copyrights also naming Coalternative PWC. This will offer a thorough test proving how much protection the portfolio of patents and trademarks Rowan proudly parades as his baby and are vital for a great future for AEG's suffering shareholders.
I would hope this may be a lawsuit which our acclaimed qualified lawyer and CEO may win but I've learned with Rowan to never hold my breath.

Well in today's business update RNS Rowan states what Tyler Player claimed in his mainebiz interview is totally wrong and the plant will in fact be operational in Q2 rather than late Q3 to early Q4 as explained by Tyler only 2 weeks ago. However although conversations to finalise the permits to run the plant are still on going with the State of Maine government don't worry because AEG is now going to sell another one of PDI's products to help overcome the possible cashflow shortfalls which could arise during another long drawn out permitting process. Is this just another repeat of what happened in Lumberton NC in 2020 but the story that time was saw-log exports to South East Asia to support the business while permits were coming and please remember how did that finally work out?

On Maineflame website it states " MaineFlame is your clean-burning, eco-friendly, Mainer made alternative when it comes to firelogs. For burly outdoorspeople, newbie campers, friends gathering around a fire pit or lazying up by the woodstove, we make it easy to get your fire started and keep it going strong."

Well at least its nice to know we can all meet up around a good old camp fire to re-enact the more shocking Brokeback mountain cowboy scenes while Rowan and his band of merry-men once again give their shareholders a jolly good financial rogering. I bet the NOMAD wished he could have released this RNS tomorrow on April Fools day so to help deflect embarrassing attention away from his questionable lack of due diligence.

The storey Rowan has been spinning to the market and his investors is once again very different to what is actually happening in the real world.
After guaranteeing at the AGM mistakes made at Lumberton would never be repeated at Ashland, once again issues around permitting are raising their ugly head.
In this very recent interview between Tyler Player and Mainebiz surprisingly it seems Rowan's target for commissioning the plant in early Q2 is far from the truth and permits to even start the build are still to be granted.

https://www.mainebiz.biz/article/ashland-log-maker-plans-7m-expansion-to-produce-heating-pellets

With Rowan in charge the chance of receiving a dividend is as remote as him ever securing the elusive operating permit at Lumberton.

Good to see expertise joining in the form of the new COO but I do wonder how long it will be before Steve also wakes up and heads for the door like Andrew Diamond, Antonio Esposito, Phil Scalzo along with Sandy Munro???