ACTA.L Regulatory News (ACTA)

24 May 2006 10:34

Acta S.p.A.24 May 2006 24 May 2006 Acta's green ethanol fuel cell wins academic acclaim Acta, the fuel cell technology enabler which listed on London's AlternativeInvestment Market last year, is pleased to announce that two external academiccentres have independently demonstrated that Acta's HYPERMEC catalyst breaks thestrong double carbon bond in ethanol; a unique achievement. This confirms thatethanol is now the ideal fuel for use in fuel cells. The full breakdown, or conversion, of ethanol ensures excellent power output andhigh efficiency from an ethanol powered fuel cell. Previous attempts by theindustry to use ethanol as a fuel, even using expensive platinum catalysts, hadfailed to demonstrate that the catalyst could break the double carbon bond inthe ethanol molecule - thereby restricting the efficiency to one third of theavailable energy in the fuel. Acta therefore invited the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and the CNRInstitute at Florence to study Acta's catalyst and to show that full conversionwas taking place. Both Universities took different approaches to the study andindependently confirmed the breaking of the double carbon bond and the completeconversion of the ethanol to water and carbon dioxide. Unlike existing fuel celltechnologies, this carbon dioxide is not a greenhouse emission as it comes frombio-mass and not from a fossil fuel. These studies will be the subject ofacademic papers and presentations later in the year. These studies represent third party confirmation that HYPERMEC can deliver aunique catalytic performance in the challenging conditions of a roomtemperature, self-breathing fuel cell. Ethanol fuel cells are ideally suited forthe portable electronics industry and remove many of the major barriers to masscommercialisation. Paolo Bert, Chief Executive, said "We were pleased to have our own researchverified by these two important academic institutions. As expected, we haveconfirmed that HYPERMEC can enable for the first time the use of safe andpractical ethanol to make fuel cells easier to distribute and use in the globalconsumer market." Contact: Acta S.p.A:Toby Woolrych Tel: 020 7067 0700 Weber Shandwick Square Mile:Kirsty Raper / Nick Dibden Tel: 020 7067 0700 Notes to editors: The Fuel Cell Industry Fuel CellsFuel cells are electrochemical devices which generate electricity from a fuel (typically hydrogen or methanol in the past) and air producing just water and sometimes carbon dioxide as exhaust. Fuel cells can be used to replace power supplies for portable electronic devices as well as the internal combustion engine and power generators for domestic use. They are widely seen as a solution to the power inefficiency of batteries, long term limitations in fossil fuel supply and to managing the problem of greenhouse gases. Major electronics and automotive companies as well as governments are spending billions of dollars per annum to make fuel cells a reality in consumer markets. Portable fuel cellsPortable fuel cells are those designed to replace lithium-ion batteries for mobile phones, laptops and other portable electronic devices, all of which are increasingly hampered by the limitations of battery life. These fuel cells are generally not powered by hydrogen gas, which is restricted in use and hard to safely store and use, but by a hydrocarbon liquid, typically methanol. Direct Alcohol Fuel Cells (DAFC)These are fuel cells that have been powered by methanol in the past. Methanol is toxic and is usually a fossil fuel derivative. Ethanol, which may replace it thanks to Acta's new technology, is safe and practical to use. Ethanol is also made from renewable sources, making the fuel cell more environmentally friendly as the carbon dioxide produced in use comes from the existing carbon cycle and does not count as a greenhouse gas. Barriers for fuel cell commercialisationFuel cells have made and continue to make great strides towards commercialisation. Key remaining barriers are partly driven by the catalysts, which have to date contained costly and scarce platinum,: • preventing products from reaching their commercial cost targets • requiring fuel cells to use impractical methanol as a direct hydrocarbon fuel The Acta technology ActaActa is an Anglo-Italian company which floated on AIM in October 2005. Acta has recently completed its manufacturing and research facility near Pisa in Italy and is now rolling out its HYPERMEC catalysts to the global market for evaluation. HYPERMEC CatalystActa has developed a platinum-free catalyst called HYPERMEC. HYPERMEC is made from cheap and abundant materials, dramatically lowering the cost of industrialising fuel cells and electrolysers. HYPERMEC catalysts work with anionic exchange membranes which are significantly cheaper than the current cationic membranes, further reducing the cost of the fuel cell or electrolyser system. HYPERMEC also allows the use for the first time of a whole range of hydrocarbon fuels, including ethanol. The University Studies University of Newcastle upon TyneProfessor Paul Christensen and Dr Wen Feng Lin of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne conducted the study using an electrochemical in-situ FTIR spectroscopy analysis of the ethanol electro oxidation reaction on the catalyst surface. The study showed the formation of carbon dioxide only with no other intermediate chemicals being detected. University of Newcastle upon Tyne is one of the UK's leading academic centres for research into hydrogen technologies, including fuel cells. Consiglio Nationale di Ricerca (CNR), FlorenceDr Francesco Vizza and Dr Giuliano Giambastiani from the CNR conducted a study using gas chromatography and NMR analysis of the fuel residues. Again, they were able to detect no evidence of the intermediate products which would be evident in the event of only partial conversion of the ethanol. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange