ACTA.L Regulatory News (ACTA)

20 Mar 2007 07:01

Acta S.p.A.20 March 2007 20 March 2007 Acta S.p.A. Acta and University of Edinburgh awarded £175,000 Carbon Trust Grant Acta, the AIM-listed catalyst developer, and the University of Edinburgh aredelighted to announce that they have been awarded a £175,000 grant by the CarbonTrust to develop a process to convert greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) toliquid fuel. This project will seek to use Acta's unique HYPERMEC catalyst technology,together with the process engineering and electrochemical expertise of EdinburghUniversity, to develop a method of converting CO2 into a liquid fuel such asmixed alcohols or methanol that can be reused in the energy supply chain. Thesefuels are easily transportable and can be readily used as transport fuel, eitheralone or blended with petrol or diesel. This process would preserve other fossilfuels and reduce CO2 emissions to the air. The application of this technology,if successful, could save up to 8 million tons of CO2 per annum in the UK alone. The Carbon Trust, which specialises in funding carbon reduction technologies,will provide £175,000 towards the £313,000 cost of this project over two years.Acta and the University of Edinburgh are delighted to have won funding from sucha prestigious and credible source after a highly competitive applicationprocess. Garry Staunton of the Carbon Trust said: "We are delighted to be supporting thepartnership between Acta and the University of Edinburgh as they seek to developand commercialise methods for producing lower carbon fuels". Dr Colin Pritchard, the programme's Principal Investigator at the University ofEdinburgh, said: "We are excited by Acta's breakthrough catalyst technology andare delighted to be working with Acta on this innovative and important project". Toby Woolrych, Chief Operating Officer of Acta, said: "The University ofEdinburgh has extensive experience in process design and development, and iswell placed to assist in commercialisation of any project success through itscontacts with SUPERGEN and the European energy industry." For further information, please contact: Acta S.p.A:Toby Woolrych, Chief Operating Officer Tel: +44 (0) 20 7360 4900 Smithfield Consultants:George Hudson / Will Henderson Tel: +44 (0) 20 7360 4900 Notes to Editors: Acta S.p.A. Acta, which was admitted to AIM in October 2005, is a manufacturer ofplatinum-free catalysts for the portable electronics and renewables markets.Acta uses a patented manufacturing process to make uniquely active catalysts,branded HYPERMEC, which are able to perform as effectively as expensive platinumcatalysts. Acta's catalysts offer customers technical usage benefits,significant cost savings and allow for the first time the use of ethanol, whichis a safe and environmentally friendly fuel. Products in the target portableelectronics market include laptop computers and mobile phones, and in therenewables market include electricity supply, automotive power and hydrogengeneration. The Project The proposal of this project, which will run for two years from May 2007, is touse renewable energy to convert captured CO2 into a fuel such as methanol ormixed alcohols. These fuels are easily transportable and can readily be used,for example as transport fuel, either alone or blended with petrol or diesel.Acta will synthesise and screen novel catalysts. The University of Edinburgh'sSchool of Engineering and Electronics and the School of Chemistry will seek tooptimize the conditions of the electrochemical conversion process. The work willbe carried out by Dr Dimitri Mignard and his team in Edinburgh, supported bycatalyst scientists at Acta. The project is important because fossil fuels, which release CO2 on use, will bethe mainstay of the UK's energy supply for many years, despite initiatives touse more renewable energy. CO2 also comes on-shore from natural gas fields inconcentrations as high as 10%. CO2 is now increasingly separated off (by fuelsuppliers) and pumped back to sea and buried underground in a process known ascarbon sequestration. At the same time, renewable energy sources such as windpower may, at times of high availability and low demand, generate power whichcannot all be absorbed by the national grid, or it may also be available inremote areas that are not connected to the grid. Moreover, wind generation isreliant on certain weather conditions for it to be effective. The Carbon Trust The Carbon Trust is a private company set up by government in response to thethreat of climate change, to accelerate the transition to a low carbon economy.The Carbon Trust works with UK business and the public sector to createpractical business-focused solutions through its external work in fivecomplementary areas: Insights, Solutions, Innovations, Enterprises andInvestments. Together these help to explain, deliver, develop, create andfinance low carbon enterprise. The Carbon Trust's annual funding is in excess of £100m in grants from theDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department of Trade andIndustry, the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly Government and InvestNorthern Ireland. For more information see www.carbontrust.co.uk. University of Edinburgh Established in 1583, the University of Edinburgh is one of the UK's mostimportant and historic Higher Education institutions. World renowned for itsresearch and teaching, it is a member of the prestigious Russell Group, anassociation of the UK's 20 major research intensive universities. Studentnumbers currently stand at over 24,000 and the University employs more than7,000 staff. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange