The businesses, which all have an innovation that can benefit the environment, went on an Clean + Cool Mission this week (10 to 17 June 2017).

The mission is backed by Innovate UK and Long Run Works. It supports early-stage, high-potential companies to connect with opportunities through being part of an organised programme. This means they are able to explore cross-border opportunities and find faster routes to their target market.

Innovative UK SMEs

All of the businesses were selected to take part by a panel of judges. The panel was made up of representatives from Clean + Cool, Innovate UK, Department for International Trade, Knowledge Transfer Network, Greenhouse PR, PwC, Silicon Valley Bank, Volans, Whitefox Technologies and Women in Cleantech & Sustainability.

Businesses on the mission include:

• Aceleron, which produces low-cost remanufactured battery packs from used lithium ion batteries
• Arborea, whose carbon bio-converter ‘bionic leaf’ tiles enable photosynthesis to happen in the built environment
• Bowman Power Group, a provider of electric turbo compounding technology, that improves the efficiency of gas and diesel-fueled engines in industrial stationary power generation
• BuffaloGrid, which gives people in off-grid locations the ability to charge their phones and access internet services through remote solar-powered hubs
• Cellular Agriculture, a company looking to change how protein is produced for food consumption through tissue engineering technology
• CCell, which has pioneered a wave energy, delivering more power while weighing less. Potential users include sea-water desalination plants and remote inhabited islands dependent on diesel generated electricity.
• Gravitricity, which is developing grid-scale energy storage system that uses gravitational potential to store electricity
• Green Fuels, the biodiesel equipment manufacturer that converts waste oils and fats into biofuels, such as jet fuel
• H2GO Power, a University of Cambridge spin-out that uses solid-state, controllable hydrogen storage and generation for fuel cells
• Hexigone Inhibitors, which is developing environmentally-responsive organic and metallic coatings that are protected from degradation
• Kelda Technology, whose digital shower system improves water efficiency to use 50% less water
• Meteor Power, which is developing a new electric, high-performance motorcycle
• Perpetual V2G Systems, producing power systems that harvest energy from vehicles that would be otherwise lost and store it onboard to be used later
• Rotaheat, which has pioneered compact technology that converts mechanical rotational energy to heat fluids at over 120C
• SEaB Energy, whose patented anaerobic digestion systems in shipping containers generate clean energy from organic waste
• Senergy, which designs and manufactures integrated polymer solar thermal panels. It is now part of Lloyd’s Register
• SOMI Trailers, using a novel truck trailer design to to utilise the space underneath and carry 31% extra pallets
• Stickyworld, a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform to collect and sort ideas, consult on proposals or engage and educate different stakeholder groups
• Tevva Motors, which has developed electric range-extended vehicles that lower emissions and operational costs
• Topolytics, which combines mapping, machine learning and geospatial analytics to make industrial waste visible, verifiable and valuable

Connecting innovators

Ian Meikle, Director – Infrastructure Systems, Innovate UK says:

Clean + Cool is a great example of the role Innovate UK plays in connecting innovators with the right partners they need to succeed. The Mission tackles the human challenges to innovation, helping early stage CEOs grow their ambition, profile and network, while improving their pitch and insight.

Engineering success

This is the sixth Clean + Cool mission. Previous missions have resulted in success, including UK engineering company Whitefox Technologies.

Through 2 missions to San Francisco and Brazil, they were able to make connections and gain knowledge of the biofuels industry and legislation in the US. This led to them pitching their solutions to US biofuel producer Pacific Ethanol. They now have a commercial deal, and are receiving interest from other companies in North America and Europe.

The Environment Agency publish permits that they issue under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).

This decision includes the permit and decision document for:

• Operator name: Forterra Building Products Limited
• Installation name: Forterra Building Products Limited
• Permit number: EPR/QP3435DY/A001

The Environment Agency publish permits that they issue under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).

This decision includes the permit and decision document for:

• Operator name: Samworth Brothers Limited
• Installation name: Bradgate Bakery
• Permit number: EPR/CP3430WV/A001

Innovate UK will invest in projects that stimulate innovation in infrastructure systems that provide critical services for the economy, environment and society, and create growth for UK businesses.

There is up to £5 million for projects that last between 3 and 12 months. Up to £10 million is available for projects that last up to 3 years, with costs between £100,000 and £5 million inclusive.

You can also apply into a Knowledge Transfer Partnership in infrastructure systems if you’d like to work with a recent graduate.

The opportunity

Infrastructure systems are the backbone of:

• economic stability
• growth
• competitiveness
• productivity

They are vital for social wellbeing and environmental sustainability; especially so when you consider the growing number of people, particularly in urban areas, who rely on these systems.

There is £425 billion of planned public and private infrastructure investment in the UK to meet the challenges and make the most of our world-leading capabilities in this area.

This includes infrastructure solutions in:

• planning
• engineering
• architecture
• energy
• the intelligent mobility of people and freight
• communications

We also have a strong base of creative start-ups in the digital economy and excellent academic research to support this aim.

Our priority areas

We’re particularly interested in projects in our priority areas for infrastructure systems. These are:

• smart infrastructure that improves whole-life performance and/or cost and resilience
• energy, including:
  • energy systems that flexibly match changing energy supply and demand profiles at local, regional or national scale
  • nuclear fission innovations that lead to major cost reductions, improved asset integrity and develop the supply chain
  • offshore wind innovations that result in significant reductions in the cost of energy
• connected transport that encourages more efficient transportation of goods and people across more than one mode
• urban living, addressing the challenges people face in urban areas

Competition information

• the competition opens on 10 July 2017, and the deadline for applications is 13 September 2017
• projects must be led by a UK business or research and technology organisation
• you may work alone if you are an SME and your project is under one year with costs of less than £100,000. Otherwise, you must work with partners, including at least one SME
• total project costs can range between £25,000 and £5 million, and last up to 3 years
• businesses can attract up to 70% of their eligible costs, depending on their size and the project type

The Charity Commission has appointed an Interim Manager to Wimbledon and Putney Commons Conservators (registered charity number 303167). The appointment comes as part of the regulator’s inquiry into the charity, which began in August 2016.

The inquiry is examining a range of concerns, including the trustees’ failure to comply with a previous action plan set by the Commission. A statement about the investigation is available on GOV.UK.

The Commission has now appointed Gordon Reid of Barlow Robbins Solicitors as Interim Manager of the charity. He has been appointed to fulfil specific functions, including to consider the trustees’ decision not to take action to recover a loss suffered by the charity when it granted an easement for access rights over charity lands at a significant undervalue. The Interim Manager will assess whether the trustees’ decision was taken properly and was in the best interests of the charity. The charity’s trustees remain responsible for the day-to-day management of the charity.

The Interim Manager was appointed on 31 May 2017.

The Commission’s investigation continues. It is the Commission’s policy, after it has concluded an inquiry, to publish a report detailing what issues the inquiry looked at, what actions were undertaken as part of the inquiry and what the outcomes were. Reports of previous inquiries are available on GOV.UK.

The charity’s registered number is 303167.

The charity has also published its own announcement regarding the appointment.