Star Renewables Heatpump with a couple of Members of the Scottish Parliament

Most years on this blog I like to acknowledge outstanding people and technologies. Lots of newspapers do something similar around the Christmas and New Year, so I’m a bit late this year. Never mind: here goes.

Last year I listed 5 of the best solar technologies that I’d written about over the preceding year. This year I want to acknowledge the importance of storing surplus wind and solar power to be used when the energy is required, and for it to be used in new super-efficient and pollution minimizing ways. Three impressively innovative UK companies each utilizing this ‘wrong-time’ electricity and using it as storable gases, or as storable heat, are Dearman, ITM Power and Star Renewables. The three of them are my joint ‘Technology of the Year’ winners, and between them have much to contribute to humanity’s changing use of energy.

In November I blogged about Croydon based Cleantech start-up Dearman and their innovative liquid nitrogen engines for cooling and for power. Good to see Park Vale Capital have just invested £16m to help them expand.

In September I blogged about the hydrogen economy and Sheffield based ITM Power’s innovative ways of converting surplus renewables to storable hydrogen either for use in fuel cell vehicles or added to the gas mains for flexible storage and use. As they expand there are lots of good news stories on their website.

In August I blogged about big heat pumps and the innovative Glasgow based manufacturer Star Renewables, who supplied the ground-breaking systems at Drammen in Norway and the new Cranbrook development near Exeter.

In the political and diplomatic field I’ve chosen three people who helped make the Paris agreement the historic breakthrough that it was: Christiana Figueres who guided the whole process, Francois Hollande who hosted it and Tony Le Brum of the Marshall Islands who led the High Ambition group that got the aim of a 1.5 degree limit to warming into the final document.

Latest news on Dearman http://www.dearman.co.uk/#!dearman-in-the-news/c1vp7

Latest news on ITM Power http://www.itm-power.com/news-media/news

Latest on Star Renewables http://neatpump.com/news.aspx