January 2004

Recycling Climate Change Levy Costs to Save Water and Energy

Midlands manufacturing company wins support from the Carbon Trust

The Low Carbon Innovation Programme (LCIP) is the Carbon Trust's first programme for accelerating the development of new and emerging, low carbon and energy efficient technologies in the UK.

The Carbon Trust is an independent not-for-profit company set up by the Government with support from business to, as Tony Blair stated:

"take the lead on low carbon technology and innovation in this country, and put Britain in the lead internationally".

As part of the UK's Climate Change Programme, the Carbon Trust operates in 3 main areas:

Supporting and promoting energy efficiency within UK businesses
Promoting the use of energy efficient technologies
Investing in innovative UK-based low carbon technologies

The Carbon Trust designed LCIP to assist developing technologies overcome barriers in any part of the innovation chain and is highly flexible in design and able to assist a wide range of projects from research to near-market technology. It focuses on:

Commercial co-investments
Research, development and demonstration projects

Norman Hay plc, based in Coventry, has identified this programme as a potential source of support for an exciting new product. They recognised that alongside the goal of reducing the UK's CO₂ emissions, the Carbon Trust looks for the potential for a significant market in low carbon technologies and an opportunity to build a UK-based industry in this field. It was precisely this mix of innovation, carbon savings and market potential that helped Norman Hay , through its subsidiary company Lancy Water Technology Ltd, to secure support from the Carbon Trust to trial their Aquastil 75 effluent treatment unit.

Demand for support from the Carbon Trust is huge, for example in a single call for proposals they received over 80 submissions against a single stream ( Research and Development) . The innovation and strength of features, as well as the carbon abatement potential of the Lancy Water Technology Proposal helped it stand out from the crowd and progress through the tendering process until it was finally approved.

The proposal centres upon verification of the Aquastil 75, a vapour compression distillation unit designed specifically for lower volume applications in a number of industries such as: food and drink, surface treatment and paper. The unit represents a significant change from traditional effluent treatment methods and offers benefits such as an extremely small footprint, unique energy recapture system - providing minimal operating costs, excellent reliability - coupled with low capital costs and better decontamination features than most other methods.

The support from the Carbon Trust will assist a comprehensive 12 month programme in which a number of units will be installed in a wide range of industrial applications, each with its own unique requirements and effluent type. Pro Enviro have been asked to undertake an independent evaluation of all aspects of the Aquastil 75 performance during the programme. Hence they will monitor areas such as: energy consumption, carbon emissions, water throughput and quality, as well as operational simplicity and maintenance, to help verify the Aquastil 75's outstanding environmental credentials.

The concept of the Lancy Water Technology Ltd and Aquastil 75 was officially launched at the recent IWEX exhibition to critical acclaim from within the industry. The product should be commercially available within 12 months.

For more details about the Aquastil 75, or to apply to become a trial site, contact
David Miller on 02476 229373 - nhayplc@aol.com Or
Darren McNulty on 02476 279007 - darren.mcnulty@proenviro.co.uk