Carbon Trust forms business JV
21 Sep 2006
The Carbon Trust is going commercial with the launch of a joint venture with Mitsui Babcock Energy and Triodos Renewables as its partners. The venture, called Connective Energy, will be "the first of many" commercial businesses to be formed with a remit to cut carbon emissions and develop commercial low carbon technologies, the Carbon Trust said.
Connective Energy, which is part of a newly formed subsidiary, termed Carbon Trust Enterprises, will capture industrial waste heat at source and transfer it as steam or hot water to other local industrial or public sector consumers.
The JV will identify, develop, finance and operate the pipeline infrastructure required to capture and transfer the heat. Mitsui Babcock will bring steam generating technology, technical knowledge and expertise to the venture, while Triodos Renewables, a leading ethical bank, will supply funding support.
Around 45% of the UK's industrial primary energy consumption is released as heat into the environment, 40TWh of which could be re-used, the Carbon Trust estimates. This, it said, represents a potential annual market of £1 billion and carbon savings of 7.5 million tonnes of CO2.
"Connective Energy will be the first of several businesses that we plan to roll out," said Tom Delay, Carbon Trust CEO. These, he said, will include a venture for the food & drink sector.
