7th Jan 2008 07:00
Oxford Catalysts Group PLC07 January 2008 7th January 2008 OXFORD CATALYSTS GROUP PLC ("Oxford Catalysts" or "the Company") Waste-to-Energy Strategic Alliance to Deliver Royalty Income Highlights • Strategic Alliance Agreement with Novus Energy, to develop and deploy technology for the production of second-generation fuel-grade alcohols from organic wastes • Strategic Alliance delivers a royalty income to Oxford Catalysts based on sales of fuel-grade alcohols • Oxford Catalysts projects revenues of up to £100,000 in 2008 from Strategic Alliance • When Novus Energy starts to bring its full-scale facilities on-stream, Oxford Catalysts' royalty income expected to average up to $750,000 p.a. per facility • Novus Energy forecasts its first full-scale facility to be operational in 2009-2010, and to roll out dozens of facilities over the following five years Oxford Catalysts Group PLC, the leading catalyst innovator for clean fuels, ispleased to announce that it has signed a Strategic Alliance Agreement with NovusEnergy, LLC, a Minneapolis-based renewable fuels company, to develop technologyfor the production of second-generation fuel-grade alcohols from organic wastes. The Companies will pool their expertise and proprietary technologies to designand deploy on-site units for the processing of organic wastes into fuel-gradealcohols. Both Companies are currently working together under contract to designand build a pilot plant unit which will demonstrate the operation of thecombined technologies during the first half of 2008. The Alliance provides funding for Oxford Catalysts to further develop key stepsof the process, and to design subsequent large-scale facilities. Once theseplants come on stream, Oxford Catalysts will earn a royalty income based onsales revenue of fuel-grade alcohols from each unit. Novus Energy has announced plans to roll out dozens of on site facilities in theUS over a period of five years or so, designed to deliver clean, locallyproduced and supplied renewable fuels. Novus Energy is also planning tointroduce the technology into Europe, where a similar number of facilities arealso planned. According to the Strategic Alliance Agreement, Oxford Catalysts'role in these plans is projected to generate revenues of up to £100,000 in 2008,rising to an average of up to $750,000 p.a. royalty income per facility(depending on the market price for fuel-grade alcohols at the time) once thefull-scale on site units come on stream, with the first such unit expected in2009-2010. Fuel-grade alcohols can be made from specially grown crops, such as sugar caneand corn, but these first-generation bio-fuels consume significant amounts ofwater, land and energy in their production. Not only do they result in a limitreduction of carbon footprint, they also compete with food production leading tounfortunate consequences for food prices worldwide. In contrast,second-generation bio-fuels, such as those which will be produced by theStrategic Alliance, use organic waste instead, converting it on site intofuel-grade alcohols that are clean, green and truly sustainable. Novus Energy's core product, fuel-grade ethanol, can be efficiently producedfrom the organic waste generated by a variety of food and agriculturalprocessors, landfills and municipal wastewater treatment plants. Novel,patented, anaerobic bio-digester technology applied to the processing of thewaste at such sites will produce large volumes of methane-rich biogas, whichwill then be converted into feedstock for Novus Energy's novel, patented alcoholproduction technology. Oxford Catalysts' technology will provide key links between the biogasgeneration and the alcohol synthesis steps. Roy Lipski, Chief Executive of Oxford Catalysts said: "We are delighted to be partnering with Novus Energy, who bring complementarytechnology and expertise to this exciting and innovative waste-to-energyalliance. Together we will address the rapidly growing need for truly renewable,clean, sustainable transport fuels, and share in the significant revenuepotential which this opportunity presents." John Offerman, President and Chief Technology Officer of Novus Energy said: "In choosing a catalyst technology company to collaborate with us to develop thechallenging core processes in our RGL (Renewable Gas-to-Liquid TM) technology,Novus Energy needed a partner that was both innovative and responsive to ourspecific needs. Oxford Catalysts, we found, was the only company that met thosecriteria. We look forward to a long and fruitful working relationship with them." - Ends - For further information, please contact: Roy Lipski, CEO, Oxford Catalysts 01235 841 700John Offerman, President, Novus Energy 00 1 952 224 0405Jonathan Marren / Oliver Stratton, KBC Peel Hunt 020 7418 8990(Nomad and Broker)Billy Clegg / Jonathon Brill, Financial Dynamics 020 7831 3113 Notes to Editors Oxford Catalysts Group PLC, the leading catalyst innovator for clean fuels,designs and develops specialty catalysts for the generation of clean fuels fromboth conventional fossil fuels and certain renewable sources such as biomass.Its patent-pending technology is the result of almost 20 years of research atthe University of Oxford's prestigious Wolfson Catalysis Centre, headed byProfessor Malcolm Green, one of the world's most respected inorganic chemists.Oxford Catalysts was founded by Professor Green and Dr Xiao in October 2004 andwas admitted to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange on 26thApril 2006, having raised £15m before expenses from a solid base ofinstitutional investors. Oxford Catalysts' strategy is to license its catalysts for commercialapplication by entering into co-development partnerships with leadingmanufacturers, producers and suppliers in the petroleum, petrochemicals, fuelcells, biogas, steam applications and catalysis markets. Oxford Catalysts has two key platform technologies. The first is for a novelclass of catalysts made from metal carbides which, for certain reactions, canmatch or exceed the benefits of traditional precious metal catalysts at a lowercost. Applications of these metal-carbide catalysts include the removal ofsulphur from crude oil fractions (known as hydro-desulphurisation or HDS), theconversion of natural gas or coal into virtually sulphur-free liquid fuels viathe Fischer-Tropsch reaction (known as the GTL and CTL processes respectively),and the transformation of biogas (waste methane) into syngas - thebuilding block of liquid fuels. The second platform relates to chemical reactions involving a liquid containinga renewable fuel, such as methanol, ethanol or glycerol, and dilute hydrogenperoxide. The company's novel catalyst can be used to release hydrogen gas fromthis liquid, instantaneously starting from room temperature. This groundbreakingInstant Hydrogen technology has the potential to significantly accelerate thecommercial adoption of fuel cells in the portable and other mobile markets, byproviding the much needed source of cheap, safe, transportable hydrogen. Another of the company's catalysts can be used to produce steam at temperaturesbetween 100oC and 800oC+ instantaneously starting from room temperature,from a liquid fuel containing dilute hydrogen peroxide and either an alcohol,sugar, glycerol, starch or formic acid. Such Instant Steam could have importantapplications in a broad range of markets, from cleaning and disinfecting, togreen energy in the form of motive power or electricity. www.oxfordcatalysts.com About Novus Energy Novus Energy, LLC, a Minnesota (U.S.A.) renewable fuels development company, wasorganized in 2004 to design, fabricate and rollout high-yield fuel-grade alcoholfacilities, using organic waste materials as the fuel feedstock. The Company'sproprietary process generates methane-rich biogas from advanced anaerobicdigestion methods, and converts the biogas to ethanol and higher alcohols usinga novel renewable gas-to-liquid (RGLTM) process. The company currently hascontracts to build refineries at a North Dakota sugar beet processor, aMinneapolis landfill, at an Idaho potato plant, and at an Iowa site convertingfarm corn stover and hog waste. The first full-scale facility is expected to beoperational in 2009-2010. www.novus-energy.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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