59
American Superconductor
Westborough,
Massachusetts, US
Public
Clean tech
Gregory Yurek, CEO

Superconductors will transform the efficiency of electricity grids, renewable energy sources such as wind and wave power and induction heaters. Nasdaq-quoted AMSC's superconducting wires conduct electricity with little or no resistance or associated energy loss and they can transmit 150 times more electricity than conventional wires of the same size. One of the two Nobel Prize-winning scientists who discovered the first high temperature superconducting (HTS) materials is a consultant. The company, whose sales doubled in the last quarter, has recently opened a Chinese unit.

60
Ceramic Fuel Cells
Melbourne, Australia
Public
Clean tech
Brendan Dow, CEO

Ceramic Fuel Cells, which floated in 2004, wants to put clean microgeneration into people's homes by producing a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) heat and power unit. Like Ceres (number 61, right), it is drawing closer to commercialisation and is working with European utilities to market the product, due to roll off a German production line in 2010-11. CFC's fuel cell began life in an Australian government research department, but due to low demand there the company is focusing on the European market. The company's shares have a dual listing on the Australian and London AIM markets, and the share price is typically volatile.

61
Ceres Power
London, UK
Public
Clean tech
Peter Bance, CEO

Ceres, working with UK utility Centrica, demonstrated last October a neat fuel cell combined heat and power unit that slashes household bills as well as emissions, which it hopes to mass manufacture by 2009. While this might eventually see off millions of conventional gas boilers there are possible drawbacks: the units would be fed by natural gas, and are thus dependent to an extent on fossil fuels anyway. But the company has been warmly praised for the flexibility, low cost and robustness of its fuel cell compared to competitors. Its average share price in 2007 nearly tripled since its 2004 listing but it is still volatile.

62
Qcells
Thalheim, Germany
Public
Renewables ' solar
Anton Milner, CEO

Qcells has demonstrated technical brilliance by creating the solar photovoltaic industry's biggest and thinnest cells, enabling it to cut down on the expensive raw material silicon needed for solar cells. To reduce its dependency on this sensitive supply chain and cut costs further, the company also closed a 10- year supply agreement with a silicon producer in 2007 and decided to produce wafers (used to construct cells) in-house. It took a stake in leading integrated solar cell maker REC. It is also a keen developer of second-generation solar PV technology. Sales and pre-tax profits were up 45% in H1 2007.

63
Kompogas
Glattbrug, Switzerland
Public
Renewables ' biomass
Harold Luling, CEO

Fears over energy security and the need to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill, backed up by legislation such as the EU's Landfill Directive, explain why Kompogas is thriving. One-third of all waste is organic and can therefore be turned into fuel through anaerobic digestion. The process produces biogas that can be burned to provide electricity or collected and turned into a CO2-neutral fuel. The residue makes an excellent fertilizer, says the company, which also claims to be the global leader in the sector. With new CEO Harold Luling in place, the company took over Swiss waste processor ROM AG last year.

64
AW Energy
Espoo, Finland
Private
Clean tech
Tuomo Hyysalo, CEO

AW's Wave Roller technology illustrates the variety of ways you can generate electricity from the ocean. Unlike other wave energy devices, which are free-standing, the Wave Roller is a vertical plate anchored to the sea bed and the action of the waves moves it back and forth, with the energy produced being harnessed to generate electricity. Being entirely submerged should cut the impact of the elements on the machinery and the units' impact on the environment. The technology has been tested at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney and a pilot project has been installed off the coast of Portugal, with a 1MW plant.

65
Thenergo
Antwerp, Belgium
Public
Renewables ' biomass
Kurt Alen, CEO

Thenergo, formed in 2002, is a waste-to-energy company split off from the French wind power company Theolia, which now holds a 35% stake. It listed on the Alternext in June last year, raising '€70m, and is unusual in having an all-round business model: designing, building, managing and financing biogas and biomass combined heat and power plants for industrial customers. Since last September the company has acquired Belgian waste procurement company Leysen and German biomass-to-energy player ENRO. Alen is trying to fashion Thenergo into a leading, cross-border player in this sector.

66
Solarcentury
London, UK
Private
Renewables ' solar
Derry Newman, CEO

Faced with spectacular growth, founder and CEO Jeremy Leggett recently handed over the reins to former Sony UK managing director Derry Newman. Leggett, who worked both as a scientist and in the oil industry before joining Greenpeace, and is a leading international spokesman for renewable energy, will remain chairman. Solarcentury is a downstream installer of solar thermal and solar photovoltaics with close links to the building industry. Sony UK agreed recently to make Solarcentury's C21e ' an easy to fit, easy on the eye solar roof tile that could be a turning point in this sector.

67
New Energies Invest
Basel, Switzerland
Private
Financial
Joachim Staehle, CEO

New Energies Invest is the world's first privately financed private equity renewable energy fund. Their latest triumph was the investment in Bionersis, a small start-up specialist in landfill gas to energy projects, which went public on the Paris stock exchange in 2007. Though concentrating primarily on solar energy, they are diversifying their portfolio with investments in wind, biomass, geothermal and fuel cells. They recognise their investments as 'smart money' because the focus is on equity. VP Andreas Knörzer and Jeremy Leggett, (see previous entry) were instrumental in founding it.

68
Argent Energy
Motherwell, Scotland
Private
Renewables ' biofuels
Andrew Hunter, CEO

One of Argent Energy's trump cards is its use of animal fat and cooking oil instead of crops at its 45,000 tonne biodiesel plant in Scotland, which started up in 2005 and is likely to be followed by a second one in New Zealand partnered by Shell. While it has mostly dodged the food-versusfuel controversy, question marks over the biofuels industry have not left the company unscathed: an '€100m IPO in July to fund further expansion was postponed, largely due to inadequate investor support for the sector. A new UK road transport fuels obligation planned for this year should boost the company. A pioneer but in a difficult sector.

69
Clipper Windpower
Carpinteria, California, US Public Renewables ' wind James GP Dehlsen, CEO

Clipper is a rapidly growing company engaged in wind energy technology, wind turbine manufacturing and wind project development. Clipper has booked more than 5,600MW (2,240 units) of orders for turbines, which accounts for production to 2011. Clipper's net ownership of its wind resource portfolio currently totals over 6,500MW. The company has various US wind farms under construction and its new, 2.5MW Liberty turbine has been a hailed a breakthrough in turbine design. Its share price has performed very well since a 2005 listing on London's AIM market.

70
SolarWorld
Bonn, Germany
Public
Clean tech
Frank Asbeck, CEO

SolarWorld, a Frankfurt-listed maker of solar power cells and modules, has profited from its ability to secure supplies of silicon in the face of a global shortage and to pump out products to meet the huge demand for solar power around the world. It bought a silicon wafer production facility in the US for a knock-down price and secured the silicon solar assets of Shell after the oil group decided to focus on thin-film technology. These investments will help it to cash in on positive developments in the US such as California's Million Solar Roofs initiative, while plants in Singapore and Malaysia leave it well placed to meet demand in Asia.