South Yorkshire Business Wins £40,000 Climate Change Innovation Prize

2010-02-12 12:01:09

A South Yorkshire based business with an innovative idea for tackling climate change on Wednesday, won an award of £40,000 from Shell Springboard, a programme designed to promote the growth of the low carbon economy in the UK.

Sheffield based Pulse Tidal Ltd received the financial boost for its innovative tidal power station design which can be used in shallower waters than its competitors thus opening up many new coastal locations.The Shell Springboard programme, which has awarded over £1.3 million to 35 UK small businesses since it launched in 2005, this year celebrates its fifth anniversary.  The programme encourages a positive business response to the challenge of climate change by providing a no-strings financial boost to ideas for innovative products and services that could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Bob Smith, CEO at Pulse Tidal Ltd, said:,“We really believe our product can make a difference in the fight against climate change and it’s incredibly rewarding that such a well established programme as Shell Springboard has also recognised its potential.  The funding and recognition we received tonight will allow us to progress our site development activities which will make the company more attractive to potential investors.”

Bob Smith, CEO of Pulse Tidal Ltd

More and more green entrepreneurs are looking for financial boost to take their business ideas to the next level, with research conducted by Vivid Economics for Shell Springboard indicating that the low carbon energy market could be worth £2,000 billion by 2030.

Professor Patrick Corbett, Head of the Energy Academy at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh and head of the judging panel said:  “Over the last five years, Shell Springboard has given £1.3 million to thirty five small businesses like Pulse Tidal Ltd with innovative ideas for tackling climate change. It’s fantastic to see that the UK’s entrepreneurs continue to respond to the challenge of climate change, regardless of the economic climate and we wish Bob and his team every success in moving forwards.”

Pulse Tidal Ltd competed against five businesses from across the UK on 10 February 2010 in Edinburgh and will now compete to be named as the overall UK winner in London on the 2nd March.

Cress Energy Storage Systems from Coningsby in Lincolnshire also received an award of £40,000 which will be used to build a working model of its energy storage system which captures energy lost when a bus or train brakes or a crane lowers a container.