A technology that converts low-temperature waste heat into electricity has earned the Institute of Physics (IOP) Business Innovation Award for FeTu, the Elland-based green energy business behind the approach.
The award celebrates FeTu’s success in translating physics research into a viable commercial enterprise with a product that the IOP judges described as a “revolutionary heat engine”. The FeTu technology enables industrial firms to recover their waste heat and convert it to electricity, vastly reducing both energy costs and carbon emissions.
Founded in 2016 by Yorkshire-born designer Jon Fenton, FeTu has grown to a team of 15, securing over £12m in sponsorship, investment and grants. In October the firm established a new manufacturing arm in Huddersfield to enable the commercial roll-out of its clean-energy technology with a pan-European pilot programme. A group of blue-chip food production firms, data centres and industrial manufacturers are rigorously trialling the product this winter.
Receiving the Business Innovation award, Mr Fenton said: “It is a real honour to receive this award. FeTu is a beautiful example of British ingenuity, overcoming the impossible to enable access to abundant green energy sources that already exist.
“Our ability to generate electricity from heat sources as low as 40°C is a critical development for the UK to recover £4bn in industrial waste heat into free, green electricity.”
The prestigious IOP Business Awards were set up to showcase the role of physics and physicists in creating jobs and economic growth by powering innovation to meet major challenges such as climate change, better healthcare and food production.
IOP president Professor Sir Keith Burnett said the awards recognised “impressive businesses that are pushing the boundaries of physics-powered innovation”. He added “Physics businesses are developing answers to some of the biggest challenges facing our society, driving economic growth, attracting investment and creating high-value jobs.”
Businesses can use FeTu’s online calculator to evaluate their own waste-heat-to-electricity case at h2p.co.uk
