Edinburgh technology firm named low carbon ‘Innovator of the Year’

Artemis Intelligent Power collected the ‘Innovator of the Year’ award for its highly efficient, controllable hydraulic machines that can be integrated into structures such as wind turbines and cars, leading to substantial cuts in carbon emissions.

The judges said they were looking for genuine innovation, carbon saving potential, novel application and commercial potential. Artemis Intelligent Power, they said, had developed "ground breaking technology with multiple applications, and has made good progress in turning a vision into a commercial reality".

Artemis also won the ‘Power’ award category for its lightweight, robust power transfer systems which make turbines cheaper to build and maintain.

There were almost 250 entries for this year’s awards in six categories; four for technology developers and providers, and two for users and early adopters of low carbon technologies, across power, buildings, transport and industry.

They included TMO Renewables, which won the Transport award for its use of the bacteria found in compost heaps to make sustainable ethanol-based fuel. The Buildings award went to CamSemi, whose technology is helping to manage rapidly growing electricity demand within buildings. Oxsensis, which has developed the world's highest temperature sensors, won the Industry award. The Commercial Group, a fast growing office services company, which has dramatically reduced its carbon footprint was named Private Sector winner, while Oxford City Council was named the Public Sector winner for its ambitious carbon management programme.

Commenting on this year's awards, Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust said: "As the UK looks to develop new low carbon solutions to tackle climate change, the breadth and depth of innovation here is deeply encouraging. Whilst many of the technologies that we looked at are still in their infancy, others already demonstrate strong commercial potential. This clearly shows not only the UK's capacity for scientific discovery and bright ideas, but also the fantastic opportunity that we have to make the clean tech sector a thriving part of the British economy."