CMR is pleased
to announce that it has entered into a non-exclusive joint
development collaboration with European
chemicals major player, Solvay SA
(`Solvay'). As a result Solvay New
Business Development division will work to
produce high performance porous
membranes for use in CMR's unique high power
density 'compact mixed-reactant'
fuel cell stacks. Solvay SA is an
International Pharmaceutical and
Chemicals Group listed on the Euronext Stock
Exchange and has annual sales of
over Euro8.6billion, employs 30,000 people in 50
countries and has spent in excess
of Euro1.4billion on Research and Development in
the past two years.
The collaboration will work to develop
porous electrolyte membranes that
eliminate the requirement for bulky,
inactive components found in traditional
fuel cells such as flow field plates
and other balance of plant components. The
use of porous membranes is a world
first for the fuel cell industry and is
protected by CMR's core intellectual
property. By developing stacks in this
way, CMR is seeking to exploit its
patented 'mixed reactant flow-through'
architecture to mass produce fuel
cells capable of delivering the high power
densities required to produce a
commercially viable power delivery system with
the potential to replace traditional
lithium ion batteries.
Léopold Demiddeleer, Director
of Corporate R&D and New Business development,
Solvay SA, commented:
'At Solvay we recognise the commercial
potential of CMR's unique fuel cell
architecture and look forward to
working closely with the Company to accelerate
the delivery of an optimised fuel
cell product to the electronics industry.'
John Halfpenny, CEO, CMR Fuel Cells
plc, comments:
'We are delighted to extend our working
relationship with Solvay. We anticipate
Solvay's combination of world-class
resources and unrivalled experience will
significantly accelerate us towards
our goal of delivering low cost, long
running fuel cells to the portable
power industry'
CMR technology massively reduces
the size of fuel cell stacks - leaving more
room for fuel and enabling dramatically
longer run times in portable power
systems. Unlike conventional fuel
cells which rely on the complete separation
of reactants, CMR's revolutionary
design works by flowing a mix of air and fuel
through a porous stack that can
make use of low-cost catalysts. This approach
eliminates up to 90% of the volume,
and, as the reactants are mixed, the
membrane no longer needs to physically
separate them so can be much thinner,
lighter and consequently cheaper.
About CMR Fuel Cells plc:
CMR Fuel Cells plc is a UK developer
of fuel cell stacks for portable and small
stationary power generation applications.
The Company plans to become a leading
supplier of fuel cell products,
based on its simple but revolutionary patented
stack architecture which delivers
longer run-time and lower costs than
conventional fuel cell stacks.
As documented at the time of the
Company's flotation, CMR's unique architecture
can be applied in a range of fuel
cell applications including portable
electronics, combined heat and power
and automotive to deliver significant
improvements in power density performances
using a range of chemistries.
However, it is the intention of
the Board to initially commercialise the
Company's technology within the
consumer electronics industry where there is
sustained and growing demand for
smaller, cheaper, longer running power
solutions for portable electronics
devices based on direct methanol fuel cells.
This demand is being driven by the
increasing power requirements of portable
electronics devices which have outgrown
incremental improvements in the
performances of traditional battery
chemistries. As a result, consumer
frustration with short 'run times'
is compelling the electronics industry to
develop and deploy suitable alternatives
for power delivery. It is widely
accepted that direct methanol fuel
cells represent an ideal solution to the
power requirements of portable devices
and are also capable of eliminating the
need to recharge devices by having
an interchangeable fuel cartridge system
equivalent of instant recharging.
In 2005 CMR were:
* Winners of the 2005 Carbon
Trust Overall Innovator of the year award
* Winners of the 2005 Carbon
Trust Individual and Small Businesses award
* Selected as a Red Herring
Top 100 Europe company - (previous Red Herring
winners include
Google and eBay)
* Selected by Harvard Business
School as one of 25 companies 'most likely to
change our world
by 2010'
* Selected by the World Economic
Forum as a Technology Pioneer for 2006

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