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Energy Conversion Devices Initiates Succession Plan

Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (ECD Ovonics) (Nasdaq: ENER) announced the first in a series of management moves consistent with the company’s previously announced management succession planning. At his request, Stanford Ovshinsky, President and Chief Scientist and Technologist, has relinquished his executive management responsibilities as the company’s President and a member of its Office of the Chairman to devote his full energy and intellect to the further development of the science and application of amorphous and disordered materials in the fields of energy and information technologies. Mr. Ovshinsky, who co-founded the company with his wife, Dr. Iris M. Ovshinsky, will remain an active member of ECD Ovonics’ Board of Directors, and contribute on strategic and technical issues as Founder and Chief Scientist and Technologist. Mr. Ovshinsky’s office will be located at ECD Ovonics’ newly named Stan and Iris Ovshinsky Center for the Advancement of Energy and Information Technologies in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He will continue to serve as Chairman of the Board of ECD Ovonics’ Ovonyx, Inc. joint venture. It is anticipated that Mr. Ovshinsky’s ongoing research and development activities will be funded, in part, through specific budget allocations by the commercial divisions of ECD Ovonics and its joint venture companies […]

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Fuel Tech 4Q Profit Falls

Fuel Tech Inc. (Nasdaq: FTEK), which makes air pollution control equipment, said that even though sales increased 11%, profits for the fourth quarter dropped by 44% because expenses outpaced revenue growth. Net income fell to $1.5 million (6 cents per share) from $2.6 million (11 cents per share) for the prior year quarter. FTEK spent $900,000 for tax expenses, compared to a $200,000 benefit a year ago. Revenues from its emissions control segment were roughly flat for the quarter, but its fuel treatment chemical technology business – which sells products to coal-fired utilities – saw revenue climb 26%. Costs rose 15% for increased staff, expenses associated with business growth and stock compensation costs. Fuel Tech forecast 2007 sales growth of 20-27%. It estimates sales will be in the range of $90- $95 million this year. In 2006, the company posted sales of $75.1 million versus $52.9 million. Full-year earnings in 2006 totaled $6.8 million, or 28 cents per share, down from $7.6 million, or 33 cents per share, in 2005.

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DOE Routinely Misses Efficiency Standards Deadlines

A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report shows the Department of Energy (DOE) has missed all 34 statutory rulemaking deadlines for setting minimum energy efficiency standards. The report, “Long-Standing Problems with the Department of Energy’s Program for Setting Efficiency Standards Continue to Result in Foregone Energy Savings” was requested by Reps. John D. Dingell, Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, Rick Boucher, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality and Ed Markey, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. Efficiency standards on consumer products are set by DOE rulemaking. For the 20 product categories with statutory deadlines, GAO found that 11 of the 34 rules were completed late and 23 have not been completed at all. DOE’s delays range from less than a year to 15 years. Rulemakings have been completed for only refrigerators, refrigerator-freezers and freezers, small furnaces, and clothes washers. There are 17 consumer product categories that DOE has yet to finish. According to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, delays in setting standards for the top four energy-consuming categories will ultimately cost our nation a minimum of $28 billion in foregone energy savings, which is equal to the annual primary energy consumption of […]

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Green Trust Fund Orders Electric Cars, Trucks for Atlanta

Seeking to invest in environmental technologies, a trust fund based in Atlanta, Georgia has placed an initial order for 40 electric cars and trucks from ZAP (ZAAP.OB). The trust fund is setting up a dealership with ZAP to distribute the XEBRA (pronounced “zebra”) electric car and truck in the Atlanta area. James Tucker, Executive Trustee, says ” We have interest from all over the Atlanta area — from city fleets, planned communities, law enforcement, major corporations, colleges — we expect orders for 2000 ZAP vehicles in the initial phase of our marketing.” XEBRA is a “city-car” – an electric car priced around $10,000 that comes in a 4-door sedan or pickup truck with a convertible dump/flat bed. It plugs into a standard 110-volt outlet for a full charge in up to six hours and a 50 percent charge in 1.5 hours, and also has an optional solar charging panel. Fueling is estimated to cost 1-3 cents per mile, or about one-fifth that of gas vehicles. The American Lung Association in 2005 listed Atlanta as having the ninth worst air pollution in the country. Studies show that electric cars can reduce automotive emissions by more than 90 percent, even including the […]

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