Penny Shares Guide

D1 Oils was founded in 2004 as a renewable fuels producer. The company uses a species of tree known as jatropha to produce its refined biofuels. Jatropha trees are able to survive in a wide variety of climates, and its seeds are known throughout the vegetable world for their extremely high oil content.

Other biofuels manufacturers saw the price of food go up as a result of investment in technologies that turned edible oils into fuel. This led to worldwide hunger riots and the decline of the edible oils industry for use in biofuels. However, D1 Oils managed to avoid that bump because Jatropha oil is inedible and doesn’t affect food prices around the world.

In October 2004, D1 Oils was first listed in the AIM. Its initial offering raised 11.5 million pounds. Subsequent offerings raised 26 million, 49 million and 14.9 million pounds in 2005, 2006 and 2008, respectively. As Britain’s leading jatropha-based biodiesel manufacturer, D1 is poised for growth in the years to come.

In 2007, oil producer BP and D1 Oils formed a joined venture to plant more jatropha trees around the world. Jatropha trees can be grown in poor quality soil, making it exceptionally convenient as an oil crop. The company has collaborated with many different world-class companies over the past five years and it has consistently been a high performer in the biofuels market, both when it was doing well and in recent years, when many other biofuels companies have gone out of business or have had to restructure their goals.

In April 2011, Siemens sought to develop a high-speed ferry that ran solely on biofuels from jatropha seeds. This ferry could prove highly useful throughout Europe, Asia and the world at large, and is seen by D1 Oils as an excellent opportunity for growth. As more information comes out on Siemens’ ferry development, expect the price of D1 Oils to fluctuate on the Alternative Investment Market.

Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited was established in 1992 by several private energy companies working along with Australia’s Commonwealth Science and Industry Research Organisation. The Company is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.

In 2005, the company raised $25 million and listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. In 2006, it raised £37 million and listed on the London Stock Exchange AIM market. The company’s code on both exchanges is CFU.

In 2009 it raised an additional $33 million by offering placement memorandums to new investors and rights issues to current investors. The bulk of CFCL’s operation is in Australia where it has most of its staff and assets. This may change as the company seeks and receives investment capital and marketing rights from European governments and industries.

Ceramic Fuel Cells is an alternative-energy company specializing in the development of solid-oxide-[fuel-cell technology. The company is in advanced development and working rapidly towards putting their fuel cells on the market.

These cells will be small units for home or on-site production of electricity and heat. The company already has a plant in the United Kingdom that will make high-quality ceramic powders and another plant in Germany ready for high-volume, fuel-cell stack production. Their premier product will be the Blue-Gen unit.

In 2009, they received an order from Paloma for a Blue-Gen stack to power their warehouse and sales office in Japan. By the third quarter of 2010, they made their first sale in the U.S.

Looking into the future, CFCL hopes to create a strong market for micro fuel cells that will power single appliances. They are already making arrangements with appliance manufacturers to put the company’s fuel cells into their products. In order to do this, however, they still need to improve power output and stack life of their micro units.

Biofutures began in 2006 as a biofuels company that intended to purchase up-and-coming biofuels manufacturers. It made its first acquisition in November 2006 when it acquired Zurex, a Malaysian manufacturer with a license to produce biodiesel from palm oil. Since its initial entry into the biofuels market, Biofutures has seen some success, but as global capital retreated from the biofuels market due to other environmental concerns, Biofutures was forced away from biofuels. In May 2008, Biofutures officially became an Investment Company. Its acquisitions include the energy and utility sectors throughout Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

True to its initial plan, Biofutures places special emphasis on companies with a potential share in the biofuels market. Though this market isn’t especially profitable, Biofutures’ current strategy is to maintain several plants around the world such as oil manufacturers with the capacity to produce biofuels easily, should the technology ever become economically viable once again.

For instance, the manufacturing plant in Zurex was paired with a refining plant in 2010 which produces refined palm oil for use in a variety of markets, including personal care products and food production. The refined oil which was once used as biodiesel can be used many other ways. Biofutures is a flexible investment company able to move with capricious market winds, and while the winds are currently blowing against it, the company maintains its viability.

Biofutures’ price on the AIM is especially low in light of the recent high price of palm oil. However, because the company is solid, flexible and capable of handling most problems, it offers a good investment opportunity for savvy investors. Should the price of palm oil go up due to increased demand for biofuels, for instance, Biofutures is expected to rise tremendously and be an excellent investment. Only time will tell how the company’s fortunes play out.

Currently the UK’s leading coal mine methane producer, Alkane Energy was founded in 2006. It has had some troubles in as a company, but in recent years its business seen tremendous growth in a variety of sectors. In addition to designing, building and operating power power plants fuelled by methane gas, the company has established a significant market share in the methane extraction industry from a diverse set of sources. These sources include coal mine methane (CMM), biogas, conventional gas and landfills.

Coal Mine Methane

Abandoned coal mines are rich sources of methane gas. As experts with the complex tools and techniques used to extract methane from coal seams, Alkane Energy expects CMM to be one of its main sources of revenue growth in the medium to long term. Alkane Energy currently holds a 2% market share in coal mine methane extraction. This market is growing in size and scope.

Biogas

In 2010, Alkane Energy announced that it had begun development on its first biogas plant. Biogas plants utilise organic agricultural waste products to provide methane gas, which can then be fed through power plants to provide clean, reliable energy. By using a method known as anaerobic digestion, Alkane Energy will provide cheap energy to inhabitants of the Whitwell area in North Derbyshire. Biogas currently provides about 1% of Alkane’s total produced energy, but this is expected to grow as demand for biogas plants becomes greater throughout the UK, particularly in rural areas.

Alkane Energy has invested heavily in these two areas over the past several years and is only now beginning to see results on its balance sheet. The company is poised to take off in the Alternative Investment Markets, making it a very attractive investment for investors who want to take advantage of the growing demand for green energy.

AFC Energy was founded in 2006 to provide low-cost hydrogen alkaline fuel cells for industrial applications. Fuel cells have been used in the past to power a variety of technologies including submarines and spacecraft. By utilising modern manufacturing technologies, best practices and proprietary advances in waste management, AFC energy seeks to make fuel cells a viable method for powering more commonplace technologies such as clean energy and chemical production.

In 2007, AFC Energy signed a contract with the Indonesian government to become the excessive supplier/manufacturer of clean energy in the country. By 2009, AFC was one of the top-performing stocks on the AIM, and by 2010 the company had won a large fuel cell order from Centrica, one of the UK’s leading integrated energy providers. AFC has partnered with many different world-class companies including chemicals giant Akzo Nobel, industrial gas supplier Air Products and clean coal provider Linc Energy.

The company’s growth areas include supplementing and improving the efficiency of underground coal gasification (UCG), one of the most commonly used “clean coal” technologies. UCG utilises inefficient steam cycle technologies to produce energy directly from gasified coal. This produces waste hydrogen gas, which, when fed into AFC’s fuel cells, can offer free electricity.

AFC’s low-cost fuel cells are among the most efficient sources of power in the world, acquiring close to 70% electrical efficiency compared to around 33% efficiency for the standard internal combustion engine. They will save clean coal companies money and make them more effective at providing cheap, clean power.

Other target markets for AFC include any industrial supplier or provider with significant hydrogen gas waste by-products. If a company wastes hydrogen gas in significant quantities, AFC fuel cells can significantly improve production efficiency. By providing a method for saving money and producing cheap, clean energy, AFC is occupying a highly-sought niche for today’s eco-friendly, finance-tight business environment.

Leni Gas and Oil Plc, based in London, is an international hydrocarbon exploration, development, and production company. The company holds assets in Spain, Trinidad, Malta and the US Gulf of Mexico. Leni Gas and Oil was incorporated in 2006 and trades on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange.

Corporate Strategy

The company’s strategy is to acquire proven reserves and enhance production in established fields, concentrating in low-risk countries. The directors have a wide variety of experience and expertise in the oil and natural gas fields, and are working to leverage their knowledge to identify investment opportunities in proven reserve areas as well as underexploited areas which can benefit from an injection of cutting-edge technology and techniques.

LGO Assets

Leni Gas and Oil holds interests ranging from 10 to 100 per cent in various projects in four main areas.

In the US Gulf of Mexico and Trinidad, LGO is partnered with other corporations in development of new oil and natural gas sites in the Gulf, as well as expanding the Icacos operation in Trinidad to reach deeper reserves.

In the area off Malta, LGO owns a 10% interest in an offshore site close to established hydrocarbron reserves. They are evaluating the area for future production.

In Spain, LGO owns 100% of the Ayoluengo oil field, which has been the largest site of Spanish oil production since the 1960s. LGO seeks to enhance current production with updated techniques, taking advantage of facilities already in place from previous operations.

Leni Gas and Oil suffered losses in 2009 related to its relinquishment of Hungarian assets which had proved unprofitable, but has stepped up development of its other assets and expects to accelerate production in its three currently-producing areas while continuing to develop the Malta holding.

Shares of Leni Gas and Oil Plc (LGO) are listed on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market and were at 3.29 p as of 29 October 2010.