Active Energy

Active Energy is a London-listed biomass fuel company whose core product, CoalSwitch, presses lumber and forestry residue into black pellets with a heating value close to coal, so it can be co-fired in existing coal boilers without equipment changes. Customers are hard-to-electrify heavy industries such as cement, aluminium smelting and power generation.

In process terms, the feedstock is torrefied and densified under pressure, removing most volatiles and sulphur; the fuel is hydrophobic, so it can be stored in the open and shipped without enclosed silos. Co-firing produces less nitrogen oxide, sulphur dioxide and ash than raw coal. The company sited its first volume plant in Ashland, Maine, and signed a Gulf distribution agreement with Player Carbon covering industrial buyers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. In 2026 the company completed a strategic review and decided to seek a buyer for the CoalSwitch patent and related assets.