Elbow Beach is pleased to announce it has made a £2 million seed investment in Ionech, a pioneering UK clean-energy technology company developing a breakthrough process that harnesses thermal energy from ambient air to generate electricity.

Ionech’s Air Voltaic Cell technology uses high voltage pulses and field electron emission to generate superoxide ions and convert the thermal and chemical potential energy of ambient air into electrical energy. Ionech aims to integrate the technology initially into high-energy demand devices such as commercial refrigeration, air conditioning and ventilation units, which account for over a quarter of global energy consumption, and eventually at grid scale, saving megatons of CO2 and reducing energy bills.

The £2 million investment from Elbow Beach, combined with a £0.7million Innovate UK Grant, will enable Oxfordshire-based Ionech to advance itsAir Voltaic Cell technology from lab-scale development into real-world pilots over the next 24 months, and progress joint development agreements with early-adopting partners, including Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP),where Ionech’s technology could significantly reduce the carbon footprint of drinks coolers among other applications.

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners was an early investor in Ionech, which plans to demonstrate its first commercial-ready system by 2027.

Jonathan Pollock, CEO ofElbow Beach, said: “Ionech represents the kind of bold innovation we aim to support at Elbow Beach. Energy demand is growing, driven by among otherthings, cooling systems and AI. Ionech is developing ways to harness clean energy from ambient air. Their Air Voltaic Cell technology has the potential toreduce reliance on the grid, lower energy consumption, and deliver tangible benefits across the real economy. We are excited to partner with Ionech as they advance their technology to market.”

Nathan Owen, Co-Founder andManaging Director of Ionech, said: “We are partnering with Elbow Beach to advance the development of our Air Voltaic Cell technology. Their investmentenables the transition from lab-scale development to real-world pilots, including initial work with CCEP’s cooler fleet. It also accelerates our route to market and deployment across energy-intensive applications, such as HVAC and data centres, with the potential to reduce energy consumption, emissions, and reliance on the grid at scale.”

Joe Franses, VP Sustainability at CCEP, added: “We continue to be excited about the potential of the technology that Ionech is developing, and how it could support CCEP in accelerating towards our sustainability goals. This latest investment brings us closer to that potential.”

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