Member Article

Derek Foxcroft on CAT UK technologies

Carbon Abatement Technology is big business these days, as businesspeople and homeowners search for the optimum way to cut down emissions whilst also saving money - and Derek Foxcroft, managing director of CAT UK believes he has found the solution.

Throughout his varied career, Derek has worked in or around the transport sector and is well aware of the issues facing the industry. Diesel can amount to up to 40% of a firms overheads, and as prices continue to rise, Derek decided to do something about it.

“I had tinkered with the idea before using hydrogen, but this could be quite dangerous, and required human intervention,” he explains.

“Eventually I came up with the idea for ECO-CAT, which uses heat from an engine as a catalyst, and requires very little maintenance.

ECO-CAT is a patented fuel saving and emission reduction technology, which has the ability to reduce fuel costs by between 18 and 21%. This represents a massive saving for hauliers.

“One customer bought the product on the premise that he would make back the costs in 8 weeks, but actually the efficiency was so great it was far less than that,” Derek continues.

“If they can reduce their fuel costs, they can quote less and will have smaller overheads, and in turn this reduction will be passed on to supermarket pricing.”

While his primary customers are haulage firms, he has now been asked to design the product for motorbikes, and a $44 million Chinese super-yacht.

“We have just received our first major order, which could result in exponential growth potential for the company.”

This product could completely change the way the haulage industry is operated, so it is interesting that some have failed to take Derek seriously in the past.

“I have no formal training in this area and the idea has been borne out of my own determination to create a ground breaking product, as well as working closely with the CPI and universities in the North East,” he says.

“However we’ve just been nominated for an MBA Environment Award 2011 - which goes to show that we do deserve some serious credit.”

As well as supporting hauliers, Derek believes that his product can be adapted to fit into domestic heating systems, and could help to reduce fuel poverty in the UK.

“Fuel poverty is a real issue, and this product could cut fuel bills by up to 10% - making a massive difference.

“What drives me are products which bring value to peoples lives, and by engineering products like this I really hope I can do that.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .