All posts by Lenore Fedow

CSE Issuer Stories, Magazine

CellCube Energy Storage Systems: Smoothing the path between renewable energy and its end-user

Smoothing the path between renewable energy and its end-user

The path toward clean energy has proved to be a bumpy one. Misconceptions about the viability and reliability of renewable energy sources have sometimes hindered progress.

CellCube Energy Storage Systems Inc. (CSE:CUBE; OTCQB CECBF; Frankfurt 01X) has heard all the questions and concerns. How does solar power work when the sun goes down? How do you utilize wind power on a not-so-breezy day? The company has found that the missing link between clean, renewable energy and intermittency is in energy storage.

Despite the confusion about just how clean energy works, CellCube Chief Executive Officer Mike Neylan believes that a societal transition from fossil fuels to cleaner or renewable sources is well underway.

“The fundamental need for large-scale energy storage is driven by the increased integration of renewable energy into the electricity grid,” says Neylan.

Neylan, with over 20 years of corporate experience under his belt, has a blend of energy know-how and the financial experience to back it up. Formerly, he was a private equity portfolio manager with alternative investment manager Sprott Inc. and oversaw an investment fund focused on physical power trading when he was the chief operating officer of Aquilon Power Corp.

Renewable energy generation has been increasing, spurred on by the rapid growth in solar and wind power generation, according to a study by the International Renewable Energy Agency.

Solar power generation has increased by 31% compared with 2015 while wind power generation is up by 16%, as per the study.  A total of US$19 billion worth of public investment was put into renewables in 2016. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance research, storage markets are estimated to reach 40GW by 2030 and are expected to spend over $100 billion in the ramp-up phase over the same period.

“Climate change is driving decarbonization and the increase of renewable sources powering the electricity grid,” says Neylan. “Consumers are looking for cleaner sources of energy with the same duration and reliability that they’re accustomed to having. Clean energy sources backed up by a long duration energy storage system fit the bill.”

Most commodities have always been able to be stored, like water in a reservoir or grain in a silo. Until relatively recently, there was little technical capacity for storing grid-scale electricity except through pumped hydro projects – which are expensive and have geographical constraints. Production would have to always meet demand to avoid waste and ensure a reliable and balanced grid.

CellCube stores energy by way of a vanadium redox flow battery, a brainchild of NASA in the 1970s.

Named after Vanadis, the Norse goddess of beauty, vanadium is a silvery, ductile metal known for its brilliant colors and for making steel stronger. Vanadium salts are non-flammable and non-explosive, increasing safety and battery life.

CellCube’s vanadium redox flow batteries provide 100% useable energy without impacting product life – there is no capacity degradation. The energy storage system comes as a containerized solution with scalable multi-unit modules that can provide grid-scale rated power and between four to eight hours of energy storage.

A battery’s cycle starts when the battery is fully charged and ends once it has been discharged, or all the stored energy has been used up, and then it’s recharged again.

Unlike other technologies on the market, CellCube’s energy storage system doesn’t suffer from cycling dependency and has a much longer lifespan – lasting more than 20,000 cycles. The battery is ideal for long-term renewable energy projects with a lifespan matching that of conventional power generation assets at 30+ years.

If there is ever a service interruption, CellCube receives an alert so that they can respond promptly and keep the energy flowing while reducing the cost of wasted energy. The battery can be looked after around-the-clock or be monitored remotely.

In the past, electricity storage was limited to small electrical-chemical batteries like lead acid or nickel-cadmium batteries. Lithium-ion batteries grew in popularity but were better suited for short-term storage. Vanadium batteries are better equipped for large-scale stationary energy storage, according to CellCube.

The Toronto-based company has original units that have been operating for nearly 10 years, or 11,000 battery cycles. In total, there are 130 installations in 24 countries, including units in the Kalahari Desert in Southern Africa and famously frigid Siberia.

Its adaptiveness to weather extremes also sets the battery apart from the competition.

While some parts of the world look toward clean energy, other parts are still in the dark. CellCube has the capacity to bring electrification to future generations in rural areas.

Excess renewable energy can be stored and then fed into a microgrid, or an electricity grid separate from the mainframe grid. A diesel generator, less expensive than gasoline but a nonrenewable form of energy, can be used to charge the CellCube, but a shift to clean energy may lead to more autonomy for distant communities.

“If you dovetail it with solar or wind, then you have a cheap, clean, renewable source of energy driving the power but used in conjunction with storage, you have a much more efficient system completely independent from the grid,” says Neylan. “So, it allows communities that are isolated in any particular way to really assume control for their own power generation systems and to do so on an economic basis and on a clean basis.”

CellCube is looking to pave the rough road to renewable energy by providing consumers in all locations and climates with cleaner energy they can depend on to power their lives in rain or shine.

This story was originally published at www.proactiveinvestors.com on August 31, 2018 and featured in The Public Entrepreneur magazine.

Learn more about CellCube Energy Storage Systems. at https://www.cellcubeenergystorage.com/ and on the CSE website at https://thecse.com/en/listings/mining/cellcube-energy-storage-systems-inc.

CSE Issuer Stories, Magazine

Canntab Therapeutics: Merging medical cannabis with pharmaceutical expertise

The cannabis market is full of potential and creativity, with companies introducing new and innovative products every day. Dispensaries have gone way beyond smokable marijuana, offering customers everything from cannabis-infused edibles like beer and chocolate to personal care products like lotion and eye creams.

But the cannabis market isn’t all fun and games. Canntab Therapeutics Ltd. (CSE:PILL) is looking to fill a need in the pharmaceutical space.

Based in Ontario, the company was founded by pharmaceutical industry professionals. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Renwick was the former CEO of Orbus Pharma Inc., a generic drug developer and manufacturer. Prior to that, he was at Indukern Chemie AG, a Swiss pharmaceutical company.

Although once a private company, Canntab merged with Telferscot Resources on April 20, 2017 — a date synonymous with marijuana. Exactly one year later, the company went public on the unofficial pot holiday.

The company is presumably the first to offer medical marijuana in pill form.

The technology behind the pill was licensed from a predecessor firm. Since then, Canntab has filed seven patents for its two products. Approval from Health Canada to proceed with third-party clinical trials is in the works.

When a patient smokes marijuana or eats cannabis-infused edibles, it can be difficult to measure exactly how much of the medicinal elements are being delivered.

Chief Financial Officer Richard Goldstein also points to the potential danger of cannabis products being created by those without a pharmaceutical background, without GMP, or “Good Manufacturing Practices,” in place.

“A lot of it is being made in home kitchens and home basements. They’re not being made in the GMP environment. And yet, the marketplace continues to eat this stuff up. It’s quite scary at a level,” says Goldstein. He recalled a story where the tablets were so poorly pressed that they weren’t able to be dissolved in a patient’s system before exiting.

In contrast, the company’s extended-release tablets offer a consistent, stable dose each time and aren’t susceptible to spoiling and converting into other cannabinoid elements when exposed to certain environments like an oil-filled gel capsule would be.

“In true pharma, the only time you use a capsule to deliver medication is when you can’t have a tablet for that medication. If you can have a tablet, that is always the first choice,” says Renwick.

The tablets are intended to treat a variety of disorders, including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and arthritis. They can also act as a pain management and appetite loss drug for patients undergoing cancer treatments.

The pill delivery mechanism may also be the first step in reducing the stigma of marijuana by removing the smoking aspect.

Renwick recently had a conversation with a landlord who was spending hours in court after tenants complained about neighbors smoking marijuana, some of whom were using it for legal, medicinal purposes. The pill can be a smokeless alternative in areas where smoking isn’t allowed.

Canntab believes the pill alternative will also appeal to senior citizens who take multiple pills per day, especially in assisted living facilities where smoking may not be allowed.

“They’re not going to smoke. They’re not going to eat gummy bears, but they’ll take a pill if it makes them sleep better,” says Renwick.

The company does have a sleeping pill in the works, although clinical trials will still need to be performed.

And a future product line may include cannabis tablets intended to specifically treat sleep and social anxiety disorders.

While the legal landscape is always evolving from place to place, the company has come to agreements to expand outside of Canada.

Canntab is working on import and export permits, with agreements already in place to send tablets to Australia and Germany. Deals with Poland, Spain, and Greece are also being discussed.

Moving into the U.S. market is challenging. Recreational marijuana use is already legal in nine states, including California, Washington, Oregon and Nevada. Medicinal marijuana is legal in a total of 29 states, including those West Coast states as well as East Coast states like New York and Delaware. But on the federal level, cannabis is still illegal.

“Ultimately, we want to get something going in the US, preferably in California,” says Renwick.

The company has said it has a “soft plan” to get there by perhaps 2019. A lawyer is looking into licensing in California on its behalf.

A 2017 Gallup poll found that 64% of Americans support the legalization of marijuana.

Looking to the future, Canntab’s CFO is confident that the company is in good financial shape.

Goldstein notes that the company’s immediate cash needs have been fulfilled after going public.

“The good news is that we have lots of money to do what we want to do in the short term and then as opportunities present themselves, we’ll seek capital if necessary,” says Goldstein.

This story was featured in The Public Entrepreneur magazine.

Learn more about Canntab Therapeutics Limited at http://canntab.ca/ and on the CSE website at http://thecse.com/en/listings/life-sciences/canntab-therapeutics-limited.