GREEN RANKING FOR 2009
Ranking: 23=
Worth: £1.9bn
Green investment: Renewable energy

Fred Koch, a Kansas oilman who invented a way to refine petrol from heavy oil, died in 1967 leaving his conglomerate, Koch Industries, to his four sons. The brothers fell out and in 1983, Bill, an MIT graduate, sold his stake to two of his brothers for $1.3 billion. Bill Koch set up the Oxbow Corporation with roots in renewable energy planning, building and operating geo-thermal power plants that tap deep into the earth for natural steam. Oxbow’s power plants in the United States, the Philippines and Costa Rica have received awards for providing clean, reliable and renewable energy. It is also involved in ultra-clean coal production from mines that are reclaimed after use. Forbes put his fortune at about £2.03 billion in October 2008. We cut him back to £1.9 billion today.