Project Bambou is a french start up initiated by Sebastian Kulak and the laboratory of mechanical and composite CRIT. It aims to develop a vehicle workshop (utility) 100% electric combining 3 innovations:

• the multi-energy management, 
• the use of organic materials (Eco design) 
• a lightweight chassis.

The bambou project itself the goal of designing an electric utility vehicle fully autonomous and modulable. The company is expecting a first fund of € 500 000 for the boot process, including prototypes and approvals. Sebastien Kulak  joined the incubator Midi-Pyrenees in February 2009 . The sales forecast is estimated at 200 vehicles per year over the national territory. “We plan to integrate the European market in the wake,” says Sebastian Kulak, the holder of the project. 

This project is for communities and small business users seeking an environmentally friendly vehicle for various uses. Equipped with batteries and a biodiesel generator, the utility has a range of 80km, run by a GPS system to ensure optimum use of equipment. The car would a offer a strong modularity since an innovative system of clips allows two people to transform the vehicle from the passenger transport version to version utility. This modularity is the result of innovative multidisciplinary project, integrating various industrial partners and research. Furthermore, the chassis, for example, has been developed with the automaker Fior Concept, also based in Nogaro. Research on the integration of biomaterials for their part are conducted in partnership with CATAR-CRITT Agricultural Resources and Regional Center of Innovation and Technology Transfer (CRITT) mechanics and composite Toulouse.

Source Article & Photo : Objectif News

The number of commercial passenger flights is currently rocketing, with the prospect of the increase speeding up still further during the next few years. Consequently, even if aviation is today not a major contributor to CO2 emissions, its share of total human emissions is expected to grow in the coming years and could reach 5% by 2050 according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Winglets are devices on the tip of an aircraft’s wings which reduce drag and therefore kerosene consumption. Such devices have now been used for several years on commercial planes. A new cylindrical winglet with helical slot has been invented in France that is approximately 5 times more efficient than current winglets. This new device is called Minix.

This innovation is a fixed ends of the wings aircraft, to reduce their penetration into the air and limit the eddies of air created invisible in their and called wake vortex. This invention reduces the consumption of aircraft Transit kerosene of 6%. Suitable for blades wind turbines, it allows a electrical efficiency additional annual of 14%.

It smoothes the aerodynamics of the aircraft by reducing induced drag and wingtip vortices, and increasing the lift:drag ratio.The helical slots cut into its length work on the principle that the vortices generated at the wingtip will hit the wing at the same distance inboard of the tip as the wing’s thickness. As the pressure exerted by the vortex on the wing surface increases, flow escapes through the slits and is dissipated into a linear flow through the open rear of the tube.

An A340 fitted with standard winglets can save an estimated $176,000 per year in fuel – but if it was fitted with Minix it could save around $880,000. “The official drag reduction for the A340 is 1.2%. Minix reduces net drag by 6%. Not only does it reduce drag, and increase lift but it also eliminates vortices between M0.3 and M0.8,” says inventor Christian Hughes. And it is not only aircraft that can benefit from this technology; it can be adapted for rotor blades, wind turbine blades and various other applications… !

Source : Minix

MCE-5 is a french company, based in Lyon, developing a mechanical solution that allows the mass production of VCR (Variable Compression Ratio) engines to the required environmental standards. The MCE-5 VCR engine block is designed to replace traditional fixed-compression engine blocks.

The MCE-5 technology is an all-in-one VCR engine block that combines power transmission and compression-ratio control. This new engine with variable compression ratio (VCR) whose interest is twofold: a reduction of fuel consumption by 20% to 35% depending on the power of vehicles,a reduction in CO2 emissions below future Euro VI scheduled for 2015.    The MCE-5 integrates long-life gears and an exclusive roller-guided piston that is not subject to slap or radial stress. This feature ensures exceptional durability and reliability for high-loaded VCR engines on high mileages. This means that the MCE-5 meets one of the greatest challenges for downsized engines with extreme power and torque density – durability.

The great strength of the MCE-5 VCR engine block also results from the rigidity of its crankshaft and of its main structure, which give the hydrodynamic bearings an optimum geometrical environment and a long lifespan. The MCE-5 VCR engine block has no negative effects on the other components or the vehicle. Exhaust and transmission connections are precisely the same as those of a conventional engine.

After 11 years of research and development, and investments in excess of 30 million euros, the MCE-5 is currently the only variable compression ratio engine that can be industrialized in the medium term. Already successfully developed, MCE-5 can be mass produced as of 2016-2017 thanks to a consortium of 12 major internationally recognized european companies that have joined forces for this project, and more than 60 companies that have worked over the last eleven years to bring it to its current level of development. The MCE-5 project is supported and financed by various French and European institutions concerned with industry, transport, energy savings and pollutant emissions reductions. The sale of licenses should provide a cumulative turnover of approximately EUR 900 million between 2009 and 2012. Then provided each year from 2015 through royalties on sales in large series of vehicles.

Source : MCE-5

Directed by engineering students, Nephelios is the first airship in the world powered by solar energy. While the Paris Air Show celebrates its centenary, the Néphélios will be presented from 15 to 21 June in Paris. It has flexible solar panels on top of the envelope. Solar energy collected feeds an electric motor disposed behind the steering pod, which is equipped with two propellers bipales. The balloon is inflated with helium, a gas fuels that could ultimately be replaced by hydrogen.Called Sol’R, the project was born from the meeting in 2008 of three students and Stephane Rousson, a french adventurer with passion for airships. The solar airship called “Nephelios” was designed, developed and built by a thirty students both major French schools as technical schools. The aircraft has a flexible solar panels on top of the envelope, which feeds an electric motor with two propellers bipales.

This summer, the airship is expected to make its first flight over the English Channel, replicating the feat of 100 years after Blériot. For INSA Lyon (Institut National des Sciences Appliquées), this project contributes to a more ecological, more social and humanitarian access to energy and transport, using a device with low impact on the environment while being able to carry heavy loads and bulky.

More information : INSA LYON Source : INSA LYON, THe GUARDIAN

C ZEN is a french project of electric car let by Jean Yves Castellon and Hervé Arnaud.

They developed the C Zen car which have an electric motor, a pack of lithium ion batteries providing a range of 120 to 160 km and an automatic transmission. It has a chassis cage reinforced with an aluminium roll cage. Its top speed is 95 km /h and it costs 10 500 euros.

Source : C-Zen

More information : www.courb.net

Transport solutions supporting sustainable development.

The company Eco & Mobilité is located in the Poitou–Charentes department. Just around the corner from Futurescope and the motor racing circuit at Vigeant, the company has doubtless benefited from these influences in developing its vehicles: Projecting the future and technology. Arising from the FORMES & OUTILLAGES group, a specialist in modelling and car bodywork, ECO & MOBILITE has created a range of electric vehicles under the ELV brand. The Company have devoted to the aim of creating a range of electric vehicles(EV) or electrically-assisted vehicles (EAV), able to serve sectors such as tourism, personal transport, advertising, parcel delivery services, travelling sales, highway maintenance, etc.

Source : Eco&Mobilite website

More informations on : www.eco-mobilite.com

Fuel consumption and CO2 emissions reduced by almost 30% for collecting household waste in the Greater Lyon area with the Renault Trucks hybrid vehicleThis means that the diesel engine is only used for those phases during which it consumes the least, i.e. when travelling. Apart from cutting emissions, the use of an electric motor in hybrid technology also significantly reduces noise levels.Following the tests in Lyon, an initial series of 6 pre-production Renault Trucks hybrid vehicles will be operated by a number of customers to apply this technology to other urban distribution activities.

The principle of hybrid (or “parallel”) technology developed by Renault Trucks is very straightforward: the vehicle’s kinetic energy is recovered during braking or deceleration and converted into electricity. Stored in a battery located in the wheelbase, this electricity then supplies the MDS (Motor Drive System) electrical motor which provides power for starting the vehicle, supplying its electrical functions and propulsion up to 20 km/h. This means that the diesel engine is only used for those phases during which it consumes the least, i.e. when travelling. Apart from cutting emissions, the use of an electric motor in hybrid technology also significantly reduces noise levels.Following the tests in Lyon, an initial series of 6 pre-production Renault Trucks hybrid vehicles will be operated by a number of customers to apply this technology to other urban distribution activities.

Electravia is the first electric aircraft with batteries which will have an airwothiness certificate (and not a glider, motoglider,…). Its autonomy (48 mn ) is the most important never reached on batteries (and not thanks to photovoltaic systems). One of the challenge was to scale up electric drive to equip passenger – carrying conventional aircraft of the kind flown by recreational pilots. The French engineers team who is behind this project use the experience and skills of the ACV Aero Service and ELECTRAVIA firms, and the APAME (association for the promotion of Electrical engine aircrafts). These innovative works are managed by Anne Lavrand, Electra project manager.

The single-seater Electra is the first conventional airplane to run entirely on batteries. The plane has a very traditional design, the only difference being the method for turning the prop. It shows that as the energy density of batteries increases, so too does their potential application

More information on : www.electravia.fr