The Finalists of Climate Change Green Innovations 2009: The Black Phantom and Deflecktors
A solar-powered cardboard cooker which aims to transform the lives of hundreds of millions of villagers in developing countries is the award – winner of the global competition for true green innovation to tackle climate change.
Here are the finalists of Climate Change Challenge Green Innovation Competition 2009:
1. THE BLACK PHANTOM Carbonscape, New Zeland
Carbonscape-the finalist of Climate Change Innovation Competition 2009
The machine, small enough to fit inside a shipping container and be transported anywhere in the world, is “effectively one giant microwave”. In goes biomass – agricultural waste, wood thinnings, even sewage – and out comes a dense, carbon-rich material.
The technique has been used for tens of thousands of years by farmers worldwide to improve yields. But scientists have now discovered that charcoal remains “remarkably stable”, making an ideal carbon sink. The material could be buried underground in former coalmines or used to fertilise soil as ‘biochar’.
Another possibility is to burn the charcoal as a super-efficient fuel in power stations and cooking stoves. Even then, the process remains carbon-neutral as long as more biomass is grown to absorb the resulting emissions.
Professor Chris Turney explains that, while the unit runs off electricity, it still fixes more carbon than is created by generating that power. It is also possible to ‘recycle’ the gases produced and turn them into ‘green electricity’ to power the machine. Long-term, Carbonscape is looking to generate other green bi-products from their approach
Using charcoal as a carbon sink is attracting a lot of attention worldwide, with officials at the Poznan climate conference declaring the practice could eventually be eligible for carbon credits under the Kyoto Protocol. Carbon sink technology “could become a source of income for the developing world, and an incentive for them to plant trees on a cyclical basis,” he says.
“Combines nature’s ability to sequester carbon with a high-tech solution to make it permanent”, Mark Hurd, chief executive, president and chairman, HP
2. Deflecktors ADEF Ltd, USA
Deflector-the finalist of Climate Change Innovation Competition 2009
Deflecktors are inexpensive, lightweight covers fitted to truck wheels, which improve fuel efficiency by reducing drag.
Fitted onto the eight wheels of a truck and its trailer, the Deflecktor cover – made of lightweight fabric – is calculated to cut fuel consumption by two per cent. It works by covering the wheel holes to reduce turbulence as lorries move at speed. Entrepreneur Jon Fleck points out that on industrial-sized wheels, each of the holes is roughly the size of a car window.
The fuel-saving statistics have already aroused interest from multi-national trucking company Schneider National, which is testing the product on its 15,000-strong fleet. On average, it takes six months to break even on the $50 cost of each Deflecktor.
“I’m coming at this from an economic perspective,” says Mr Fleck. “Quite frankly, carbon emissions aren’t top of the agenda for these companies.” He adds that there is additional money-making potential from advertising on the fabric.
Mr Fleck designed his first wheel cover 20 years ago, but the product virtually made him bankrupt. Its 50-odd metal components were hard to fit and its weight (3.5kg) cancelled out some of the fuel efficiency gains. It wasn’t until he saw a pop-up laundry basket at a trade fair in Germany that he had the idea to use fabric and wire instead: “That was the lightbulb moment.” The Deflecktor, made of just nine parts, weighs just 800g.
If all American trucks used the covers, Mr Fleck calculates they would save 460 million gallons of diesel a year. He says recent landmark legislation in California requiring long-haul truckers to fit aerodynamic devices could be just what his invention needs to really take off.
“This simple idea could make a huge difference”, Sir Richard Branson, chairman, president and chief executive, the Virgin Group
“Easy to implement, very scalable – helps the environment and saves money”, Leon Sandler, executive director of the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
See more finalists of Climate Change Green Innovations 2009:
The Winner of Climate Change Green Innovations 2009
The Finalists of Climate Change Green Innovations 2009: Mootral and Ceiling Tiles
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