Students throw down the gauntlet to motor manufacturers
By Heather Allen
An electric passenger car that captures more carbon dioxide than it emits has been developed by students at TU Eindhoven.
The prototype car, called Zem, purifies the air through a specially designed filter. The car stores the CO₂ after capture, ready for convenient disposal, possibly while charging. In this way, the students say, Zem can make a major contribution to reducing global warming. The student team aims to improve the vehicle in the coming years, with the goal of making it carbon-neutral for its entire life cycle. The ultimate aim is for the car to go on sale to the public worldwide.
The TU/ecomotive team points to statistics which show that the transport sector is a major polluter, with recent figures suggesting that the sector produces about a quarter of the EU’s total carbon emissions. Passenger cars are responsible for more than 60 per cent of these emissions, the students say. To help reduce these emissions, the 35 students on the team designed, developed and built a car that produces low or no emissions both during the production process and while in use on the road. The team is also aiming for optimal reusability of materials in the future.
Zem is capable of capturing two kilograms of CO₂ through a special filter, at an estimated 20,000 travel miles per year, which means that ten cars can store as much carbon dioxide as an average tree. The team argues that the overall payoff would be significant if this was implemented on a large scale in every passenger car, as there are more than a billion passenger cars currently in use around the world. If every car captured rather than emitted CO₂, global warming would be significantly reduced, the students point out. The students are in the process of applying for a patent for the filter through which the outside air flows.
“It is really still a proof-of-concept, but we can already see that we will be able to increase the capacity of the filter in the coming years. Capturing CO₂ is a prerequisite for compensating for emissions during production and recycling,” Louise de Laat, TU/ecomotive team manager, says. TU/ecomotive is planning for a future where the full filter can be emptied easily via the charging station when the car is charging. The car can currently drive 320 kilometers before the filter is full.
A life cycle analysis with SimaPro, the environmental life cycle and carbon footprint software, can be used to determine how far the life cycle of the vehicle is CO₂-neutral. Innovations which contribute to this goal include the 3D printing techniques used by the students. Zem is completely 3D-printed using recycled plastic (PETG) strengthened with either glass fibers (body panels), or carbon fibers (monocoque). The interior has been 3D-printed with recycled plastics, including the seats, which are covered with biodegradable foam and finished off with pineapple-based pinatex leather. The student team also prints circular plastics that can be shredded and reused for other projects.
Zem has been designed with a sporty appearance, with the aim of attracting the attention of the automotive industry, according to Nikki Okkels, external relations manager at TU/ecomotive: “We want to tickle the industry by showing what is already possible. If 35 students can design, develop and build an almost carbon-neutral car in a year, then there are also opportunities and possibilities for the industry. We call on the industry to pick up the challenge, and of course we are happy to think along with them. We’re not finished developing yet either, and we want to take some big steps in the coming years. We warmly invite car manufacturers to come and take a look.”