In order to reduce vehicle carbon emissions more effectively, a team of students from Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands built a very special electric prototype. This electric car named ZEM will not only produce carbon emissions during driving, but also absorb and store carbon dioxide in the surrounding air.
[Photo/Agencies]
The sports all-electric car comes from the Netherlands assemblies a BMW coupe, but is unique: it captures more carbon than it items. This sports electric car from the Netherlands looks like a BMW sports car, but it is unique: it absorbs more carbon than it emits.
"Our end goal is to create a more sustainable future," said Jens Lahaije, finance manager for TU/ecomotive, the Eindhoven University of Technology student team that created the car.
TU/ecomotive, the student team of Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, is the developer of this car. Jens Lahaye, the financial manager of the team, said: "Our ultimate goal is to create a more sustainable future."
Called ZEM, for zero emission mobility, the two-seater houses a Cleantron lithium-ion battery pack, and most of its parts are 3D-printed from recycled plastics, Lahaije said.
Lahaye said that they named the two-seater ZEM, which is the abbreviation of zero emission mobility. The car is equipped with a lithium battery pack from Cleantron, and most parts of the car body are printed by recycled plastic in 3D.
The target is to minimize carbon dioxide emitted during the car’s full lifespan, from manufacturing to recycling, he added.
Lahaiye also said that their goal is to minimize carbon dioxide emissions during the whole cycle from automobile manufacturing to scrapping and recycling.
Battery electric vehicles emit virtually no CO2 during operation compared with combustion-engine vehicles, but battery cell production can create so much pollution that it can take EVs tens of thousands of miles to achieve "carbon parity" with comparable fossil-fueled models.
Compared with fuel vehicles, electric vehicles hardly emit carbon dioxide during operation, but the production of batteries will produce a lot of pollution. Therefore, when the mileage of vehicles reaches tens of thousands of miles, the full-cycle carbon emission of electric vehicles is equivalent to that of fuel vehicles.
According to official website, a TU/ecomotive team, ZEM can capture carbon dioxide in the air while the vehicle is driving through direct air capture technology and collect it in the filter.
“Direct air capture is a fairly new method of cleaning the air by capturing CO2 into a filter. We have made use of this innovative technology and imple Mentioned this in our car. The idea is very simple: while driving, air will move through our self-designed filters and the CO2 will be captured and stored. ""Direct air capture technology is a brand-new method to purify the air by capturing carbon dioxide into the filter. We apply this innovative technology to ZEM cars. The idea is simple: when the vehicle is driving, the air will pass through the filter designed by us, and the carbon dioxide in it will be captured and stored by the filter. "
ZEM uses two filters that can capture up to 2 kilograms (4.41 lb) of CO2 over 20,000 miles of driving, the Eindhoven team estimated. They imagine a future when filters can be emptied at charging stations.
Eindhoven’s team estimated that ZEM’s two filters could capture up to 2kg of carbon dioxide in 20,000 miles. They imagine that the carbon dioxide in the filter can be emptied at the charging station in the future.
The students are showing their vehicle on a US promotional tour to universities and companies from the East Coast to Silicon Valley.
From the East Coast to Silicon Valley, students are touring American universities and companies to show their cars.
Source: Reuters, TU/ecomotive
Editor: Dong Jing
Source: China Daily.