8 minute read
Technology spotlight Advances in technology
NEWS
TECHNOLOGYSPOTLIGHT
Advances in technology across industry
Volvo’s Cyclist Protection System
AT the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, Doug Speck, senior vice-president Marketing, Sales and Customer Service at Volvo Car Group, introduced a ground-breaking safety feature – a technology that detects and automatically brakes for cyclists swerving out in front of the car.
The advanced sensor system scans the area ahead. If a cyclist heading in the same direction as the car suddenly swerves out in front of the car as it approaches from behind and a collision is imminent, there is an instant warning and full braking power is applied.
The system consists of a radar unit integrated into the car’s grille, a camera fitted in front of the interior rear-view mirror and a central control unit. The radar’s task is to detect objects in front of the car and to determine the distance to them. The high-resolution camera makes it possible to spot the moving pattern of pedestrians and cyclists. The central control unit continuously monitors and evaluates the traffic situation.
The auto brake system requires both the radar and the camera to confirm the object. With the advanced sensor technology, it is then possible to apply full braking power immediately when necessary. www.volvocars.com
An animal to feed your eco-car
The marine animal tunicate can be used both as biofuel and fish food, according to prizewinning research from Norway.
On the ocean floor, under the pier, and on ship ropes – that’s where the tunicates live. Tunicates are marine filter feeders that serve as bacteria eaters and as a foodstuff in Korea and Japan. But in the future they may become more prevalent.
Five researchers at the University of Bergen (UiB) and Uni Research have found that a certain type of tunicate – ascidiacea – can be used as a renewable source of biofuel and fish food. It is the cellulose, the protein, and the Omega-3 fatty acids in the ascidiacea that is the cause of its many uses.
“Its mantle consists of cellulose, which is a collection of sugars. When cellulose is cleaved, one can obtain ethanol. And ethanol can be used for biofuel in cars. The animal’s body consists of large amounts of protein and Omega-3. This can be used for fish feed,” says Professor Eric Thompson at UiB’s Department of Biology.
“The bioethanol used today is unsustainable as it comes from foods already used for human consumption. That is why there has been a move towards using cellulose from the timber industry to produce bioethanol,” says Dr Sc. Christofer Troedsson of Uni Research’s Molecular Ecology Group and head of the research at UiB’s Marine Development Biology and the tunicate research project. “However, it is quite complicated to break down the cellulose in trees and convert it into ethanol. This is because the wood contains a substance called lignin, which is hard to separate from the cellulose. Tunicates contain no lignin. Their cellulose is also low in crystals and is more efficiently converted into ethanol.”
Troedsson also points out that using ascidiacea rather than trees is more environmentally friendly, because this does not occupy large tracts of land which could otherwise be used for other purposes, such as growing food. Visit: www.uib.no/news/nyheter/2013/03/ananimal-to-feed-your-eco-car
Turning oil production gas into energy
The Wärtsilä GasReformer is an innovative new product that enables gases produced during oil production, which by nature are rich in heavy hydrocarbons, to be converted into a methane rich product for utilisation in Wärtsilä dual-fuel engines operating at full performance levels. Traditionally such gases would be flared and wasted. While catalytic conversion of hydrocarbon feeds to hydrogen is a known process dating back to the early 20th century, the Wärtsilä GasReformer represents a totally new application under quite different conditions than that of the traditional process.
“Wärtsilä has considerable experience in the treatment of gaseous fuels for fuel cells, and this patented product is a result of this development work. It is yet another example of the company’s ability to develop solutions that combine both economic and environmental benefits. The uniqueness of the GasReformer is in its ability to convert unwanted heavier fractions from the gas into methane. By turning otherwise waste gas into fuel, the system significantly lowers operating costs while notably enhancing environmental sustainability. In locations where flaring is prohibited, this is especially important,” says Tore Lunde, director Wärtsilä Oil & Gas Systems. Visit: www.wartsila.com
EURO-REPORT
FOCUS ON... France
Ian Sparks reports from Paris on the government’s struggle to reduce its debt.
The bosses of France’s seven major defence companies have warned President Francois Hollande that the nation’s ‘leadership in Europe’ is threatened if the state cuts military spending.
The top executives representing the country’s third biggest industrial sector reminded Mr Hollande that the defence industry employs 165,000 workers – including thousands in the small and medium-sized company sector – and thousands of those were at risk if the state slashed back its investment in research and development of defence.
Any cutbacks could also threaten the €2.7 billion in foreign arms sales which the French defence industry generates for the French trade balance – which is currently in deficit to the tune of €70.1 billion.
The plea to the president was made by the heads of Dassault, DCNS, EADS, MBDA, Nexter, Safran and Thales – and comes as President Hollande faces stinging attacks on all sides for his handling of the economy and his failure to lower either the expanding national debt or the record ten per cent unemployment.
A joint letter to the president published in France said: “Our industry relies on government investment for the heavy spending needed for research and development. These investments must be maintained. The future of the sector depends on it.
“Defence companies must offer technology transfer to win export contracts, which means that they must maintain a permanent technological lead if they are to stay ahead of emerging markets.
“The R&D spending is also needed because of dual military and civil applications. The airline industry benefits from the money spent on defence, but which spills over into civilian use.
“Strategic competences are at risk if spending is cut, with consequences for design, production, security of supply and crucially jobs.” Cutting stakes
President François Hollande has already admitted his socialist government can’t meet budget-deficit targets it promised to the European Union last year, and as well as planning cuts in defence spending, he is also exploring how the state could sell off slices of nationalised companies without sacrificing the control that government ownership helps it retain.
France’s national debt grew to 6.8 per cent to €1.83 trillion in 2012, or more than 90 per cent of the country’s GDP. In the 2013 budget, the government forecasts that it will spend around €48.8 billion servicing its debt.
France’s industry minister Arnaud Montebourg said in a recent TV interview: “As part of the budget restructuring, and the modernisation of our public policy, we are indeed thinking about changing our ownership stakes. We’re not ruling out that kind of move, but we do not want to lose our means of influence over companies.”
Any stake sales would come as the government struggles to rein in the debt load with an economy that has been stagnating for over a year. Mr Hollande has raised taxes and pledged to cut spending, but still has little room for manoeuvre as he seeks to balance the country’s budget by 2017 – and he has come in for harsh criticism from the left-wing media for the ‘anti-socialist’ option of selling off the country’s family silver.
Some of the government’s main state holdings include stakes in nuclear-engineering group Areva, France Telecom, Air France and the car maker Renault. Mr Montebourg refused to reveal which companies might come up for sale, but one government official told the AFP news agency that selling some of the country’s 85 per cent stake in energy giant Electricité de France was ‘the obvious choice’.
EDF’s shares have gained around 12 per cent since the start of the year, and France can lower its stake to 70 per cent under existing law. Reducing its stake down to 70 per cent would reap the state around €4.3 billion based on EDF’s current share price.
Privatising off parts of state-run companies was already started by former president Nicolas Sarkozy, who sold three per cent of EDF in late 2007 to help fund universities.
Then in February, France raised about €448.5 million from the sale of 3.12 per cent of defence equipment maker Safran, bringing the French state’s stake down to 27 per cent. The government said it planned to invest the proceeds elsewhere in the economy, rather than directly plug holes in its finances.
Mr Hollande may feel one glimmer of hope can be found in the latest figures for industrial output, which rose by 0.7 per cent in February – compared to a fall of 0.8 per cent in January – mainly thanks to increased production in car and aircraft factories and a refinery that re-opened.
But Bruno Cavalier, chief economist at Oddo and Compagnie, told the Bloomberg financial TV channel: “This isn’t the beginning of the recovery. Confidence is dropping, even more so in services than industry. France is in recession and will stay there for at least several more months.”
And Julien Manceaux, an economist at ING Bank NV in Brussels, added to Bloomberg: “Despite industrial output creeping up in February, there is little reason to cheer. It is clear that if confidence does not increase faster, even a zero percent growth rate will be a challenging target for the French economy in 2013.” n
