Press Releases
Rotterdam, 13 May 2013 – Driving from Rotterdam to Moscow on one litre of fuel. It would appear to be an impossible task, but students from all over Europe are proving the contrary. For the 29th time, more than 200 teams from 24 countries are battling out between them how they can drive as far as possible in a self-built vehicle on as little fuel as possible. Frugality records are not only broken with conventional fuels, such as petrol and ethanol, but also with alternative propulsion agents, such as solar energy, electricity and hydrogen.
In this edition, The Linde Group is also sponsoring the ‘hydrogen teams’. Not only with physical canisters of hydrogen, but also in particular with a hydrogen specialist, to advise and assist the student teams. For hydrogen is the lightest and smallest element in the universe. Therefore, it is a major challenge for the teams to prevent any form of leakage when feeding the hydrogen to the fuel cell. If they do not manage to achieve that, the car will fail the test and will not be allowed to participate in the race.
Peter Ripson, director Sales & Marketing of Linde Benelux: “Hydrogen is one of the spearheads in the field of ‘clean energy’ for the entire Linde Group. During the past years, major progress has been made on the road to market-ready systems and products, in respect of both vehicle design and the underlying infrastructure. A major advantage of hydrogen over other alternatives such as electricity is the vast action radius (around 700 kilometres on a tankful) and the short charging time of three minutes (comparable to diesel and petrol cars).”
What is Linde showing during the Shell Eco marathon?
In addition to the students’ competition, the Shell Eco marathon offers a broad range of interactive activities for young and old in the Shell Energy Lab. A place where energy is the centre of attention and tomorrow’s world can be experienced today. Here, Linde is supplying liquid nitrogen for the Technology Promotion Foundation (Stichting Techniek Promotie), which makes a hovering train run by means of nitrogen.
The Linde stand can be found in the paddock, right in the centre amongst all teams. Here, the public is informed about gases, through demonstrations and other means. It is also explained what energy means for Linde. Outside, there is a mobile hydrogen charging station in the shape of a lorry, which can be flexibly deployed for charging vehicles with hydrogen.
Additionally, Linde is one of the participants in the international Powering Progress Together forum. During this forum on Wednesday, 15 May, a mix of 500 representatives from the business world, government and science will get together in order to try and figure out how new cooperation associations and systematic thinking can help in developing the resilience of a city, economy or eco system – so that they may adapt and, where possible, even grow, in a tense world. The core question is to which extent a system must be capable of overcoming ecological, social and economic changes, just as more tensions arise because of increasing pressure on our sources of energy, water and nutrition and because of acute events, such as drought or flooding.
About the Shell Eco marathon in general:
The Shell Eco marathon is one of the world’s most challenging students’ competitions in the fields of innovation, technology and sustainability. Every year, events are held in Europe, the United States and Asia. The European edition every year welcomes 3,000 talented young people from secondary schools, universities and institutions for technological and scientific education from more than twenty European countries. With the Shell Eco marathon, Shell challenges them to drive as frugally as possible in a self-made vehicle. The winner is the team that covers the greatest distance on the equivalent of 1 kWh or 1 litre of fuel, thanks to creative designs and technological knowledge.
The Shell Eco marathon gathers current and future leaders and people together, who are passionate about their objective of finding sustainable solutions for the world energy problem. By cooperating with students and partners all over the world in the context of the marathon, Shell underlines its dedication to helping the world to meet its increasing demand for energy in a responsible manner. The Shell Eco marathon is supported by Michelin, supplier of specially designed tyres, The Linde Group, supplier of hydrogen technology, technical partner Southwest Research Institute and the ANWB (sister organisation of the AA), supplier of technicians and track marshalls.
The Shell Eco marathon is a worldwide initiative, with editions in Europe, the United States and Asia. The American competition took place from 4 to 7 April in Houston (US); the Asian edition will be run from 4 to 7 July in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.