H3E-INDUSTRIES : micro-hydro ecological

The ecological impact caused by micro-hydro facilities impedes the development of small hydro (<10>

In this context, H3E-Industries wants to develop and complete the installation of environmentally friendly turbines, the Aqualiennes ®, power from 50 kilowatts to 300 kilowatts. In a second phase, H3E-Industries develop ® Aqualiennes very small power of less than 50 KW and finally Aqualiennes ® exceeding 300 KW. 

Durin Roland, leader of H3E-Industries, won the national competition for the creation of innovative companies in 2005, organized by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research. As such, H3E-Industries has received funding to carry out his project of "Establishment and Development", on the study and implementation of 2 prototype micro Aqualiennes ® 50 kW and 150 kW. 

In his concept of micro turnkey, H3E-Industries integrates the waterwheel "invented by three researchers and for which the method was validated in 2004 in partnership with researchers CREMHyG (Center for Research and Testing Machines Hydraulic Grenoble) of the INP Grenoble. This "water wheel" has been the subject of patents in 60 countries. The exclusive exploitation rights for France are the property of the company H3E SARL, which has granted the right to H3E-Industries. Studies of international development are underway. 

The particularity of this new concept is the very slow speed of the wheel (about 10 rpm), which allows the descent of fish without mortality. The Aqualiennes ® are currently installed at sites falls low (1 to 3 meters) that may be channels or reaches existing reducing the civil engineering work and administrative procedures especially for sites based in the title ( about 30 000 sites are used in France / cf Dambrine report). 

The Aqualiennes ® have other advantages, particularly in terms of yields of around 80% and the payback time estimated at between 8 and 12 years. Sites equipped with Aqualiennes ® are managed remotely via a computer and software connected to a DSL line.

 

In his boot, H3E-Industries is accompanied by CREMHyG-INPG (University of Grenoble), IFMA (French Institute of Advanced Mechanics) (University of Clermont-Ferrand), a consulting firm specializing in mechanical and industry players such as Michelin. All these partners gives the project a multi skills on the technical information to optimize the performance of Aqualiennes ®. 

After a year and a half of work, the prototype of Aqualienne ® 50 kW has been installed and the second prototype of a power of 150 kW is being assembled and will be installed during the second half of 2007.

Source : H3E-industries, Phimeca, Tennerdis

More information : www.h3e.fr, www.tennerdis.fr, www.phimeca.com

JD TRANSBIO : Ecological pots

JD TRANSBIO is a young french company, based in Lyon, which  produced pots for the garden of plastic based potato starch, which are well within the sustainable development approach. It is a product containing GM-free starch, which decreases by 68% CO2 emitted during the transport, manufacturing and operation compared to a petro-chemical. They are mechanized. In addition, there is no discharge, the plant is preserved and there is less handling. This optimizes the overall cost compared to the operation of the plastic pot (no recycling, limited transportation, labor better value, lower cost structure, etc.)

Created by Julien de Wismes,Philippe Valentin, Gianfranco Ciccarelliand José Carvalheiro, the Company won yesterday the Environment Prize from the CGPME et Le Groupe Progrès.

Source : TLM, Le Progrès

More information : www.jdtransbio.fr

WATTECO : Intelligent home control

 

Street lighting control

Watteco is a French B2B leading « no-new-wire » company in the rapidly emerging market of Intelligent Home Control. Watteco has developed WPC (Watt Pulse Communication) a revolutionary worldwide patented Wideband Powerline technology for a variety of residential applications such as lighting appliance control, HVAC, gateway connectivity, energy efficiency, demand side management...Watteco is composed of high value engineers who aim to développ WPC technology as a future market standard.

Watteco is an innovative start-up founded in 1998 by two French engineers, Paul Bertrand and Jean-Noël Loiseau.

Home control

WPC uses a natural physical effect : the generation of electromagnetic Pulses due to load switch on. Compared to other PLC system, WPC does not use any carriers. As a result the communication stream can be significantly optimised: no Signal Processing for a lower cost, no analog front end for smallest size, no inductive coupling for a lower consumption (the 3 “common sense”  laws of Home Control)

In July 2008, the CEO of “EDF Energies Nouvelles”, the European leader in Green Energy, invests in Watteco. This confirms Watteco as the leader of Powerline Communication for Energy Efficiency -And on September 2008, Watteco joins the IPSO Alliance led by CISCO (Internet Protocol for Smart Objects) as a founding and Board member.

Source : WATTECO

More information : www.watteco.com

PELLENC SELECTIVE TECHNOLOGIES – Boreas paper sorting machine

For some time now, the paper industry has been looking for a new technology that facilitates efficient and effective sorting of mixed paper streams. This is why Pellenc ST and its R&D team developed Boreas, a system that can distinguish different sorts of paper and cardboard using a single infrared lighting unit, while at the same time identifying foreign materials (plastics and metals). In this way, the system ensures the reusability of the paper. The Boreas system from Pellec ST was launched in 2007, and since then it has been put into service at many sites inside and outside Europe.

The Boreas system can sort up to 8 metric tons of paper per hour. It is fed by a conveyor belt with a speed of 2.5 to 4.5 metres per second. For scanning and analysing the infeed paper, the system has a sensor that records measurement data at the rate of 2.3 million points per second. It can recognise objects with dimensions of 80 mm or larger, and it can eject them according to predefined criteria.

The Boreas system from Pellenc ST achieves a yield that is up to 90% higher than all competitive systems. The loss of usable material is thus kept to a minimum. This is excellent news for paper sorting centres, which can use the Boreas system to sort different types of paper and remove undesirable materials from the paper stream. It is also an attractive investment for paper mills, since it can help them select paper sorts with the right quality for their de-inking systems.

Source : PELLENC Selective technologies

More information on : www.pellencst.com

RECUPYL obtains EUR 14.5m Investment

Based on its knowledge of hydrometallurgy, Recupyl has built up a portfolio of patents for processes to treat a broad range of hazardous and industrial waste products. Since 2006, it has started a program to develop operational treatment facilities utilising its technologies, with a particular focus on household and electronic waste batteries.

Recupyl also acts as a leading R&D partner for many multinational companies who need to address the post-life treatment of their products. Examples of this include the recycling of fuel cells, electric and hybrid vehicle batteries, and solar panels. Recupyl has a team of highly skilled engineers, a laboratory with highly sophisticated analytical equipment, and a fully licensed industrial building in which it builds its pilot plants.In 2007, Recupyl was awarded the first prize for Clean Technology by Ademe, the French Environmental Protection Agency. Recupyl has also been awarded the 'Medaille du Prix Potier 2008' for innovation in chemistry for sustainable growth.

Recupyl S.A.S., which is headquartered in Grenoble, France, has received a commitment for a EUR14.5m capital injection from investors including its original backer Aloe Private Equity, as well as new investors, led by AGF Private Equity, to fund the next stage of its commercial development. Seed investor INPG Enterprise SA also maintained its shareholding.

Source : RECUPYL

More information : www.recupyl.com

APPLE WIND : Vertical axis wind turbine

Apple wind is a french company which developped a vertical axs wind turbine technology. 

It's a vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) that uses magnetic coupling between the rotating outfits and the power generator. 

This technology have competitive advantages as :

- works in all wind directions. 

- delivers more power than competitors for the same swept area.

- short mast

- manufacturing costs significantly lower than current VAWT technology.

The Company offers accurate short term (less than 3 days) and medium term (less than 3 months) wind forecasts. The services are needed to sell the electricity generated by wind farms companies in the daily markets to plan the wind farm maintenance and also to optimise the management of transmission and distribution networks and power plants.

Source : Apple Wind

More information : www.apple-wind.com

SOLAREF : Sun is refreshing

From the process developped and tested by CNRS LIMSI at Orsay in the years 1980, the laboratory IGT LESBAT at Yverdon les Bains conceived, developped and tested a refrigerator using the sun like only source of energy to create cold. Tha day, the solar collector generates vapor which is transformed into water by the condenser.

The night, this water goes up in the collector by generating sufficient cold to create ice in the storage.

The system is neutral with respect to the environment : no pollution.

The stock of ice preserve a temperature of conservation up to 3 days without sun ( established in sahel climate with 43 C the day and 34 C the night)

Source : Solaref

More information : www.solaref.com

C-ZEN : Innovative electric car

C ZEN is a french project of electric car let by Jean Yves Castellon and Hervé Arnaud.

They developed the C Zen car which have an electric motor, a pack of lithium ion batteries providing a range of 120 to 160 km and an automatic transmission. It has a chassis cage reinforced with an aluminium roll cage. Its top speed is 95 km /h and it costs 10 500 euros.

Source : C-Zen 

More information : www.courb.net 

NHEOLIS

A revolution in wind energy. Forget horizontal or even vertical axis wind turbines. Nheolis makes use of the principle of Bernouilli to channel wind force into cone like structures mounted on a rotor. Due to its exceptional performance Nheolis achieves the lowest kWh production cost of any micro turbine. Its compact size, low cost and ease of installation makes it predestined for both off grid applications as well as urban landscape.

Advantages :  

1. Minimal noise emission thanks to lower wind shear and the unique characteristics of the blades design.

2. Perfect integration regarding the surroundings: - Compactness: 3 to 4 times smaller to standard turbines - A much wider operating range (from 9 km/sec wind speed to 165 km/h) Result: the wind turbine can be installed very close to any obstacle (i.e. rooftops, tree crowns, near buildings).

3. A superior energy yield for the same blade diameter compared to standard turbines of the same category.

4. Best carbon footprint on the market.

5. Only turbine exclusively made of recyclable components.

Sources : Investment Fund New Babylone IFB

More information  : www.nheoliswindturbine.com 

WEOLE ENERGY

Created in 2007, Weole Energy supplies small and medium-capacity wind turbines suitable for all requirements for residential customers, farmers,

businesses and local authorities.

 Weole Horizon

Following in the footsteps of large wind turbines, the market is now beginning to expand, with technological innovations allowing residential customers, businesses and local authorities to use small and medium-sized wind turbines that are both environmentally efficient and economically viable. In this fast-growing sector, Weole Energy is responding to increasing demand from the market and has a network of installers covering all of France.

 Weole vision

The aim of this capital injection is to support Weole Energy’s development, with three main objectives :

-to form strategic partnerships with companies in the sector;

-to offer comprehensive solutions combining technological innovation and customer support;

- to make wind turbines into a mass market product for residential customers, businesses and local authorities, in order to ensure the industrial development of a still-emerging market.

The Company has announced a €2 million capital injection to speed up its expansion in France.

 

Following start-up equity of €85,000, Weole Energy is obtaining investment from Crédit Agricole Private Equity, via its FCPR Capenergie fund, and Direct Energie, France’s leading alternative energy supplier. The two shareholders will each invest €1 million.

Source : Weole 

More information :www.weole-energy.com