French Cleantech launches its new website: www.frenchcleantech.com

Founded in 2008, French Cleantech is the cleantech innovation showcase dedicated to promote french cleantech expertises and innovations globally through a panel of more than 100 company profiles, an audience from 80 countries and 12 international partners.

French Cleantech brings in depth knowledge of french cleantech innovations to investors, industrials and public authorities. The new website offers a unique selection of promising companies thanks to :
- Company executive summaries
- A presentation through 11 categories*
- A weekly tracking of a new french cleantech innovation
- A multicriteria search tool by region, category and size


International partners

Australian Cleantech, Cleantech Group, Cleantech Holland, Green Japan, International Green Technology Trade Center, Swiss Cleantech Association...

A presence at major international cleantech events

Stockholm Cleantech Venture Day (September 30th),

Cleantech Forum New York (October 11-13th),
French MBA conference New York (October 15 -16th),

European Venture market (November 9 -10th),
The Cleantech Investing Seminar (December 1-2), etc.

French Greentech becomes French Cleantech

Thanks to you and your loyalty, French Greentech blog, launched in April 2008, has made a reputation in the world of cleantech. Today, we have the opportunity to announce a transition

from French Greentech to French Cleantech.

With French Cleantech, you can now have a clear vision of french cleantech companies through 12 categories (agriculture, air & environment, energy efficiency, energy generation, energy infrastructure, energy storage, event & news, manufacturing & industrial, materials, recycling & waste, transportation, water and wastewater). 

French Cleantech wants to be now the technological showcase of french know-how and innovation regarding environmental technology. I invite you now to leave your comments, respond, debate around the topics posted on French cleantech. Enjoy !

MCE-5 : fuel consumption reduction technology

MCE-5 is a french company, based in Lyon, developing a mechanical solution that allows the mass production of VCR (Variable Compression Ratio) engines to the required environmental standards. The MCE-5 VCR engine block is designed to replace traditional fixed-compression engine blocks. 

The MCE-5 technology is an all-in-one VCR engine block that combines power transmission and compression-ratio control. This new engine with variable compression ratio (VCR) whose interest is twofold: 

• a reduction of fuel consumption by 20% to 35% depending on the power of vehicles,
• a reduction in CO2 emissions below future Euro VI scheduled for 2015.    

  The MCE-5 integrates long-life gears and an exclusive roller-guided piston 

that is not subject to slap or radial stress. This feature ensures exceptional durability and reliability for high-loaded VCR engines on high mileages. This means that the MCE-5 meets one of the greatest challenges for downsized engines with extreme power and torque density - durability. 

The great strength of the MCE-5 VCR engine block also results from the rigidity of its crankshaft and of its main structure, which give the hydrodynamic bearings an optimum geometrical environment and a long lifespan. The MCE-5 VCR engine block has no negative effects on the other components or the vehicle. Exhaust and transmission connections are precisely the same as those of a conventional engine. 

After 11 years of research and development, and investments in excess of 30 million euros, the MCE-5 is currently the only variable compression ratio engine that can be industrialized in the medium term. Already successfully developed, MCE-5 can be mass produced as of 2016-2017 thanks to a consortium of 12 major internationally recognized european companies that have joined forces for this project, and more than 60 companies that have worked over the last eleven years to bring it to its current level of development. The MCE-5 project is supported and financed by various French and European institutions concerned with industry, transport, energy savings and pollutant emissions reductions. The sale of licenses should provide a cumulative turnover of approximately EUR 900 million between 2009 and 2012. Then provided each year from 2015 through royalties on sales in large series of vehicles. 

Source : MCE-5

Nephelios : Solar Airship from INSA Lyon

Directed by engineering students, Nephelios is the first airship in the world powered by solar energy. While the Paris Air Show celebrates its centenary, the Néphélios will be presented from 15 to 21 June in Paris. It has flexible solar panels on top of the envelope. 

Solar energy collected feeds an electric motor disposed behind the steering pod, which is equipped with two propellers bipales. The balloon is inflated with helium, a gas fuels that could ultimately be replaced by 

hydrogen.Called Sol'R, the project was born from the meeting in 2008 of three students and Stéphane Rousson,a french adventurer with passion for airships.

The solar airship called "Nephelios" was designed, developed and built by a thirty students both major French schools as technical schools. The aircraft has a flexible solar panels on top of the envelope, which feeds an electric motor with two propellers bipales. This summer, the airship is expected to make its first flight over the English Channel, replicating the feat of 100 years after Blériot. 

For INSA Lyon (Institut National des Sciences Appliquées), this project contributes to a more ecological, more social and humanitarian access to energy and transport, using a device with low impact on the environment while being able to carry heavy loads and bulky.

More :INSA LYON 

Source : INSA LYON, THe GUARDIAN

June 30, 2009 : CleanTuesday in Lyon

The second CleanTuesday in Rhône-Alpes will be held in Lyon on June 30, 2009, under the sponsorship of InnovaFonds and KPMG, with the support and in the premises of ADERLY. Talks will be given by the Chief Executive Officer of EasEnergy, the manager of EDF for CleanTech investments in North America (www.easenergy.com), and three corporate executives from especially innovative start-ups:

• MCE5 : developing motors incorporating a variable-rate compression technology that significantly reduces fuel consumption and cuts CO2 emissions by 30%, obtained after 12 years of R&D and €30 M of investment (www.mce-5.com/);

• Elutions Europe : supplying solutions aiming to improve energy efficiency in industry and in the construction and public-works sector (www.elutions-europe.com);

• Kilowattsol : specializing in technical and financial engineering for solar energy: preliminary surveys, site-potential assessment and photovoltaic specifications (www.kilowattsol.com).

The objective of CleanTuesday is to develop a community spirit within the ecosystem of the sector’s players and to foster the development of a culture of community-based innovation in the stakeholders of CleanTech, based on the culture that exists in the information and communications technologies. The estimated worth of the global green technology market is 550 billion euros.

More information : Cleantuesday

AQUAVIVA : A revolutionary water treatment plant for Cannes

Lyonnaise des Eaux Côte d’Azur subsidiary unveils Aquaviva, one of the world’s first water treatment plants to use ultrafiltration. The plant, which is sited in the Cannes area, is one of the world’s first water treatment plants that uses ultrafiltration modules as well as a membrane bio-reactor (MBR) and prevents the emission of greenhouse gases.

This new generation factory will also be an important carbon-neutral plant and include the largest solar farm in the département (4,000m²). Its treatment process also enables effluent to be re-used for watering green spaces and for street cleaning.The new station which will serve 8 different communes, represents a budget of 77 M€ and should be finalised by 2011.

High performance treatment allows wastewater to be reused

The use of ultra filtration membranes and a biological reactor (Bioreactor with membranes) to purify wastewater is the most modern technology for treating wastewater in the world. Its purification efficiency exceeds regulatory standards and will meet future standards for "water quality suitable for swimming.” Marine flora and fauna will thus be preserved and a monitoring of biodiversity (fish on the shoreline, posidonia meadows) will help track progress. Treated water will also be reused to water landscaped areas or to clean roadways.

A plant integrated into a coastal tourist environment

Aquaviva is to be built on the shoreline at the site of the current treatment plant and will be perfectly integrated into its coastal tourist environment. It will not emit any unpleasant odors or noise nor will it be unsightly. Each year, the Cannes region attracts 2.5 million tourists, so an unobtrusive work site will be put up during construction. The plant’s operation will be audited by a certification organization in order to attain the ISO 14001 environmental management standard.

Greenhouse gas emissions completely neutralized

Aquaviva will be completely Carbon Neutral®. Greenhouse gases will make up only 269 equivalent tons of carbon annually, i.e., 90% less than the current plant. These emissions will by completely offset and Aquaviva will use different procedures and technologies to achieve this. The treatment plant will have 4,000 sq. m of solar panels making it the largest solar farm project in the Maritime Alps.

Drying the sludge resulting from wastewater treatment will also contribute to the offsetting effects. Dry sludge will then be treated and recycled as natural fertilizer for agriculture in the region. Work done by Degrémont and GTM will start in 2009 as soon as a construction permit is obtained and will be completed in 2011.

And in nearby Golfe Juan-Vallauris, another Lyonnaise des Eaux treatment plant, which meets HQE (High Environmental Quality) standards, was inaugurated on May 25. Known as “Nobilis” after a rare Mediterranean shellfish, the plant complies with the latest European standards and has been awarded the highest 4-star classification.

Source : Lyonnaise des eaux

ROBIN SUN launches solar glazing, a glass wall producing hot water

Robin Sun is a french company which has developed a system of hot water from solar collectors integrated into a semi transparent glass.The installation of 5 to 7 square meters of the glazing in a wall or glass, preferably exposé (e) to the south to cover 60 to 70% of hot water needs of a family of four, says he says. The annual productivity of the glass is slightly lower than solar thermal because of its installation on the vertical, which is not optimal for capturing the sun's rays. 

The cost, about 1 000 square meter is equivalent to a solar panel.

 

Developed in partnership with the INSA Strasbourg (National Institute of science and technology applied in Strasbourg), this glass solar qualities may be of interest to construction professionals. In addition to the hot water, it provides insulation equivalent to that of a wall of low-energy house, thanks to the sensor and a specific treatment against the glass infrared. 

Robin Sun won a first big contract in Paris to install solar glazing of twenty social housing construction in the district of Barbès in Paris.

Source : Robin Sun

European Elections 2009 : Greens shakes French politics

Yesterday, European citizens were invited to vote for the european elections. The green coalition, Europe Ecologie, have created the surprise yesterday in France, ranking in third position.The movement led by leaders, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, José Bové and Eva Joly received an amazing 16,2%.

Why did european ecologists make the breakthrough ?

• Firstly, the movement created specifically for this election was born of a new alliance between the Greens and personalities of the environmentalist movement and association, as the former spokesman Yannick Jadot of Greenpeace or Jean-Paul Besset, close to the TV moderator Nicolas Hulot.

• Secondly, Europe Ecologie and greens party in particular, can be recognized as one of the few parties that has built its identity on the historic European values: solidarity, peace, no violence, social justice, preservation of the environment ... all this reflected in their slogan "think globally, act locally.

• And, comparing to other political parties, Europe Ecologie clearly made the difference by explaining that economic crisis, climate crisis and democracy crisis must be resolved, not separately but ....TOGETHER !!!!

Cairpol : City air pollution monitoring

Cairpol is a french company, located in Alès, which has developed a hand-held air pollution known as "the cairpatch. 

Cairpol started from: the idea that air pollution has two main areas: 

- air pollution mainly caused by the automobile (O3 and NO2) that affects the general public, especially vulnerable people such as asthmatics

- the accidental pollution on the safety (toxic gas in installations, sewage ...) that can affect the general public (carbon monoxide due to improper combustion by ex.). 

With this anaylysis, the french company decided to develop devices for monitoring air pollution. 

The goals: to be advised of the peaks of pollution and adapt their work to breathe less pollutants and to avoid crises It stresses that its technology is applicable to the detection of most gas and soon to particulate matter (PM 2.5-10, pollen, bacteria ...). . How much ?  72 euros.

Cairpol is positioned on the consumer market of low cost and ultra wearable devices for air pollution control in gases area (ozone, toxic gases), particulate area (PM2.5, pollens) or biological area (bacteria). Beyond the technological raised key (a new adaptive filter protected by patent) concerning the reliability of the sensors subjected to the abrupt changes of environmental conditions (inherent when they are worn on the wrist of a person), the strategy of Cairpol bases on the limitation on the duration of device functioning (to increase still the reliability by it) and thus on the annual renewal of devices. The first product, the Cairpatch, dedicated to the asthmatics to warn them of peaks of ozone pollution was validated on field for one year and is in the course of average series manufacturing ( 1000 / month ). 

Source : Cairpol 

GEOGREEN : Expert in CO2 transport and geological storage

CO2 capture and storage (CCS) has the potential to account for 20% of global greenhouse gas reduction. A number of initiatives are underway to encourage widespread deployment. Pilot plants are being run around the world and several countries and federations are already establishing directives and regulations to guide the development of these emerging technologies. First scale one coal power stations equipped with CCS should be in operation no later than 2015 but other industries such as steel making are also studying CCS as a solution to reduce their CO2 emissions. 

GEOGREEN : A unique expertise in CO2 transport and geological storage 

Geogreen is an international services company specialized in CO2 transport and storage offering its clients strategic studies in the areas of CO2 capture, transport and storage in addition to engineering studies and technical assistance relating to CO2 transport and geological storage. Geogreen is a subsidiary of the IFP (French Petroleum Institute), Geostock (an underground hydrocarbon storage company) and BRGM (Bureau de Recherche Géologique et Minière).

The company has a perfect technical complementarity with its experts enables Geogreen to provide the industries concerned and a comprehensive range of services, covering the whole chain from the transport of CO₂ to its geological storage, from upstream expertise to engineering and project development. 

In the longer term, Geogreen will offer injection site operation assistance, inspection and maintenance services, and monitoring services related to post-injection control of storage sites.

Geogreen’s capital is held by IFP, Géostock and BRGM.

Storage approach

Once captured and transported, CO₂ is then injected and stored underground at depths of at least 800 meters.

Three potential storage methods are envisaged:

Storage in depleted oil and gas fields. 

Theoretically, this is the easiest option to implement since these structures have held oil and gas for millions of years and this geological environment is well known. The injection of CO₂ also helps to improve recovery of the oil and gas present. However, the storage capacity of these reservoirs is insufficient and they are very unequally distributed around the world, often far from industrial facilities.
Experimental storage operations are already under way in these types of reservoirs.

Storage in unused coal seams. 

The capacity of coal to “adsorb” – or preferentially trap – CO₂ in place of the methane naturally present in coal, represents an interesting capture mechanism. But this option is limited by the porosity and permeability of coal, which remain low.

Storage in deep saline aquifers. 

These are reservoirs of non-potable salt water, located at great depths, which offer the greatest potential in terms of storage capacity. They are better distributed over the world’s surface than oil and gas reservoirs. A significant amount of research is currently under way aimed at characterizing these and assessing their potential in terms of geological storage.

Source : Geogreen