Student Built Zem Car Cleans Air While Driving Reducing Carbon Emission

Thirty-five TU Eindhoven students designed and built a car called Zem that produces low to no emissions during production and on the road. At 20,000 miles per year, the car can capture two kilograms of CO2 via a special filter. Ten cars can store the same amount of CO2 as a single tree. Aside from creating a low-emission vehicle, the team also strives for optimal material reusability in the future. The electric and environmentally friendly four-wheeler has a sporty appearance.

(Photo: Marilyn Murphy/Pixabay)
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Zem Car Technology Decreases Carbon Emission

The students focused their attention on a vehicle's manufacturing and end-of-life phases. Currently, Tesla still takes carbon to manufacture and then recycles or disposes of the electric vehicle and carbon filter. The team wanted the new vehicle to be carbon neutral overall life phases. The brilliant design and cutting-edge technology of the vehicle are guaranteed to be carbon efficient. For example, it uses metal 3D printing for much of the bodywork and the entire chassis, which reduces waste and carbon emissions.

These metals can also be recycled easily. The interior is made of fully recyclable plastic, which can be recycled by shredding and remolding, as opposed to many other plastics, which require extensive processing. This significantly reduces the amount of CO2 released. Finally, there is minimal material blending, and the various materials in the car are easily separated. This means that deconstruction and recycling require little effort and are thus less carbon-intensive.

The car uses a technology known as direct air capture, a new air cleaning method that involves capturing CO2 in a filter. As the inventors described, the technology cleans the air while driving using self-designed filters that capture and store CO2.

Bi-directional charging is an additional future technology incorporated into Zem, combined with solar panels installed on the car's roof. Because of this technology, cars can provide energy to homes even when no renewable energy is available. You can think of Zem as an external battery for your house, providing green energy when needed. The vehicle uses both the batteries and the space on the roof to make the vehicle and its surroundings more sustainable, even when it is not driving.

The team calculated the net carbon emissions for the car over its expected lifetime using a lifetime carbon emissions simulator (SimaPro). They were ecstatic to discover that the vehicle was completely carbon-neutral.

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Zem Car Sustainability

In terms of sustainability, the Zem is leagues ahead of any other electric vehicle. With the next generation of batteries that are expected to have significantly lower carbon footprints than the current pack, there is a good chance that the car will be completely carbon negative over its lifetime.

"We want to tickle the industry by showing what is already possible," says Nikki Okkels, external relations manager at TU/Ecomotive. Okkels said that if 35 students can design, develop, and build a nearly carbon-neutral car in a year, the industry has opportunities and possibilities. She called out the industry to take up the challenge, saying they are happy to think alongside them. The manager added that they are not done developing either, and they hope to make some significant strides in the coming years. They invited automobile manufacturers to come and take a look.