Royal College of Art Competition
01.03.07
Gasrec sponsors Royal College of Art Competition to design Artwork for the Gasrec Lotus S1 Elise.
Gasrec ltd, the producer of liquid methane fuel from biomass, has teamed up with students at the Royal College of Art to devise the artwork for its flagship CNG-powered Lotus Elise, which will run on Gasrec’s fuel once production commences. The S1 Elise is the only vehicle of its kind powered by a 1.8 litre, 4 cylinder, 4 stroke engine that has been converted by Lotus Engineering to run on compressed gas.
First and second year Vehicle Design students at the Royal College have been set the task of designing artwork which will be used on the Elise to show how environmentally friendly gas vehicles are, in particular those which use Gasrec’s fuel, Gasrec blue, which is derived from sources of waste biomass.
The competition will run until the end of April, at which point the winner will receive a £1000 prize and have his/her work reproduced on the Elise. It is expected that the car will be seen at environmentally-friendly automotive events all over the UK in the forthcoming months.
Doug Leaf, Development Manager for Gasrec said,
“This is a very exciting time for Gasrec as we draw closer to commissioning our first plant. A project such as this that helps make the gas vehicle market more visible will help bridge the gap between people’s perceptions of these vehicles and the reality that they can be everything a petrol or diesel vehicle can be. The students at the College have shown a keen interest in our process and having already seen some of the draft ideas, I’m looking forward to seeing the finished designs.”
Richard Winsor, Senior Lecturer at the Royal College of Art added,
“Many of our students are on the threshold of careers within commercial design for the automotive industry. They, like ever increasing numbers of us, understandkeenly the need to develop cleaner methods of transport, and so they are really enjoying this opportunity to engage with an issue that will shape their working environment and all of our lives.”
For further information, contact:
Gasrec:
Doug Leaf
0207 436 6805
M: Communications
Charlotte Kirkham
020 7153 1531
Eleanor Williamson
020 7153 1539
Notes to Editors
About Gasrec
Gasrec ltd. is a producer of liquid methane fuel using gas created by the decomposition of biomass. The company obtains the gas supply from existing landfill sites or from digestion of the biomass byproducts of food manufacture and retail and other industries. In creating and selling the fuel product, Gasrec recovers energy stored in material discarded by society to power society’s vehicles.
The generation of power from landfill sites in the UK is tried and tested, with over 300 UK landfill sites generating 1,700 MW/h each year. Nonetheless, sites continue to flare unused gas, wasting its energy potential and risking damage to the environment. Gasrec has identified a clean, efficient use for this gas in the production of cnLBM (carbon neutral Liquid Bio Methane), a commercially competitive and environmentally sound fuel sold by Gasrec under the brand name ‘Gasrec blue’ that can be directly substituted for both CNG (compressed natural gas) and LNG (liquefied natural gas) for use in gas-powered or dual-fuel vehicles.
There is also the opportunity for gasrec to work with food producers and retailers as well as distillers to utilise their bioorganic byproducts in methane digesters to produce cnLBM. Digestion produces greater volumes of purer gas, and represents the opportunity to sell fuel to those organisations providing the biomass feedstock in a virtuous circle of value capture.
Gasrec has process IP and strategic relationships that underpin security of gas supply and guarantee security of fuel provision to customers. The relationships include agreements with: SITA/Suez, with whom Gasrec has identified a number of sites suitable for gas production; Linde BOC, who provide equipment and bring technical, O&M and administrative support; and Lotus Engineering, which provides fuel verification and emissions testing. Gasrec’s first producing landfill site, operational since [month and year] is located at Albury and is owned by SITA.
In the company’s continuing development of both supply and demand relationships, several regulatory drivers offer further commercial incentive. The EU Landfill Directive calls for the reduction in volume of waste sent to landfill to 35% of 1995 levels by 2020, and all waste no longer landfilled will need to be treated to remove methane content. The tax position of cnLBM is also favourable, with a derogation of Road Fuel Duty of 34p per liter of diesel equivalent.
