Life-boats and the climate

 

Life-boats aims to show how life can be lived and how one can be transported without causing irreversible consequences for future life. Lifeboats are CO2 neutral. The motors are battery driven electrical motors, which can be recharged with energy that is produced by sustainable energy sources. The batteries can be recharged at the times when it is most advantageous with regard to production and the economy. One of the biggest challenges facing the use of sustainable energy is, as we well know, the lack of opportunities to store it in an appropriate manner. There is not always a need for energy when the wind blows or the sun is shining.

 

In recent years, work has been done to develop battery technology for applications like transport. The battery can be charged when there is an excess of energy production, thereby functioning as a flexible energy buffer. The Life-boats want to demonstrate that it is possible - both in everyday life as well as on a holiday - to move around in a CO2-neutral manner. Life-boats can also create a backdrop for local debates and local educational projects about energy, in the places that they travel to. There will also be an opportunity for cross-border discussions and comparisons of energy solutions. 

 

At Kolding School of Design in Denmark, we are, in collaboration with a series of companies (including Dong Energy, Falck, Peugot and Statoil), in the process of investigating how battery powered cars can become viable. The project is called etrans (www.etrans.dk) and is generally concerned with what can be done to move the transport sector into a greener future. Life-boats will draw on the experiences of etrans and will also be used to present its results in a European context. Life-boats will be living proof of the fact that it is possible to travel in a CO2-neutral manner and will hopefully help to convince us that a future without coal, oil and atomic power is a realistic possibility. Art can be an eye opener. Even in the context of climate.

 

 

Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen

Rector, Kolding School of Design.

www.dskd.dk