ROME – Michelin looks to the future of more sustainable mobility. On the occasion of the global summit “Movin’On 2021” the transalpine company presented two innovations designed ad hoc to make transport more efficient, while at the same time preserving natural resources. With the Wing Sail Mobility project (Wisamo), developed by the Michelin R&D department and two Swiss inventors, an automated, telescopic and inflatable sail was created that can be mounted on merchant ships and pleasure boats, allowing to consume less fuel with relative lowering. of CO2 emissions. The collaboration with Michel Desjoyaux, world-famous skipper and ambassador of the project, then allowed the Michelin engineers to perfect the development.
“The advantage of wind as a form of propulsion – underlined Desjoyeaux – is that it is a source of clean, free, universal and controversial energy. The system offers a very promising channel to improve the environmental impact of merchant ships ”. At Michelin headquarters, they expect the first Wisamo system to be installed on a merchant ship in 2022, when production will start once the test phase is over. The second novelty concerns a racing tire made up of 46% sustainable materials, which will be used on the hydrogen prototypes of the “GreenGT Mission H24” in endurance races.
An innovative solution that Michelin has managed to obtain through specific engineering processes for motorsport, creating a tire with sustainable components, but at the same time capable of offering excellent performance on the track. The high mix of “green” components present in the tire has been achieved by increasing the share of natural rubber and recovering the residual carbon black from tires that have reached the end of their life, to which they have added other organic, sustainable and recycled materials, or common products such as orange and lemon peel, sunflower oil, pine resin and aluminum recovered from cans.
Finally, it should be noted that Michelin has announced its commitment to use only 100% sustainable materials for its tires by 2050 and already by 2030 to reach a share of 40% of these materials. “We share a fundamental value with Movin’On and its partners, namely the deep conviction that mobility and movement in the broadest sense of the term are inherent in life and a source of progress – explained Florent Menegaux, to Michelin – The two innovative solutions presented at the global summit on sustainable mobility, offer tangible and tested in real conditions of our determination to make mobility ever more sustainable ”. (mr)
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