An automotive supplier with an innovative idea for tackling climate change has been given £40,000 to help establish a new hybrid turbocharger.
Aeristech, based on Curzon Street, was given the cash by Shell Springboard, a programme designed to promote the growth of the low carbon economy in the UK.
The company has developed a turbocharger which eliminates turbo lag – the time required to bring the turbo up to a speed – which it says has the potential to save 25 per cent of the energy of a conventional petrol engine.
Bryn Richards, director of Aeristech, said: “We have built a high performance turbocharger and are currently running two customer engine projects to achieve 25 per cent emission reductions.
“Winning this Shell Springboard award is a welcome boost to our credibility and will allow us to accelerate our commercial programme.”
Turbochargers take waste energy derived from car exhausts and use it to power the car’s activity and turbocharged engines allow a smaller, more efficient engine to do the job of a larger one by supplementing its activity with additional energy boosts.
However, standard turbochargers cannot store energy, meaning that they’re always one step behind, which leads to turbo lag.
Aeristech’s said that by storing waste energy for longer periods its hybrid turbocharger eliminates turbo lag and could finally make it possible to downsize engines without sacrificing power or refinement.
The company did enough to impress the organisers of the Shell Springboard programme, which has awarded more than £1.3 million to 35 UK small businesses since it launched in 2005.
The programme aims to encourage a positive business response to the challenge of climate change by providing a no-strings financial boost to ideas for innovative products and services that could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Nimai Swaroop, marketing manager of lubricants at Shell, said: “Over the last five years, Shell Springboard has given £1.3 million to 30 small businesses like Aeristech with innovative ideas for tackling climate change.
“It’s fantastic to see the UK’s entrepreneurs continue to respond to the challenge of climate change, regardless of the economic climate and we wish Bryn Richards and his team every success in moving forwards.”
Aeristech competed against eight other businesses from across the UK before it was awarded the cash earlier this month.
The company will now go on to compete to be named as the overall UK winner at an event which takes place in London on March 2.
