Edinburgh innovators Capture Mobility is one of only six companies globally chosen to work with Shell thanks to their award-winning roadside micro-turbine that can generate electricity from the turbulence of passing traffic – enough to supply an average-sized home for 24 hours.
Capture Mobility has been chosen to collaborate with the energy giant in providing clean energy to off-grid areas all over the world, starting with Brazil.
“We are now working with Shell and have got orders in the pipeline from France, China, Brazil and Chile,” Sanwal Muneer, chief executive, Capture Mobility explains. “In future, we are planning to export our product for five to six years before licensing out our technology. In the coming year, we’re also planning to power up electric car charging stations with our turbine, so people would be sure of 100% green energy.”
The company’s turbine can be placed by the side of highways, metro train tracks and other low-height areas where wind is generated. Integrated solar panels at the top of the turbine add extra energy to the system during the day and air filters inside the fins of the turbines also help to clean the air, capturing CO2.
“Air pollution is one of the main causes of premature deaths in the world,” explains Muneer. “Of all the major global health risks, outdoor air pollution in the form of fine particles is found to be much more dangerous for public health than previously known – contributing annually to over 2 million premature deaths worldwide.
“That's why we wanted to make something that was easily scalable and could target air pollution and the energy crisis simultaneously.”
Transport Scotland, the government transport agency, and Dundee City Council were the first to trial the turbine in a pilot project at the side of the A90 in Dundee.
Since then, Capture Mobility’s turbine has won numerous awards, including the UN Clean Energy Award and UK Trade & Investment’s Outstanding Achievement award. It was also an Innovation Finalist in Falling Walls Venture Berlin, an international forum for outstanding science based start-ups, and was recognised in the Scottish VIBES Awards, for companies taking significant steps to improve or reduce their impact on the environment.
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