Unveiling of the world’s first completely circular car
On Friday 6 July, Noah, the world's first completely circular car, was unveiled at the Cosun Innovation Centre in Dinteloord. The two-seater car, the chassis of which is largely made of sugar and the bodywork of flax and bio-resin, was developed by a team of 22 students from Eindhoven University of Technology.
The unveiling of Noah was also the starting signal for a tour of several European cities. The TU/ecomotive team wants to introduce the wider public to their car, which is made from fully recyclable materials. The students’ ultimate goal is to use the circular car to help reduce our impact on the climate.
Sugar beet broken down
Noah is sponsored by Suiker Unie, which aims to use its contribution to promote new applications for sugar. 'In a biorefinery, we break the sugar beet down into its various components, which in turn form the raw materials for other products. And we’ve only just started,' says Frank van Noord, Director (VP) of R&D and Sustainability at Suiker Unie. 'We believe that there are countless applications for sugar components, both now and in the future. Moreover, we believe these applications will provide us with a series of high quality, recyclable products that will eventually replace products made with raw materials from the petrochemical industry.'
Not on the scrap heap
In contrast to many cars, the TU vehicle will not end up on the scrap heap. The car is fully recyclable; the materials used will repurposed. In a circular economy, products are manufactured so that they can subsequently be recycled and reused. Through Noah, the TU students have shown that this is not that far off, as it is already attainable today in complex products, such as cars.