Wubbo Ockels: "Some people believe in God; I believe in innovative technology, sustainability and youth.”

In search of a sustainable future

Wubbo Ockels (62) is an optimistic person. Holland’s first astronaut, pilot and professor of Aerospace Sustainable Engineering and Technology has an enthusiasm that inspires others to take action. Whether working on one of his university projects or his own sustainable yacht, Ecolution, Ockels is constantly seeking for creative ways to utilise natural resources in everyday life. Boundaries don’t seem to exist for Ockels, and he manages to see things others would ignore or simply consider impossible. His current projects involve a new means of transport called Superbus, as well as a revolutionary way of generating energy.

Interview

You once said your experience in space inspired you to work on sustainable development.

“Travelling in space changes your perspective. When you go around the globe in 1.5 hours you realise the earth is no more than a little ball floating in space, a spaceship for all that is life. Space travel brought us two things: it made us realise that we are very earthy and at the same time it has shown us the limits of the earth. I got to witness the environment outside the earth, witnessed the fact that the situation isn’t liveable. Everything that lives is on this tiny globe with a very thin layer of atmosphere around it. Once you come to terms with those facts you realise the vulnerability of the earth. I see it as a sort of calling to use all I have in my mind and in my power to make the situation we are in as good as possible, most of all for the youth. In 50 years I won’t be here anymore. But for the young people, I want the world to be at least as good as it is now, and I would like to make an effort to make that possible.”

Your Superbus project is a distinct effort to create an environmentally friendly answer to modern transport demands. What exactly is Superbus?

“Superbus is a high-speed vehicle that is somewhere between a bus and a sports car. By integrating existing high-speed automotive technology with existing aerospace engineering technology, Superbus will travel with a cruising speed of 250 km/h without any direct CO2 and NO2 emissions. Superbus seats 30 people and will have a dynamic, interactive route-planning system in combination with an advanced logistics system. It will travel along high-speed lanes that are relatively easy to implement, as well as on existing roads. This should result in a faster, more comfortable, sustainable and efficient mode of transport, for a much larger market.”

How did this idea come about?

“When stuck on a train from Amsterdam to Groningen, I started thinking of an alternative to our outdated system of public transport. I decided to think outside the box ignoring present knowledge and came up with the idea of the Superbus. The current modes of transportation go a long way back and haven’t really adapted to modern times. The Superbus will pick people up close to their homes and transport them to where they want to go. For this reason, I decided it should be road-based, with tires instead of rails. Rails are so outdated; it’s like having a motorway with only one lane. Naturally the bus had to have zero emissions and be luxurious enough that I’d want to use it myself. The fact that I am really stubborn played an important role as well. I decided this was good. And of course I backed it up with science; it is not like I am making it all up. I calculated what would be needed; technically I felt it was possible.”

You already had a lot of experience with lightweight electric cars. Did Superbus benefit from this experience?

“I have been involved in the World Solar Challenge (a 3,000-km race in solar-powered electric cars, ed.) four times. Nuna, the university’s solar car built by students, won it every time. Because of my own knowledge, my experience with Nuna and working with these young people, I knew that my calculations for the Superbus would not be far off. I also trusted the fact that we can build such a vehicle using carbon fibre, and that we can pull it off quickly at low costs. Without Nuna there would not have been a Superbus.”

Was it hard to find funding for the project?

“At an estimated cost of half the price of the alternatives, the high-speed train and magnetically levitating or maglev train, as well as a much higher profit margin, higher efficiency and less impact on the environment, it seemed like an absolute winner to me. However, matters were complicated by previous agreements, as well as the fact that the Superbus didn’t exist yet. The signing of Italian designer Antonia Terzi was a big step forward in that respect. She used all her previous experience at Formula 1 teams BMW Williams and Ferrari to make a futuristic design for the Superbus, giving its critics something more tangible to work with. The Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management then decided to award a €7 million grant to TU Delft for the design and construction of an experimental demonstration model of the Superbus.”

What is the current status of the project?  

“We are reaching the point of actually test-driving the high-speed bus. Superbus will be presented at the Olympic Games in Beijing this summer, where sustainability is an important theme. The Olympic Games strive to be carbon dioxide neutral, and the Superbus fits very well in that picture. It is a very good opportunity for us to present our project to the world, and hopefully Holland will benefit from this as well.”

Besides the Superbus, you are working on a project called the Ladder Mill. Can you explain a bit about this innovative project? 

“The Ladder Mill is a project I started in 1995 and which arose from my personal interest in kites. I realised that when a kite goes up, it can generate a lot of energy. It could drive a dynamo, which could generate electricity. The only problem: how do you get the kite back down again? Being a pilot, I thought: a plane puts a lot of energy into going up, but once there it only needs to shut down its engine to go down. The idea of the Ladder Mill is to make a loop of kites that goes up like a kite and comes down like a plane, so you get a motor for electricity. We have come a long way and are now actually applying the principle. Still on a small scale, we are talking a couple of kilowatts, but it is happening. In the near future, I see lots of possibilities for the Ladder Mill, for instance to power commercial ships. It has so much potential and it goes beyond the whole discussion of oil. It is not just about replacing old energy sources; it is fun and has a totally new meaning, namely autonomy. To me, that makes it fantastic.”

How does the development of your new yacht Ecolution fit in all these projects?

“Ecolution is a private project of mine that got a bit out of hand. I wanted to build a bigger yacht to live on with my wife. We love sailing, and since we wanted a lot of freedom I decided the yacht had to be autonomous. I used a lot of the knowledge I gathered on my other projects and now we are building a 26-metre steel ship in Groningen, with masts made of carbon fibre and 13,000 kg of batteries on board. We will be building these boats commercially as well; I managed to find many sponsors and it turned into a massive project. The Ecolution is going to be a boat with a previously unheard-of degree of freedom, handled by one person only, gathering energy from its movement through the water, with batteries that can store enough energy to live a life in luxury for about a month without sailing. It is very dynamic.”

You seem to have a pretty positive outlook on the future.

“I think we are entering a new era where intelligent interaction with our surroundings will be very important. The industrial revolution has made the world more static; things are fenced off and people don’t want to have anything to do with nature, they’d rather use nuclear energy than solar or wind energy. We need a revolution. I think that working with nature, using our technical possibilities and getting the youth involved can really make a difference. I have a lot of confidence in young people. They can make the difference; they just need encouragement. I try to provoke them, share my knowledge and arrange funding, and the outcome can be overwhelming. I am an optimistic person, I always see possibilities. I really believe that we can make that change. Some people believe in God; I believe in innovative technology, sustainability and youth.”