FYK (Norway)
With the increasing pressure on the environment and decreasing reserves of conventional fuels and other natural resources, a need was felt to innovate and create an eco-friendly sports car that out-performs the conventional automobiles in a free market. In sync with this ambition, a prototype was built to generate market awareness about the feasibility of using natural gas and NaturalHy (HCNG) as an alternative fuel for automobiles. This prototype is the Norwegian wonder- FYK.
Developed by a Norwegian company called Aetek with a strong backing from Statoil, FYK was launched in August, 2006 as a technology demonstrator. It was also presented at the Carbon Expo in Colognein 2007 and the World Future Energy Seminar in Abu Dhabi in 2008. So far, there are no plans of putting it into series production.
Aetek AS is one of the leading car manufacturers in Norway that engages in concept development, innovation management, creative communication, design, engineering, prototype production, project management, research and development for international clients in the technology and energy sectors.
As a principal sponsor and fuel-supplier of FYK, Statoil’s commitment to FYK is in conjunction with its involvement in testing eco-friendly fuels for the future. According to Statoil, naturalhy can be regarded as “a bridge-builder in the transition from use of gas as a fuel to use of pure hydrogen”. Hence, the launch of FYK was made to coincide with the opening of Norway’s first hydrogen/NaturalHy/natural gas filling station in Forus, Stavanger by Statoil.
With an efficient engine that burns and utilises all the oxygen in the exhaust gases, FYK is powered by a fuel comprising of 92-80% compressed natural gas and 8-20% hydrogen. The hydrogen mixed in the natural gas makes it possible to run the engine on a leaner mixture of fuel and air and this makes it a better fuel than pure natural gas. It not only contributes to lower emissions, but also helps to make the vehicle more fuel efficient. Another benefit of HCNG is that it is relatively cheaper than petrol and diesel.
Thus, HCNG is less harmful to the environment than the existing fuel options. Electric vehicles do produce lesser waste (in fact, none at all) than a HCNG-powered car, but they cannot be called good substitutes for conventional cars yet, partly because of the limited range of such fuelling. What makes the use of HCNG as a fuel very convenient is that it requires only minor adaptations of the existing internal combustion engines. This means that a HCNG-driven motor that provides minimal emissions still runs smooth and fast.
FYK’s body- exterior, chassis, motor, wheels, suspension and even the interior – is made up entirely of recyclable Aluminum. This further adds to its pro-environment charm. The entire designing and structuring of the interior and the exterior shows unique surface treatments and aluminum-shaping techniques.
Using a perfect blend of breakthrough technology and sensible ideas, through FYK, Norway has given the world a taste of what future cars will or indeed SHOULD be.
- Nikita Sarin
Tags: eco-friendly cars, eco-friendly sports cars, fyk, go-green cars, sports car
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