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[EN VIDÉO] The incredible construction of a wind turbine in time-lapse Wind power is one of the renewable energies, so it’s a safe bet that the park will grow over the next few years. The assembly of a wind turbine is long and underlines how these structures are a technological jewel, as we can see during this video.
The renewable energies are destined to become indispensable in the habitat of tomorrow. Louis Dubar answers Futura’s questions about theenergy mixed Unéole in urban areas.
Futura: Can you explain your concept to my grandmother?
Louis Dubar: Unole proposes to add to the roofs plates of city buildings a device for the production of mixed renewable energy, using the light with photovoltaics and wind with wind power. Unlike the competition, we are the only ones to think of a 3D solution, with a dedicated floor to optimize energy production and ultimately build the sustainable city of tomorrow.
Futura: What is your solution?
Louis Dubar: Our expertise goes from design to installation. We have in fact set up a design office upstream which analyzes the deposits urban wind turbines thanks to a CFD simulation (computational fluid dynamics) at the scale of a roof (study of energy potential) and at the scale of a city or agglomeration (cadastral study). Our specific algorithms identify the ideal number ofwind turbinespanels photovoltaic, their individual production and therefore the profitability of the whole system. We are also designer, assembler and installer of our own wind turbine modules. For this, we use the Savonius patent, named after its Finnish inventor who in 1924 designed a vertical axis wind turbine. Unlike its three-bladed cousin that we see in our fields, which is based on the lift by shearing theairit uses the thrust of the wind, therefore emits neither noise nor vibrationwhich was the necessary condition for urban use.
Futura: Why will your start-up change the world?
Louis Dubar: The idea is to achieve the highest possible rate of self-production, or even in the best of cases, to also benefit neighboring buildings, which will therefore not use kilowatt hours produced by power stations. Our mixed energy platform is the most balanced and cost effective solution on the market, up to +40% production compared to a fully photovoltaic solution. It is also the most balanced between seasonsof the’winter in the summer, and between day and night. Our wind turbines are silent, vibration-free, sourced and produced locally in low tech. Life cycle analysis (LCA), produced by Cerema, allows us to assert that the Unéole wind turbine is the least expensive urban renewable energy carbon. The photovoltaic panels and wind turbines also have an increasingly long life cycle, around 20 to 25 years, and are better and better recycled.
Futura: How was the project born?
Louis Dubar: The founder, Quentin Dubrulle, has a wealth of experience in French Polynesia in a company specializing in energy self-sufficiency systems. Aware of the major role of renewable energies for our future, he wanted to develop the concept on his return to Metropolitan France with an idea: while photovoltaics was gradually arriving in the countryside, why wind power could not be deployed in urban areas? Unéole was born out of this project, which is taking on all the more interest now with the climate crisis but also with the significant rise in energy prices.
Futura: How were you supported and what are the next steps?
Louis Dubar: The project was incubated in 2012 within IMT Nord Europe before being accelerated to Village by CA in 2016. We recently moved to premises more in line with our growth. We are also currently in the fundraising phase to develop our proposal for a mixed energy platform. A first demonstrator was set up in May 2021 on the CD2e LumiWatt site in Loos-en-Gohelle in Pas-de-Calais, an emblematic place for eco-transition. Our ambition now is to develop it on a larger scale, at national level in the windy areas of Brest, Dunkirk, but also in the Rhone Valley and Marseille. At the international level, the exceptional wind corridor between Brittany and Scandinavia also has very interesting potential.
Futura: If you were Prime Minister, what key measure would you put in place?
Louis Dubar: In matter energy, we have seen many significant political advances, such as the European Green Pact which aims to carbon neutrality by 2050. But if I were Prime Minister I would act in particular in favor of the tertiary decree resulting from the Grenelle II law which requires companies to make energy savings in buildings for tertiary use of more than 1,000 m² . The device is really interesting but the text only deals with photovoltaics and green roofs as renewable energy sources, where it should be opened up to all innovations, including wind power.
Futura: What will the world look like in 2050?
Louis Dubar: A tricky question, as the uncertainties are numerous and the stakes high. Nevertheless, I note that more and more players are getting involved in questions of sustainable development with disruptive solutions. We must now think local, low carbon and renewable. All of this makes me rather optimistic about changing the course of things and considering other possible scenarios for the planet by 2050.
Futura: What Futura hot topic excites you?
Louis Dubar: The last one I read and which fascinated me is the one on population decline and desynchronization of pollinator activity in connection with their resilience relative to climatic changes !
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