Air France KLM Martinair Cargo is delighted to announce that it has renewed its partnership with the Brunel Solar team for the 2024 Sasol Solar Challenge, which will take place in South Africa between 13 and 20 September 2024. As partners, we want to help the team win the prestigious solar race in South Africa for the fifth consecutive time!
AFKLMP, in keeping with our commitment to innovation and sustainability of transportation, will be the Brunel Team’s logistic partner for the Sasol Challenge. We will be handling air transport and logistics for the team’s solar vehicle, Nuna 12s. AFKLMP, in order to minimise the environmental impact of the Nuna 12s’ journey from Amsterdam to Johannesburg, will offset the fuel needed to transport them with SAF (an alternate aviation fuel), reducing the carbon footprint.
GertJan Relands, SVP Commercial of Air France KLM Martinair Cargo, said that the mission of the Sasol Solar Challenge is aligned and inspired by Air France KLM Martinair Cargo. “The airfreight sector faces the challenge of reducing carbon footprint. Our goal is lead innovation in this field by spearheading initiatives involving all industry stakeholders.
After the 1973 oil crisis, the world became more aware of the harm that fossil fuels cause to the environment. This prompted global efforts to develop alternate energy sources. Hans Tholstrup, a Danish inventor, built the world’s first solar-powered vehicle in 1983 and drove it around Australia to demonstrate the potential of solar power. This pioneering achievement led to Australia’s World Solar Challenge.
In 2001, Delft University of Technology’s Solar Team participated in the sixth World Solar Challenge, held in Australia. The team was there to promote sustainability and innovate. The team, led by Dutch astronaut Wubbo ockels, inspired many with its vision. Ockels said it best, “There is only a single earth.” There is no spare.
The Delft students have made history as they became the first rookies in the world to win a race with their solar vehicle, Nuna.
Solar racing continues to inspire technological innovation and raise environmental awareness. It challenges teams to refine and develop new technologies that will ultimately benefit commercial industries. By partnering up with the Brunel solar team, AFKLMP reaffirms their commitment to innovation and sustainability, and significantly advances efforts to achieve more sustainable aviation practices.
About Sasol Solar Challenge 2024
The Sasol Solar Challenge, South Africa’s biennial engineering competition, is a biannual event that challenges talented teams from around the globe to cover as many kilometers as possible in solar-powered vehicles on public roads between Johannesburg and Cape Town. The eight-day competition, which spans over 2,500 km in South Africa, is a chance for local and international teams to test out new technology as they travel through South African towns.
The Basics
Even the best international teams find this competition challenging. Solar cars and their support vehicles travel 250-300 km each day. Each stage has three major stops: the start line (the control stop), the finish line, and the control stop.
Start Line
The solar teams start in convoys and cross the starting line in the order in which they finished the previous stage.
Control loops and stops
Each of the eight daily routes has a 30-minute mandatory control stop at a predetermined location between the start-finish lines. For lunch? Sort of! Control stops provide an opportunity to refuel, swap drivers, make repairs, and strategize. The host town can also come out to support the teams.
Crews can drive solar cars as many times as desired around the loops at each control stop. Each loop requires a five-minute additional stop at the control station – cars off and drivers out. But careful! But be careful!
Finish Line
The eight-day challenge is divided into daily stages. Each stage ends at 17:00 hours, when all teams must park their solar cars in the “parc fermé” paddock. Spectators watch in horror as the top teams strategize to squeeze every kilometre out of a day, arriving seconds before the cut-off. Late arrivals can be penalised and could affect the start line for the next day.
Read more on: https://www.solarchallenge.org.za
About Brunel Solar Team
The team is made up of eleven highly motivated Delft University of Technology students with diverse technical backgrounds ranging from aerospace engineering to robots. They are all working together to push the limits of sustainability. They hope that their solar car inspires the world to greater sustainability and technical innovation. The team competes at the annual solar races in South Africa and Australia. So far, the team has won seven of ten races held in Australia and four of four in South Africa. The Brunel Solar team will race again in South Africa this year and will try to maintain the winning streak by achieving the 5th consecutive win!
Read more on: https://brunelsolarteam.com