News
As part of the Energy and Climate symposium organized by Université Total on November 21st, the Group joined BFM Business TV to present the 2014 “Sustainable Business Awards”. Their goal: encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation that drive sustainable energy and growth. After the six finalist start-ups present their projects, three of them — one from each of the following categories: energy transition, green chemistry and the sharing economy — will be presented with an award and receive media coverage on our partner TV channel.
And the nominees are:
Energy Transition
- Echy, Bringing Sunlight Into Your Home
Lighting is one of the most energy-intensive items in homes and other buildings. To help keep bills down, this start-up founded in 2012 by three engineering students has developed rooftop optical collectors that distribute light indoors using fiber optics.
www.echy.fr
- Expliseat, Convincing You to Fly
Expliseat's proprietary technology could revolutionize air travel. Its ultralight seats weigh just 4 kilograms, delivering significant fuel savings that can add up to $500,000 per aircraft, shrink the environmental footprint of flights and, as an added bonus, enhance passenger comfort with an extra 5 centimeters of legroom per seat.
www.expliseat.com
Green Chemistry
- Global Bioenergies for Sustainable Chemicals
Global Bioenergies is one of the few companies worldwide to have developed a process to convert renewable resources into hydrocarbon compounds, for an eco-friendly, sustainable “green oil” that can in turn be processed into biosourced plastics, paints and other products
www.global-bioenergies.com
- Algopack, Replacing Plastic With Algae
Algopack is the only company in the world to produce plastics from brown algae, or seaweed. The start-up cultivates this natural, fully biodegradable, compostable resource itself. No pesticides or fertilizers are used and very little water is required.
www.algopack.com
The Sharing Economy
- MyRecycleStuff, Barter 2.0
A pioneer in new economies and France’s biggest social barter network, with 10,000 members who swap clothing, toys, furniture and services, MyRecycleStuff wants to encourage individuals and businesses to transition from a market economy to a network economy that facilitates support and sharing and prevents waste — all using impressively innovative tools.
www.myrecyclestuff.com
- Jestocke.com, Renting Attics and Basements
If you have an empty garage or attic somewhere, why not rent it out? That’s the concept behind jestocke.com, where space is as much as 60% cheaper to rent than in conventional self-storage units. And it’s all covered by an exclusive insurance policy developed especially for the site.
www.jestocke.com