Students Challenged to Address Global Energy Needs

Global Venture Challenge 2008 (GVC) is an educational event designed to foster entrepreneurial spirit by engaging students, industry, government and the investment community in the discovery and development of innovative ideas. This year’s event focused on one of the world’s most critical issues—energy. Semi-finalists from 14 teams competed for a top award of $25,000 by submitting technology-based business plans specific to meeting the needs of bioenergy, energy efficiency and renewable fuels.

Team: Volantis
Team Members: William L. Ambrose IV, Nathan E. Morgan, Daniel J. Norman, Bradford A. Russell
School: University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Faculty Advisors: Glenn Swift, Pat Richardson
Topic: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Product or Service: The manufacturing and application of a super-hydrophobic coating for container ships that will decrease friction and drag, improve flotation and deter algae, barnacles and organic growth that slows oceanic travel and reduces fuel efficiency.

“Smooth sailing” may be a cliche to some, but to a team of University of Tennessee students it has a very practical meaning—transoceanic shipping that is faster, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly.

The team has based its idea-to-product business project on a super-hydrophobic coating for ship hulls it calls V-Floe. The material in V-Floe is a powder developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory researcher John T. Simpson that repels water much better than traditional water-resistant surfaces. The repellant coating decreases friction and drag (resistance), improves flotation and deters algae, barnacles and other organic growth that slows ships down.

The smoother travel and absence of organic growth will reduce harmful emissions, increase shipping speed, and could decrease container ship fuel consumption by up to 30 percent.

Current ship coatings lack the improved friction-reducing quality of super-hydrophobic coatings and offer poor protection against organic growth.  Existing anti-fouling paints contain metals such as copper, and are linked to environmental damage to the marine habitats in which the products are used.  Even in high-performance boats, the coatings used are hydrophilic and do not approach the performance levels that can be achieved by super-hydrophobic coatings.

The super-hydrophobic coating does not harm the environment, unlike alternatives using copper-based paints, such as VC-17, so it would be considered “green” with respect to both the atmosphere and the marine environment. The super-hydrophobic powder is applied to ship hulls by permanent chemical bonding and does not require adhesives.

Increasing oil prices are making transoceanic shipments more expensive. This coating would reduce fuels costs by 10 to 30 percent while increasing travel speed, saving large shipping firms between $500 million and $2.1 billion a year.

Greenhouse gas emissions would decrease proportionately, greatly reducing negative environmental impact. Super-hydrophobic coatings are better than competitive offerings because products like SkySail, which uses a football-field-size kite, require optimal wind direction and speed, which occur less than half the time.

The target market for super-hydrophobic ship hull coating is owners and operators of large ships that travel transoceanic routes on a regular basis.  Specific customer segments are ocean freight shipping companies and cruise line companies. An ancillary market is high-performance sailing and speedboats for use in competition.

The ocean freight industry consumes 350 million metric tonnes of bunker fuel a year, and the industry is growing at 5 to 10 percent each year.  Current bunker fuel prices are $15–20 per metric tonne, resulting in fuel costs of $5.3–$7 billion per year.  The industry has experienced five consecutive years of double-digit growth.  Based solely on current outstanding orders, the overall carrying capacity of the world’s shipping fleets will increase by 46 percent over the next few years.

Team member Brad Russell believes GVC provides a unique connection to potential funding sources and expertise.

“GVC gives us the opportunity to showcase the business we have been working on since September 2007,” he said.

“Fortunately, the contest corresponds with the time frame in which we need to start raising capital to further our business. GVC allows us to present in front of potential investors. I think it really means the most that we are able to show the hard work we’ve put in and the progress we’ve made at a point where startups don’t typically getting much notice. Because this is a real business and all four of us will be working on it full time when we are graduated in December, it is meaningful to get constructive feedback from the people that have been through this many times before.”