Talent from Twente develops sustainable charging system for e-bikes

“It would, of course, be nice if we could provide the entire country of the Netherlands with charging points for electric bicycles in the future”, says Jorg Wellink, inventor of the sustainable charging system. Jorg’s charging system is a system in which the batteries of e-bikes are charged at a charging station, as is already happening with electric cars. In public areas, such as restaurants, the system works in combination with a safe system in which the batteries of e-bikes can be charged safely and sustainably. The system works entirely on solar energy and is therefore completely future proof. We need to find and use renewable energy sources, so we no longer need fossil fuels, which is bad for the environment and scarce, too.

While studying Mechanical Engineering at the University of Twente, Jorg discovered that how the solar energy market develops its systems is not sustainable. Moreover, a third of all bicycles sold in the Netherlands is an electric one. These insights, combined with the fact that the demand for electric bicycles is only increasing, have led Jorg and a team of fellow students to develop a sustainable charging system for e-bikes. This charging system is fully recyclable, does not need the electricity network and is fully chargeable with solar energy.

The One Young World Shell Scholarship Programme is an initiative by Shell Nederland to give ten ambitious young people a chance to present their ideas and inventions at the One Young World summit. Outstanding young talents, including Jorg from Twente, come together at this summit. They come from more than 190 different countries. The goals are accelerating social, positive changes and discussing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. For the last part of the Shell Scholarship Programme, Jorg submitted a Social Investment plan, and Shell has decided to invest in Jorg’s plans. The prototype can be further developed with this money, which means it can subsequently be placed with interested companies as a pilot system.