Straits Times 6 Dec 08;
POZNAN (Poland): If a solar-powered car can drive 52,000km around the globe without using a drop of oil, perhaps it can be forgiven for not having frills like a coffee cup holder.
Or maybe that makes Swiss adventurer Louis Palmer's journey even more remarkable.
Mr Palmer rolled into the United Nations climate conference in his solar-powered car on Thursday, a man with a mission: To prove that the world can continue its love affair with the car without burning any polluting fossil fuels and still enjoy a smooth ride.
While 11,000 delegates sought an ambitious new climate change deal to slash emissions of heat-trapping gases, MrPalmer was convinced that whatever they agreed upon would not be enough to avert environmental disaster.
'Here at the conference, we are talking about reducing emissions by 10 or 20 per cent,' he said. 'I want to show that we can reduce emissions by 100 per cent - and that's what we need for the future.'
Mr Palmer, a teacher on leave from his job, spent 17 months driving his own creation - a fully solar-powered car built with the help of Swiss scientists - through 38 countries, including Singapore.
The two-seater travels up to 90kmh and covers 300km on a fully charged battery.
'This is the first time in history that a solar-powered car has travelled all the way around the world without using a single drop of petrol,' he said, adding that he lost only two days to breakdowns.
For now, the aluminium and fibreglass car is still a prototype, and it feels like one.
The car, designed to be light and efficient, is powered by solar cells that it hauls on a trailer.
It has plastic windows, three wheels instead of four and, ironically, no climate control.
Designed like a race car, it can hold two people comfortably and has a radio. It meets all safety standards in Switzerland and has headlights, brakes, blinkers and other standard safety features.
Before his world trip, Mr Palmer, 36, used it for a year to commute to the school in Lucerne, Switzerland, where he taught.
Although he tried to avoid what he called 'dinosaur technology', his steering wheel was from a Renault, his windshield wipers from a Fiat and his wheels from a Smart car, the Daimler two-seater that is ubiquitous in many European cities.
He has given a ride to approximately 1,000 people so far, including New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon and UN climate chief Yvo de Boer.
Mr Palmer believes there is no reason why car companies cannot make a much better version of his solar-powered car if they set their minds to it.
'These new technologies are ready,' he said. 'It's ecological, it's economical, it is absolutely reliable. We can stop global warning.'
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Zipping around
The Solar Taxi
# Is an electric vehicle with two wheels up front and one in the rear.
# It has a 5m-long trailer covered with 6 sq m of solar Q-Cells that generate the car's electricity.
# The car and the trailer each has a Zebra (sodium nickel chloride) battery pack. The electricity is stored in the battery, so the taxi can be driven at night.
# The maximum speed it can reach is 90kmh.
Around the world
# Since leaving Lucerne, Switzerland, in July last year, Mr Louis Palmer has driven his solar taxi through 38 countries, covering a distance of over 52,000km.
# The destinations include places in Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the Middle East, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, China, South Korea, Canada and North America.
POWERING AHEAD
'These new technologies are ready. It's ecological, it's economical, it is absolutely reliable.'
Mr Louis Palmer, who believes companies can produce a better version of his solar-powered car
'Solar taxi' goes round the world
BBC News 5 Dec 08;
A solar-powered car has arrived at the UN climate change talks in the Polish city of Poznan after a round-the-world trip covering almost 40 countries.
At the wheel of the "solar taxi" was Swiss teacher Louis Palmer who made the 52,000km (32,000 mile) 17-month trip.
He said the feat proved solar power was a viable alternative to oil-based fuels and could help fight global warming.
But he said the prototype would need serious modification before it could be mass produced.
The small blue-and-white three-wheeler tows a trailer packed with batteries charged by the sun. It can travel for 300km on a single charge and reach speeds of 90km/h (55mph).
"People love this idea of a solar car," Mr Palmer said outside the venue of the UN climate talks. "I hope that the car industry hears...and makes electric cars in future."
Mr Palmer, 36, said the car ran "like a Swiss clock," breaking down only twice during the gruelling trip through 38 nations starting in Lucerne in July 2007.
Passengers included UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Monaco's Prince Albert, Hollywood filmmaker James Cameron, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, he said.
The car runs on solar power but Mr Palmer also had a battery for travel at night or in less sunny nations, such as winter-time Poland, that he recharged from local electricity.
He says the prototype cost as much as two Ferraris to build, but would cost around 10,000 euros ($12,620) if mass produced, with an extra 4,000 euros for solar panels.
Mr Palmer said he now plans to return home: "I promised my mother to be back before Christmas."
But next year, he plans to arrange a trip with six vehicles around the world in 80 days drawing power from sources such as hydro, geothermal and wind energy.
