Swiss pilots aim to circle world in a solar-powered plane

ABU DHABI, Jan 23, 2010 (AFP) - Bertrand Piccard is no conventional environmental activist — he hopes to raise awareness about the potential of renewable energy by flying a solar-powered aircraft around the world.

“What we want to do is to fly day and night to show that, with renewable energies, you can have unlimited duration of flight, no restriction,” Piccard told AFP at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, where he had a booth to promote his venture. The 51-year-old Swiss psychiatrist plans to fly his one-of-kind “Solar Impulse” around the world over 20 to 25 days, traveling at an average of 70 kilometres (43 miles) an hour.

He will split the flying time with Andre Borschberg, a former Swiss fighter pilot.

“We believe that if an airplane can fly around the world with no fuel, nobody can say after that it’s impossible to do it for cars, for heating systems, for air-conditioning, for computers and so on,” he said.

- AFP