Solar Impulse pilots call for strong clean tech climate deal

The pilots of the Solar Impulse solar powered aeroplane have released statements in support of U.N. climate negotiations taking place in Germany this week and have called for a strong global deal due to be signed in December.

Swiss pilots Andre Borschberg (left) and Bertrand Piccard (right) are currently in Nagoya, Japan, with the Solar Impulse II plane set to start its flight to Hawaii; its eighth and most ambitious leg of a record-breaking attempt to circumnavigate the globe using only the power of the sun.

U.N. talks are taking place in Bonn, Germany, from June 1-11, and officials from nearly 200 countries are meeting to work out the foundation of a global deal to combat climate change, due to be signed in Paris in December.

The 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) takes place in the French capital later this year and a historic agreement is expected to be reached to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

The world’s leading zero-fuel airplane, Solar Impulse 2 (Si2), promote the use of clean technologies and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Piccard, the Chairman and co-pilot of Solar Impulse, has been a vocal supporter of global climate negotiations and has participated at several summits.

Piccard said: “We should focus on the numerous clean technology solutions that reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions in a profitable manner. The only way to push governments to replace old polluting devices with clean and efficient technologies is to demonstrate the existence of solutions that can simultaneously save energy and natural resources, generate profit, create jobs and sustain economic growth. This is how the climate negotiations should be addressed.”

Andre Borschberg, CEO and the other co-pilot, said: “There are a lot of clean technologies that have been used to make Solar Impulse fly day and night without fuel – it is the first airplane with an unlimited endurance… Favouring these technologies would surely help open new markets for the industries reducing CO2 emissions and energy costs simultaneously.”

Solar Impulse has launched the FutureIsClean.org initiative with Prince Albert II of Monaco, Mikhael Gorbachev, and Richard Branson, among others, and is aiming to raise significant funds for clean technology development and encourage governments to replace carbon intensive systems with updated energy efficient models.

Si2 is made from carbon fibre and contains almost 17,250 solar cells built in to the four electric motors.

The plane started the 35,000 kilometre (22,000 mile) journey from Abu Dhabi in March before crossing the Arabian Sea to Ahmedabad and Varanasi in India and heading to Mandalay in Myanmar, and the Chinese cities Chongqing and Nanjing.

The pilots were diverted to Nagoya in central Japan on the way from China to Hawaii due to bad weather over the Pacific Ocean but are due to take off again when the weather clears.