This story is from March 18, 2015

Solar energy plane a power point on clean fuel

If you think an around-the-world flight on a solar-powered aircraft is a joy ride, think again. Our collective futures could be riding on it—India’s as well as the rest of the World’s. When Solar Impulse 2 took off on its maiden journey around the globe, it set out on a mission; a mission to mobilise interest in path-breaking, future technologies, and to work towards decreasing dependence on fossil fuels. It set out also, to encourage people to use renewable energies.
Solar energy plane a power point on clean fuel
VARANASI: If you think an around-the-world flight on a solar-powered aircraft is a joy ride, think again. Our collective futures could be riding on it—India’s as well as the rest of the World’s. When Solar Impulse 2 took off on its maiden journey around the globe, it set out on a mission; a mission to mobilise interest in path-breaking, future technologies, and to work towards decreasing dependence on fossil fuels.
It set out also, to encourage people to use renewable energies.
And what better way to draw public attention than to take off into the sunset on board a single-seater aircraft made of carbon fiber, having a wingspan of 72 meters, fitted with 17,000 solar cells, and weighing all of 2,300 kilos, about the same as a car. With that in mind, pioneers and explorers, founders of Solar Impulse 2 and its pilots, Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard launched the ‘Future is Clean’ initiative. All of one-week old now, as they fly from country-to-pit-stop-to-
country, halting in Varanasi on Wednesday—the last time in India—the initiative hopes to get on board futuristic technology enthusiasts and environment lovers to ditch polluting technologies in favour of those that are cost-effective, protect nature and profitable for businesses.
Developed in tandem with Si2’s friends from Google, #futureisclean is now an initiative endorsed by Virgin group founder Richard Branson, Prince Albert II of Monaco, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber of UAE, and Spanish aristocrat Miguel Arias Cañete. But, what matters is this: the global signature campaign for a cleaner future is intended for presentation in December 2015 at the main session of Conference of Parties (COP) 21, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. With all world signing up for a cleaner future, global leaders will have to hear how to safeguard the environment.
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