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Solar Taxi Visits Perth School Children
The Solar taxi on world tour has arrived in Perth. This is the first time in history for a car to drive around the world without a single drop of petrol!
Paul Llewellyn invited people to meet Louis Palmer and see the Solar taxi on Wednesday 5th March at Ardross Primary School.
Swiss Adventurer Louis Palmer started his trip around the world in his solar powered vehicle, the Solar taxi, at the European Sustainable Energy Forum in Lucerne, Switzerland, on July 3, 2007. He travelled overland from the heart of Switzerland via 19 countries across Europe, the Middle East, India, Indonesia and New Zealand. With this 18-month expedition Louis Palmer wants to show that solutions for global warming are available, that renewable energies create new jobs and a secure and sustainable future.
The Solar taxi has so far taken around 400 passengers, and it became a major attraction at the gates of the World Climate Change Conference in Bali, where it served to give an emission-free lift to, amongst others, Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the Nobel Prize winning IPCC, Bianca Jagger, President of the World Future Council, and Peter Garrett, Australia's new Minister for the Environment.
On his return to Switzerland, Mr. Palmer will have travelled through 5 continents, more than 40 countries and over 40,000 km - and will have shared the two-seater cabin with ministers, journalists, backpackers, and a Jordanian prince.
It took 3 years to build the solar taxi. The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and three Swiss Universities of Applied Sciences have been involved in its making, integrating topnotch technologies - and a flexible steering-wheel that allows the passenger to take control of the vehicle running at a maximum speed of 90 kph the sustainable way.
The car pulls a trailer equipped with high efficiency solar cells from Q-Cells that generate roughly 50% of the electricity needed to run the car. The other half is generated through solar panels on top of the headquarters of sponsor Swisscom and reaches the Solar taxi through the grid. The solar panels back home work like a bank, from where Palmer can withdraw his earlier deposits when travelling by night or on a cloudy day.
In the meantime for more information visit the following website: www.solartaxi.com
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For more information or comment contact Paul Llewellyn on 0428 317 182 or pllewellyn@mp.wa.gov.au
