The Solar Impulse, New hopes for solar powered flights

Photo: AFP

Bertrand Piccard, you might have heard his name before. He is the first person to have done a non-stop world tour in a hot air balloon in 19 days and 22 hours in 1999. 11 years later, he is back in the news for another of his project. He is the creator of the Solar Impulse.

So what is the Solar Impulse? As you can see on the picture, it is a plane using nothing but solar power as a source of energy. The electricity produced is used to power four propeller engines of 10 horsepower each. It measures 61 meters in width, nearly as much as an Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger plane! It can also fly at an altitude of 13,000 meters using nothing but the power of its 12,000 photovoltaic cells covering the wings.

On Wednesday morning (07/04/2010), the Solar Impulse took off successfully for the first time from a runway located in Payerne, Switzerland. The prototype flew for about an hour before safely landing. Spectators were astonished by the silence and smoothness of the aircraft.

The Solar Impulse project was initiated in 2003 and around 70 people have been working on it in the past 7 years. According to its creator, the goal of this project is to "stop being dependent to fossil fuels" and to prove that if he can do it for a plane, then major corporations can do it for cars, electronics and heating. At PoorPlanet.com, we like this philosophy! Looking further into the topic, why not imagining in the future a passenger aircraft based on this concept? Silent, eco-friendly, cheap... It's close to perfection!

In the meantime, the Solar Impulse is already planning to go for an around-the-world flight next year. We wish them luck!

Below is the video of the first flight

More videos and photos on the Solar Impulse site.

The Oil Spill that Uncovers the Truth, the Sheng Neng 1

Oil escaping from the Sheng Neng 1 (Photo:Maritime Safety QLD)

On Saturday April 3rd, the Sheng Neng 1, a Chinese ship transporting coal hit and stuck itself on a sandbar within the Great Barrier Reef marine park, 70 kilometres east of the Great Keppel Island. The incident caused damaged to the ship, leading to a leak of its fuel tanks.

The ship carries around 975 tons of heavy fuel oil as well as 65,000 tons of coal. I am shocked to read that some newspapers are minimizing the 975 tons, saying it is a fairly small quantity of oil compared to major oil spills in the sad history of man. But to my humble opinion, even 1 kilogram of heavy fuel oil is pollution!. Pollution is bad wherever it is occurring, but the fact that this one is happening within a protected marine park, known as one of the great natural wonders of the world, is simply sickening. When I see how fragile coral reefs are, this really saddens me.

We can't thank enough the people (probably not the ones responsible) doing their best to try and contain the leak in such crucial moments. At the moment I am speaking, oil is still leaking out of the boat, 3 days later, and it is said that bad weather could further damage the boat and break it in half, causing the total amount of fuel to escape from the wreck.

But what shocks me even more, is that the ship was in a restricted zone 15 kilometers outside the shipping lane and that its crew did not notify authorities of their location for two hours. This is a clear example of a wrong practice. It is not a navigation error, the ship purposely followed this route. The reason for this behavior is that ships are ready to take shortcuts, even illegally to beat deadlines and save on fuel costs.

The Sheng Neng 1 (Photo:The Courier-Mail)

According to local fishermen, this is regular practice used on a "weekly basis" by cargo boats and tankers. It is common sense to know that if the zone is restricted, it is for a good reason. If this has been happening for years, an accident had to occur one day.

This event comes one year after another oil spill in the region, when a container carrier, the Pacific Adventurer, spilled oil in the Moreton Island and Sunshine Coast. Two oils spills in two years! Enough is enough!

If not much oil is spilled with the Sheng Neng 1, we can be glad this happened as it will open our eyes and hopefully those of the authorities, on illegal practices that threaten the environment in the name of profitability. From now on, we hope to see ships using these methods be heavily fined and the responsible ones thrown in jail.

WildAid Videos to Save the Tigers

WildAid is an NGO acting through various programs in China, India, Canada and the Galapagos. In 2010, their focus is on saving the wild tigers. With only a few animals left in the wild, the different tiger species are under very high extinction threat. The reasons behind the decrease in their population is all related to human activities: Destruction of their natural habitat and poaching. Their meat, bones and other body parts are used in traditional Chinese medicine and their skin is sold at very high prices. Some people still believe that consuming Tiger body parts will give them strength. Please watch and share the few videos below made by WildLife.
Don't let the year of the tiger be the last year of the tigers

Tiger farms

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I’d Rather Wear Fur than go Naked

"I’d Rather Wear Fur than go Naked" - It is with this shocking statement that the French designer Quentin Veron introduced his latest collection during the Paris Fashion week a couple weeks ago. In the recent years, many organisations endorsed by celebrities have been fighting hard to ban fur from being treated as a fashion element, especially when animals are killed in cruel manners. Some of the major designers such as Channel have set the right example and now use synthetic fur which resembles exactly to the real one. Unlike popular beliefs, what used to be low quality is now as good if not better than natural fur, and no animal is harmed in the process.

PETA: I'd rather go naked than wear fur

The slogan used by Veron is in contrast with the PETA campaign against animal cruelty "I'd rather go naked than wear fur" (see PETA banner ad).

Not everyone will agree with me but I believe this kind of behavior is pure and simple provocation. There are other ways to get a couple of weeks of temporary fame/buzz. I'm gonna sound a bit harsh on that one but Quentin Veron IS a loser! I don't dislike his collections, I just hate that childish behavior. Below are a few pictures of dead racoons, foxes and minks.

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