Brussels, 09/04/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 9 April, the European Commission announced that it was supporting the Swiss solar aircraft project, known as "Solar Impulse", at a seminar entitled "Towards More Sustainable Aviation", organised by the MEP Christine de Veyrac (EPP-ED, France) and held at the European Parliament in Brussels. The vice-president of the European Commission with responsibility for transport issues, Jacques Barrot, assured Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, the president and CEO of Solar Impulse respectively, of the support of the European Commission.
The project aims to create an aircraft which can take off and land autonomously, both night and day, on the sole propulsion of solar energy, so as to be able to travel round the world using no fuel and creating no polluting emissions. In the view of the European Commission, Solar Impulse is a ground-breaking demonstration of what must be done in industry and in energy policy in terms of saving energy and creating clean mobility. "A world without planes is unimaginable. But tomorrow's aircraft, which will be more environmentally efficient, is something that we can imagine. Optimising today's technologies and materials up to their limits in order to speed the arrival of tomorrow's technologies is the challenge faced by the Solar Impulse project", said Mr Barrot in a press release. "By becoming an emblem of Europe's commitment to clean mobility, Solar Impulse is taking on the responsibility of promoting renewable energies as an opportunity not to be missed", added Bertrand Piccard. As for Christine de Veyrac, she said that "this project should not only lead to major technological progress, from the necessary innovations to its completion, but will also make Europeans aware of respect for the environment and the problem of exhausting our natural energy resources". The first Solar Impulse prototype aircraft, the HB-SIA, is currently being built in Dübendorf, near Zurich. It will have a wingspan of 61 metres and a weight of 1500 kg. Trial flights will start early in 2009. The Solar Impulse project is supported by, amongst others, the Solvay group, Omega and Deutsche Bank, its main partners. The Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale of Lausanne (EPFL) is its official scientific partner, Altran is its engineering partner and Dassault-Aviation is its aircraft consultant. (B.C.)