GENEVA, April 29, 2012 (MAP)
Morocco has implemented on the gournd its renewable energy commitment, highlighted on Staurday in Geneva pilots of Solar Impulse, the first aircraft that can fly day and night without fuel or polluting emissions.
Speaking at a conference held at the Moroccan stand in the Geneva International Fair for books and press, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, the co-pilots of world’s most advanced solar-powered plane, explained that Morocco was not chosen as a destination for the plane’s first-ever cross-continent flight at random.
They added that Morocco was chosen given its actions to promote renewable energies thanks to the willingness of HM the King who decided to set up the world’s largest solar power plant project in the region of Ouarzazate.
The co-pilots said that This long-duration cross-continental flight aims to raise awareness about the potential of renewable energies. “This is a humanist, citizen and aeronautical project”.
Solar Impulse” has a wingspan of 63.4 meters, as wide as an Airbus A340, and weighs only 1,600 kg. It has 12,000 solar cells mounted on the wings, which provide momentum for its four electric motors.
The plane took its first international flight from Switzerland to Brussels on May 13, 2011, and marked its second international flight to Paris in June last year.
