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French Louis Palmer sits inside his solar taxi at the venue of the UN Climate Change Conference 2007 in Nusa Dua, on Bali island, 07 December 2007. |
Swiss national Louis Palmer fulfilled a childhood dream when he set off from his home country on July 3, travelling over desert, city and sea in 17 countries by a “solar taxi” to reach UN Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia.
"In 1986, I was a 14-year-old boy, I was dreaming that when I will be an adult, I want to drive around the world," he told reporters.
"Then it came to my mind, how can I travel around the world and enjoy the beauty of this world with a car that is polluting the world? Then I thought the perfect car would be a solar car."
His car, which has become a major attraction at the gates of the summit of some 188 nations, was built in three years with scientific help from four universities and 15 Swiss companies.
The car pulls a trailer with six squares metres of solar panels which soak up the sun. The electricity is fed into the battery which powers the car, and can run for up to 100 kilometres a day.
"It's the first time in history that a car is driving around the world without a single drop of petrol," boasted Palmer, a teacher by training.
His epic solar journey is not his first adventure -- he traversed Africa on a bicycle and North America in a light aircraft.
So far, Palmer has gone by land through Europe and the Middle East, then by sea to India and on to Indonesia.
After traversing much of Asia, Australia, North America and Africa, he will return to Switzerland to try and drum up support for the commercial possibilities of solar cars.
For the moment, he has his hands full, with more curious customers waiting to take a ride in his unique automobile which, he said, "works like a Swiss clock."
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瑞士男子路易斯•帕尔莫终于圆了他儿时的一个梦。今年7月3日，他驾驶一辆“太阳能出租车”从瑞士出发，穿越了沙漠、城市和海洋，途经17个国家，最终抵达印度尼西亚的巴厘岛，参加在此召开的联合国气候变化大会。
他在接受记者采访时说：“早在1986年，当我还是个14岁的小男孩时，我就梦想着长大以后能开车环游世界。”
“后来我想，我怎么能开着一辆会给世界各地带来污染的车环游世界，欣赏各地美景呢？所以，我觉得最理想的工具应该是一辆太阳能车。”
在约有188个国家参加的联合国气候变化大会会场外，帕尔莫的车成了最大亮点。这辆车在四所大学和15家瑞士公司的技术支持下，用时三年制造而成。
太阳能轿车后面是一个拖车，上面载有6平米太阳能采集面板。轿车依靠太阳能电池供电，每天能行驶100公里。
身为培训教师的帕尔莫自豪地说：“一辆车没费一滴汽油，就跑遍了全世界，这在历史上还是首例吧！”
然而，对于帕尔莫而言，这种壮观的“太阳能之旅”可不是第一次了。他曾骑车穿越非洲大陆，还曾开着一架轻型飞机穿越北美。
截至目前，帕尔莫从陆路穿越了欧洲和中东地区，通过海路抵达了印度和印度尼西亚。
在穿越亚洲、澳大利亚、北美和非洲的大部分地区后，帕尔莫将打道回府，并打算为太阳能轿车争取商业机会。
而眼下，帕尔莫可是忙得不可开交，很多好奇的人们都等着上这辆奇特的车过把车瘾，帕尔莫说：“它现在简直像个瑞士钟一样连轴转。” |
