Greenbird flies in for land record

Canberra Times
Tuesday 26/8/2008 Page: 6

Two British alternative energy enthusiasts are waiting for a West Australian lake bed to dry out as they prepare for an attempt on the world speed record for a wind-powered vehicle. Company director Dale Vince and engineer Richard Jenkins hope to beat the record of 187.77km/h with their craft, Greenbird, on the salt flats of Western Australia's Lake Lefroy, about 50km south of Kalgoorlie.

The record has stood since March 1999, when Bob Schumacher reached the 116.71km/h (186.7km/h) mark on a dry desert lakebed at Prim, Nevada, in a creation called the Iron Duck. Mr Jenkins said the Greenbird was named after Donald Campbell's famous world water speed record holder Bluebird, which recorded a speed of 444.71km/h at Western Australia's Dumbleyung Lake in 1964.

The result of 10 years of design and development, including five prototypes, Mr Jenkins said the Greenbird used technology from Formula One Grand Prix motor racing cars and advanced aircraft. Mr Jenkins described it as a purely technical solution, delivering ultimate performance for a free and available resource. "After 10 years, I now have the right vehicle, in the right part of the world with the right team in support," Mr Jenkins said. "We now just need the weather to cooperate." Mr Vince, managing director of environmental energy firm Ecotricity, became involved in the Greenbird project through his Gloucestershire based company.

The company builds wind turbines and has sold "green" electricity across Britain since 1996. He said the Greenbird symbolised the historical watershed of the end of the age of fossil fuels and the dawn of the age of renewables. Mr Vince and Mr Jenkins arrived with other members of their team earlier this month.

But the weather and wet conditions on the lakebed have delayed their preparation for the attempt. Conditions have been steadily improving. They hope to attempt the record before the end of September. The Greenbird project involves two vehicles: a land craft and an ice craft. The latter is also powered only by the wind. The world speed record project promotes a vision of the future where no forms of transport produce carbon emissions.