Wind-powered vehicle aims at world land speed record

by Rich Bowden - Aug 21 2008, 00:48

A team of eco entrepreneurs will attempt to break the world's land speed record for a wind-powered vehicle.

The carbon-neutral Greenbird will make an attempt to beat the previous record of 116mph (187kmph) in a demonstration at Lake LeFroy in Western Australia. The venture is the result of a partnership between green electricity company Ecotricity and engineer Richard Jenkins.

Team leader Dale Vince said the team would look to emulate the feat of Donald Campbell, who broke eight world speed records in the 1950s and '60s (for standard fuelled vehicles). In contrast the Greenbird team have just the power of the wind to harness through their land yacht. 

"Campbell did it with the prevalent fuel of the day -- we're doing it with the prevalent fuel of tomorrow... Donald Campbell had his massive cubic capacity engines and energy dense fossil fuels -- we have just the wind," said Vince.

"But the wind will still be here in 50 or 100 years time -- the age of renewables has been a long time coming (back) but will endure." he added.

"Cars of the future won't be running on fossil fuels they will be running on renewable sources of energy like the wind. And with today's technology we can achieve incredible speeds, using only wind power."

The Greenbird relies on fixed sails similar to those on an aircraft and is described by the entrepreneurs as "simply an amazing machine powered only by nature."

Engineer Richard Jenkins said of the project: "We wanted to develop a purely technical solution that would deliver ultimate performance from a free and available resource -- the wind.

"After 10 years I now have the right vehicle, in the right part of the world with the right team in support. We now just need the weather to cooperate," said Jenkins in a Press Association report.

For more information on the Greenbird see the official Web site here.

And, for a video of the Greenbird in action, check the BBC Web site here.

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