Solar car finishes first round-the-world trip

Dec. 4, 2008
POZNAN, Poland - The first solar-powered car to travel around the world ended its journey at the U.N. climate talks Thursday, arriving with the message that clean technologies are available now to stop global warming.

The small two-seater, hauling a trailer of solar cells and carrying chief U.N. climate official Yvo de Boer, glided up to a building in Poznan, Poland, where delegates from some 190 nations are working toward a new treaty to control climate change.

"This is the first time in history that a solar-powered car has traveled all the way around the world without using a single drop of petrol," said Louis Palmer, the 36-year-old Swiss schoolteacher and adventurer who made the trip.

The car, which runs noiselessly, can travel up to 55 mph and covers 185 miles on a fully charged battery.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28050319/