Subject:  Car technology



                 DESIGNERS CLAIM SOLUTION TO TRAFFIC POLLUTION
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 Copyright =B8 1997 Nando.net
 Copyright =B8 1997 Reuter Information Service

 OSLO (June 29, 1997 8:20 p.m. EDT) - While world leaders at the U.N. Ear=
th
 Summit debated how to curb fossil fuel emissions and save the planet fro=
m
 environmental disaster, two Norwegian designers say they have the soluti=
on to
 traffic congestion and related pollution.

 Claimed to be the first ever combined solar and wind-power vehicle, thei=
r
 three-wheeled, open, aluminium-framed car is based on a principle simila=
r to
 the motorized rickshaw popular in many of the world's most over-populate=
d
 cities.

 "This vehicle is a signal for the challenges related to the environment,
 especially when you think of the parts of the world where the majority o=
f the
 globe's population lives," said Harald Roestvik, a Stavanger-based archi=
tect
 specialising in solar architecture.

 Together with Oslo-based industrial designer Peter Opsvik, he has worked
 secretly for three years on the first prototype of the new car.

 Dubbed the Butterfly, because butterflies spread their wings to warm up =
their
 bodies with solar energy before they can fly, the general-purpose vehicl=
e is
 slow in comparison to its gasoline-guzzling contemporaries -- it tops ju=
st 30
 mph. But that is not a problem in crowded cities, Roestvik said.

 "About 85 percent of people live in Asia. The congestion and pollution i=
n
 Asian cities are a huge problem. (Average) traffic speeds in a lot of As=
ian
 cities are about 4 mph per hour, compared with 12 mph in, say, London," =
he
 told Reuters.

 LIKE A 2CV WITH SOLAR PANELS

 Looking like the legendary Citroen 2CV, with the roof jacked up at the b=
ack,
 the Butterfly can seat the driver and two to three passengers.

 Its roof has three solar panels extending from the windscreen to a black=
 wire
 sphere containing the windmill at the back. A battery at the rear of the=
 car
 is continuously charged by electricity from the sun and wind.

 Roestvik said the vehicle could provide a solution to harnessing the nat=
ural
 resources of sunshine and wind abundant in many Asian and African countr=
ies,
 which often spend large proportions of their budgets on importing fossil
 fuels.

 "It is amazing nobody has looked at this before. In cities such as Dakar=
,
 Calcutta and Bangkok, the pollution problems are dreadful. I've been
 physically sick in Mexico City from pollution," said Roestvik.

 The Butterfly project so far has been funded solely by the designers, bu=
t a
 Norwegian environmental group, The Bellona Foundation, has now stepped i=
n to
 lend support.

 Bellona has been a vocal critic of Norwegian energy policy, both for
 increasing production of oil and gas without dealing with the resulting =
rise
 in emissions of the so-called greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2), and f=
or
 doing little to encourage reductions in domestic energy demand.

 The Scandinavian country is the world's second largest oil exporter afte=
r
 Saudi Arabia and is one of the top five gas sellers to continental Europ=
e.

 The state has a burgeoning budget surplus forecast at $7.9 billion in 19=
97,
 thanks to the rich hydrocarbon resources in the North Sea.

 "We (Norway) are exporting oil with the result of 600 million tons of CO=
2
 emissions every year and we have the income from this oil," said Frederi=
c
 Hauge, Bellona's leader.

 "There is a moral responsibility for Norway to use some of the income fr=
om the
 oil industry to take the costs of developing new technology... We wanted=
 to
 show this electric vehicle could form part of a realistic and practical
 solution to the world's pollution problems," Hauge said.

 BENEFITS OF STATE-FUNDED PROJECT

 Roestvik said that, if two Norwegian innovators could come up with a ser=
ious
 prototype for a "clean" vehicle, just think what an industry or state-fu=
nded
 project could do.

 It was time for Norway and for authorities around the world to become in=
volved
 in looking for alternative solutions to fossil fuels, he said.

 "Norway is not in the lead in environmental matters. Norway is protectin=
g its
 oil and gas interests full stop," he said.

 "You don't need to be an expert in pollution or have any more proof, jus=
t
 stand on the street corner of any major city and do your own research.

 By TANYA PANG, Reuter
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