Sustainable and profitable
The ground-breaking “Solar Impulse” project aims to revolutionise the use of renewable energies – with the first manned round-the-world-flight in a solar airplane01/06/2009
In times of change society needs visionaries. People with the courage to conceive new solutions beyond our current insight. People who lay their pioneering spirit at the service of our society and a better future. With this goal in mind and with the support of strong partners, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, initiators and future pilots of Solar Impulse, are attempting to redefine the limits of human achievement. Their aim is to fly around the world in 30 days, powered solely by the sun.
The “Solar Impulse” airplane will take off and fly for several days and nights without using any fuel or emitting any pollutants. It will have a wing span of 80 metres (comparable with an Airbus A380) but will only weigh 2,000kg, not much more than a medium-sized car. 12,000 solar cells will generate energy during the day. This will be stored in extremely powerful, light-weight batteries and released at night. The dream of endless flight could become a reality – if it were not for the limitations of humans. Hence, there will be a stopover on each continent to allow for a change of pilots after five days and nights of non-stop flying during the round-the-world flight in 2011.
Now a decisive milestone is just around the corner: after years of intensive construction work and countless endurance, vibration and wind tunnel tests on individual parts, the Solar Impulse prototype is to be presented to the world public. A global premiere, which can be followed live at www.db.com/solarimpulse. The first test flights of the prototype are scheduled for the autumn, and in early 2010 the first 36-hour flight will prove that it is possible to fly through the night relying solely on the power of the sun. One thing is certain: the record round-the-world flight will set an example. “If an airplane can fly day and night without fuel, don’t tell me that our society cannot also do without fossil fuels,” emphasises Piccard. Solar Impulse will show that sustainability can and must be profitable. This is a conviction shared by Deutsche Bank, a Main Partner of the project. “Solar Impulse embodies our whole environmental commitment in a tangible and imaginative way,” underlines Dr. Josef Ackermann, Chairman of the Management Board and the Group Executive Committee of Deutsche Bank.
Out of the awareness that economic productivity, social responsibility and the protection of our environment are inextricably intertwined, Deutsche Bank has committed itself far beyond its core business to sustainability – with the clear goal of becoming a leading “Sustainable Bank”, as Hanns Michael Hölz, the bank’s Group Sustainability Officer, explains.
“Already in 1999 we established a global sustainability management system. Today, against the background of our comprehensive climate strategy, the bank’s entire energy needs in Germany, Italy and Switzerland, among others, are covered with renewable energies.”
The headquarters in Frankfurt will be one of the most eco-friendly high-rise buildings in the world once reconstruction of the “Greentowers” is completed in 2010, and by 2013 all business activities worldwide will be climate neutral. To enable its customers to take advantage of the enormous market potential of ecological and socially sustainable investment possibilities, the bank offers a wide range of respective services and products. Especially in times of change, these produce an excellent opportunity to invest in our own future and that of the globe.
“If we want to be successful in life we must develop the ability to think the opposite of what we have thought and done so far!” is how Piccard sums it up. Solar Impulse shows us how.
