Bangkok’s green lung at risk

BANGKOK, 6 March 2017: Leaping out from Bangkok’s vast concrete sprawl is a kidney-shaped green space, home to hundreds of plant and bird species, and where cars are outnumbered by cycles.

But residents and campaigners fear the distinctive ecosystem and character of the city’s so-called “Green Lung” is under threat as developers lure locals with lucrative land deals.

Bang Krachao is an artificial island formed by a canal and a bend in the meandering Chao Praya river. Read more

Ferry terminal adopts solar

SINGAPORE, 2 March 2017: Singapore Cruise Centre’s Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal will soon become the city state’s first solar-powered ferry terminal.

Under an agreement with Sunseap Group, SCC will buy 100% of the terminal’s energy requirements via a hybrid offer that allows SCC to use solar power and supply from the grid.

The hybrid offer is structured around Sunseap’s capabilities as a licensed wholesaler (generation) and an electricity retailer. Read more

Vietnam opens ASEAN standard toilet

HO CHI MINH CITY, 28 February 2017: An automatic toilet cabin has been located in downtown Ho Chi Minh City in an effort to raise the standard of public toilets in the southern Vietnamese city.

Local media reported the city’s People’s Committee in District 1 introduced the automatic toilet cabin, last week, the first in a pilot scheme that aims to offer facilities that are compatible with the ASEAN Public Toilet Standard (APTS).

The USD10,909 toilet was installed on the sidewalk at number 116 on Nguyen Du Street. Read more

Green travel blooms in Hoi An

QUANG NAM, 28 October 2016: Vietnam’s World Heritage town, Hoi An, will work with its twinned city, Wernigerode in Germany, to build a solar power system for the old quarter of the town.

Local media reported the town’s administration saying the project would cost 135,000 euro (nearly USD150,000), of which 90% would be donated by the German government.

The solar power source will provide 55 kilowatts per hour (kWh) for a public lighting system, lanterns, decorations,  power for public loudspeaker system, street and folk performances, and illumination of the Japanese Bridge . Read more

Solar Impulse looks at drones

GENEVA, 11 October 2016: Circling the globe in an aircraft that used no fuel would be enough for some to rest on their laurels, but the pilots of Solar Impulse 2 on Monday spoke of their new project.

“An unmanned version of Solar Impulse,” aviator and engineer Andre Borschberg told reporters when asked what ground breaking mission the Swiss-based team was tackling next.

Borschberg and his partner Bertrand Piccard took turns captaining the solar powered plane on a record-shattering 43,000-kilometre (26,700-mile) journey across four continents, two oceans and three seas — without using a single drop of fuel. Read more

Epic solar flight ends in glory

ABU DHABI, 27 July 2016: Solar Impulse 2, Tuesday, completed its historic round-the-world journey, becoming the first airplane to circle the globe powered only by the sun to promote renewable energy.

Cheers and applause broke out as the plane touched down before dawn in Abu Dhabi after the final leg of its marathon trip, which began 9 March, last year.

Swiss explorer and project director, Bertrand Piccard, was in the cockpit during the more than 48-hour flight from Cairo, crossing the Red Sea, the vast Saudi desert and flying over the Gulf. Read more

Solar on final leg to Abu Dhabi

CAIRO, 25 July 2016: The first solar-powered plane to circle the world took off from Cairo on Sunday for Abu Dhabi, in the final leg of its journey.

Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard was behind the controls of Solar Impulse 2, which can fly for days on only energy from the sun.

“It’s a project for energy, for a better world,” Piccard, 58, told journalists before taking off. Read more

Solar almost home

SEVILLE, SPAIN, 12 July 2016: Solar Impulse 2 left southern Spain, Monday, on its way to Egypt for the penultimate leg of the solar-powered airplane’s landmark round-the-world journey.

The experimental aircraft took off from Seville at 0620(0420 GMT) for a flight that should last about 50 hours and will take it over the Mediterranean Sea.

Swiss national Andre Borschberg was at the controls for the journey that will pass through Algerian, Tunisian, Italian, Maltese and Greek airspace. Solar Impulse is to land in Cairo on Wednesday. Read more

Solar plane makes history

SERVILLE, 24 June 2016: The Solar Impulse 2 landed in Spain Thursday after completing a 71-hour flight from New York, the first ” solo transatlantic crossing in a solar-powered airplane.

Applause broke out as the experimental plane set down at Seville airport in southern Spain just before 0740 (0540 GMT) where a team was on the ground to welcome Swiss pilot and adventurer Bertrand Piccard.

“It is so fantastic!” Piccard told the plane’s mission control centre in Monaco in remarks broadcast online as the plane, which took off from New York on Monday, touched down. Read more

Solar embarks on Atlantic flight

NEW YORK, 20 June 2016: The Solar Impulse 2 aircraft was due to take off from New York, early Monday, on the transatlantic leg of its record-breaking bid fly around the globe using only solar energy.

The plane was supposed to leave early Sunday but departure was put off, apparently because of concerns over the weather.

Take off for Seville in Spain is now scheduled for 0200 (0600 GMT), the Solar Impulse team said on Twitter. Read more

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