The Solartaxi has reached the sunny state! The hot California sun took us along the West Coast and about 40 years after the flowerpower movement we brought a new message to "Sun" Francisco: Love, peace & solar power! Furthermore, we visited Tesla Motors where we have tested the limits of the Solartaxi: Click our video to see a really sustainable car race!

It`s all about heavy transport this week, and we’re not talking about monster trucks! Vehicles and their part of our way of life is paramount in this week’s Newschecker. Along with the new giant Airbus A380 , comes the building of many new airports that are able to accommodate this large addition to the aviation family. Wired has a slide show presenting some new airport terminals, which include one in Shanghai and the brand new Fosters + Partners airport in Beijing. But did it blow the budget as well? Watch the slide-show here.
Image from Wired Slide-show.
Dan Milmo from the The Guardian writes about current oil prices and the changes that will happen to the cost of flying. As pointed out by British Airways’s Willie Walsh here, the soaring cost of oil allied to global economic uncertainty forces airlines to raise fares. In the comments section, Milmo points out that its also the other budget flyers like Ryanair and Easyjet that have come under the spotlight.
More new parking spots ideas , but this time for cars. Eco geek brings us a new idea from Envision - the “Solar Grove” - a customized photovoltaic-integrated parking lot solar system. Each of the "Solar Trees" ( a term the San Diego-based company has trademarked) is 10 feet tall at the low end and 13 feet tall at the high end. Every Solar Tree provides shaded parking for six vehicles which could also lead to reduced air conditioning use!!The solargrove from envision.The Sexy Green Car show is currently being held at the Eden Project in Cornwell. Yes, the Biome project lives! We were wondering if any pioneers in that area had any time to check it out? Let us know, but if you didn't, BBC has a short video on it here.Image from the Sexy Green Car Show

News Checker this week comes from all corners of the globe.
Being independently mobile and flexible with our work environments is becoming even more necessary. The solar desk is another “bright” idea to create instant energy and power provided for working on the move.

Image of the Solar Workspace
Wired magazine has an interesting report on LA and its automobile industry. With the region's growing population, the city will not be able to support itself without future investments in transportation. Read more in their blogs.
More transport troubles in the USA, this time the focus is on New York's public transport system.
Full of solutions, the Dutch as usual have come up with a novel way to deal with rising water levels. Floating Homes. But unlike the usual Dutch house-boats, these homes are able to be both attached to the ground or float upwards of 16 feet. 37 houses along the Maas River in Holland have been designed by Dura Vermeer.
More info at Cleantechnica

Dutch Floating Homes

The Vulcan project is creating waves in the blogosphere. The video created by the team at the Purdue University is actually an interactive map of the United States and the carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels. The results are surprising.
Finally, Australia is about to build their biggest solar plant near the town of Mildura.
The plant – which is planned to begin generating power by 2010, and be completed 2013 – is looking to provide solar power to some 45,000 homes.

Over the last month we have followed the route of Louis Palmer and his Solar Taxi as it travels on the Asian part of its trip around the world. It has travelled from the banks of the Ganges river in Varanasi, to the strife-torn Bihar region and the colourful streets of Calcutta. Finally, we are special guests at the UN Conference on Climate Change in Bali.Just before the taxi boarded the Rainbow Warrior on its oversea trip to its next stop, it took some special guests for a test drive. These included the Australian Minister of the Environment, Peter Garret, and Chair of the World Future Council, Bianca Jagger. And ironically, our Video series ends just as it began, with a lift for Nobel prize winner Dr Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Take a look at the last part of the Bali Diary. Next stop.....New Zealand.Watch video here

And more newsFollowing the conclusion of the conference, Bianca Jagger and the World Future Council issued a press release voicing their concerns at the outcome. Here is a snippet... .
Bianca Jagger said
“Leaders of the industrialised nations present in Bali have failed in their moral duty. They have used the US’s decision not to sign any specific carbon emissions reduction treaty as an excuse for their own inaction.”
The World Future Council supports Al Gore’s suggestion that world leaders should sideline the US and forge ahead to Copenhagen in 2009, with or without US commitment.
Bianca Jagger said, “This clearly demonstrates what the World Future Council is advocating. If we are serious about averting climate change catastrophe, we must think in revolutionary terms, and transform our way of life, restoring rather than destroying life on earth. We must embark upon a global renewable energy revolution: if we are to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2020, we must replace our carbon-driven economy with a renewable, carbon-absorbing energy economy.”
For more info and the entire press releases and speeches go to the World Future Council site.

The Solartaxi is being given the VIP treatment at the UN climate change conference, whisking around the delegates and special guests as well as visiting with the local communities.But we don't always stay on solid ground. The crew visited the Rainbow Warrior, who have also anchored down in Bali to spread awareness. A school was also on the agenda, to show by example what renewable alternatives there are to the oil problem. And we also spoke with UNEP director Achim Steiner about the Bali outcomes.
Watch video here

For the complete version of the Achim Steiner interview, watch here.

We left the crazy roads of India and entered the beautiful island of Bali. We made it just on time - the conference has started and we will be here for the whole time as special guests of the UNEP. What exactly will happen here, no one knows. But here we are, showing one of the possible solutions to climate change...Over the next few days, the Solartaxi will pick up people from the conference and give them a free ride. Soon we will know more about what these people are doing here, and what their ideas about global warming are...

Watch the video here

12 037 kilometres into the journey of the solartaxi and it’s been anything but boring. Challenges pop up on a daily basis. Watch to see why the solartaxi was not allowed to enter the site of the Taj Mahal and what one needs in case of a solar breakdown.

If you want to know more about the solartaxi and our travels, stay tuned. The next video will be up shortly!!!Also, if you have any questions you want to ask - just do it at redaktion@clubofpioneers.comI will post the answers on my blog as soon as I can.