A call for action as Solar Impulse touches down in Abu Dhabi

The brains behind Solar Impulse 2 renew call for setting up an international council for clean energy.

Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of State, with from left, Bertrand Piccard, the Swiss pilot of Solar Impulse 2, Doris Leuthard, the Swiss energy minister, Andre Borschberg, Swiss co-pilot, and Prince Albert II of Monaco and Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Environment and Climate Change after the plane landed in Abu Dhabi. Peter Klaunzer / EPAShow less

The Solar Impulse pilots called on the world to implement their message of clean energy, after finishing the first zero-fuel, round-the-world flight in history.

After Solar Impulse 2 arrived back in Abu Dhabi more than a year after embarking on its record-breaking flight, the brains behind the epic feat, Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, spoke of their hopes for the future of solar power and for sustainable energy to be implemented in meaningful ways.

“Why do we do it? We do it because we are pioneers, because we are explorers, because we know in our team that there is a way to never fail and that is to never try,” Mr Piccard said. “When you see the state of the world today, it is a crime not to try something – not to try to make the world a better place.”

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History is made

■ Solar Impulse pilots' emotional return to Abu Dhabi as dream is realised

■ Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed hails Solar Impulse as 'a new beginning'

■ Emirati Solar Impulse team member reflects on historic journey

■ Solar Impulse 2 touches down in Abu Dhabi completing zero-fuel circumnavigation - in pictures

■ Solar Impulse 2 lands in Abu Dhabi completing first zero-fuel flight around the world

■ Solar Impulse 2 completes zero-fuel journey around the world - graphic

■ Solar Impulse 2 lands in Abu Dhabi - video

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The pilots want to use the fame and attention brought by their mission to create a committee to help bring clean technologies to those in the energy industry.

However, Mr Piccard said, the problem is that access to those clean technologies could be disruptive to pre-existing systems, making it difficult for those in the industry to attain them.

“A lot of people were asking me, what will you do next? The project really begins when the wheels touch down in Abu Dhabi,” he said.

“Today we have a platform that is credible, we have technologies that can be used everywhere, we have media and the political world to connect citizens and to help them dream.”

With Mr Borschberg by his side, Mr Piccard said that the committee should act as a way to connect people in different sectors trying to make a change.

Prince Albert II of Monaco and Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of State and chairman of Masdar, were also present at the briefing.

“Each person has a field in which they can be a pioneer,” Mr Piccard said. “For us it was aviation because we love to fly, for Sultan Al Jaber and Prince Albert it is politics, for others it’s in art, science, family in the community – but we have to try.”

Mr Piccard used Solar Impulse as an example of the future of aviation. But he said that technologies found in the plane could also help to spur on development in other sectors.

The Swiss said that his idea of a world council for clean technologies still did not exist. This must happen because leaders worldwide must give the clean technology community the tools they need to deliver them.

Mr Borschberg, engineer and co-pilot, said Solar Impulse should be used as an example of what can be achieved.

“We went through 13 years of uphill battles, but when you know that [for] all these battles that you fight for and all these obstacles that you overcome, each one of those is a fantastic opportunity, that’s how you move forward,” he said.

By pushing themselves, they have made it easier for others to do the same in other fields and in aviation, he said. Nasa and Airbus have cancelled a four-seat electric plane project, calling it too unambitious, and replaced it with plans to build a 20-seat hybrid aeroplane.

“A lot is possible, because we dared to fail – because when you dare to fail, you can succeed,” Mr Piccard said.

“Much more is possible than we think. The world has so much difficulty moving forward because we are afraid.

“If we can all be pioneers in our lives, then life can become a great adventure.”