TWO Britons are preparing an attempt to smash the world

speed record for a wind-powered vehicle.

Stroud-based Eco-businessman Dale Vince OBE and engineer

Richard Jenkins hope to smash the current record of 116.7mph on

their wind-powered craft The Greenbird out on the salt flats of

Australia's Lake Lefroy.

The duo describe The Greenbird as "a highly-evolved vehicle"

that uses a combination of technology found on aircraft and

Formula 1 cars to achieve "staggering" speeds without engine

power.

The chosen name is a nod to Donald Campbell's Bluebird, a

fuel-powered car which achieved record speeds in the 60s.

Mr Vince, managing director of environmental energy firm

Ecotricity, said: "We are coming to the end of the age of

fossil fuels and the dawn of the age of renewables and The

Greenbird symbolises this historical watershed better than

anything else."

He added: "Cars of the future won't be running on fossil

fuels they will be running on renewable sources of energy like

the wind.

"And with today's technology we can achieve incredible

speeds, using only wind power."

Mr Vince became involved in the Greenbird project through

his Gloucestershire-based company – which builds wind turbines

and has sold "green" electricity across the country since

1996.

The Greenbird craft is a culmination of 10 years work,

thousands of man hours and five prototype vehicles, he

said.

Engineer Mr Jenkins said: "We wanted to develop a purely

technical solution that would deliver ultimate performance from

a free and available resource – the wind.

"After 10 years I now have the right vehicle, in the right

part of the world with the right team in support. We now just

need the weather to cooperate."

Lake Lefroy is 50km south of Kalgoorlie, a former

gold-mining town in Western Australia, around one hour's flight

from Perth.

The team believe it to be the best natural surface on earth

on which to attempt such a record.

The vehicle arrived at Lake LeFroy for testing on Friday.

The team will go on record standby towards the end of this

month and start of next month.

The current world wind powered speed record of 116.7mph was

achieved on March 20 1999 in Prim, Nevada, USA, by Bob

Schumacher in Iron Duck.

You can hear an audio interview with Dale Vince on our

sister website: www.westbusiness.co.uk