You normally don't hear the terms green friendly and land speed record in the same sentence, although that may change if a group of tree hugging speed freaks from Britain get their way. Currently, they are poised on a dry lake bed in Australia waiting for favorable wind conditions, so they can attempt to break the wind driven land speed record which stands at 116.7 MPH. That might sound kind of slow compared to the jet powered record, but is still pretty amazing for something with zero carbon emissions.
The Greenbird captures the wind using a rigid sail similar to an aircraft wing, and this enables it to hit speeds that are 3 to 5 times the actual wind speed. Once they break the record on wheels,the team will move to Montana and fit The Greenbird with blades to break the ice vehicle record.
Breaking records is great, but The Greenbird's builders believe that wind powered vehicles can be practical too. Their follow up will be a road going version that you can drive to the mall.
The Greenbird, via T3 The Gadget Website
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By Lol at 11:01 PM ON 08/20/08
Wouldn't you kinda have to go out of your way to have a wind driven vehicle NOT be green? I mean, I guess you could power the sail adjustments with diesel rather than batteries but that'd be sort of pointless :P Also, while breaking the actual land speed record with a wind powered craft would be impressive, but beating the wind powered record with a wind powered craft is... decidedly less so :P
Got a good laugh out of the mention of the road going version. Might come in handy after we've lined every single road with gigantic fans. It'll go great with the anti-gravity belt I've got on pre-order :D