A team of visionaries led by scientist and former yachtsman, Raphael Dinelli, are readying a revolutionary aircraft concept in the French town of Les Sables d’Olonne. The team plans to make its first carbon-free transatlantic flight a reality by this upcoming June, something that has never been done before.

The team will make this attempt in the Eraole, which is a hybrid, solar and biofuel-powered light biplane aircraft that’s been in the making since 2009. The aircraft is powered by an electric engine which is fed by large solar panels that are spread across its wings. When the aircarft can’t draw enough energy from the sun, such as during nightfall, the Eraole switches to biofuel.

Dinelli and his team have spent two years researching the best biofuel for the task and finally settled on an oil made from micro-algae, cultivated specifically for this purpose. The Eraole is expected to run on solar power for about 25% of the time it’s airborne, 55% of the time it will be powered by biofuel, and 20% of the time it will be gliding. The aircraft’s also equipped with small lithium-ion batteries that provide extra power during take-off, while the plane itself has been made from composite materials, which have significantly lightened its weight.

The Eraole’s average speed is 62 miles/hour, which means it’ll take about 60 hours for Dinelli to make his solo flight across the Atlantic. The goal of the team is to be completely ready by June 2016, when the Eraole is expected to take off from North America on its eastward journey! While the aviation industry is still quite far from being entirely carbon-free, the experience accumulated in these experimental flights may speed up the adoption of solar power and biofuels in the industry. We look forward to this game-changing flight!