Yahoo News Prince Charles says time has 'run out' to save planet from man-made emissions
The Prince of Wales has warned people that we "haven't got time to waste” if we want to save the planet from climate change.
Charles said time has “run out” to combat the destructive effect of man-made emissions as he called for “ingenious new ideas” on creating “new fuels of the future.”
The prince’s comments followed his tour of a Cambridge University research laboratory on Tuesday afternoon, where he learnt about the development of eco-friendly planes.
He heard about advances in the decarbonisation of flight before donning ear defenders as he watched a wind tunnel test of a prototype plane component.
The prince also listened to a series of talks from engineers as he toured the Whittle Laboratory facility before a private meeting on the urgency of addressing the climate crisis.
Speaking after the meeting, he told a crowd of dignitaries, engineers and students: “We haven’t got time to waste.
“We have run out of time now to rescue this poor old planet from man-made emissions and all the complications we’re now facing, all the challenges we’re facing.
“So it is places like this, it is ingenious new ideas of how we decarbonise and produce the new engines, the new fuels for the future.
“And the future has to happen much quicker than it used to, that’s the problem, so we have to find the best ways to bring everybody together for once so we don’t have endless ‘argy-bargies’ about it but actually get down together.
“If you mount a military campaign, because you’re up against it you have to produce the answers, overnight practically.
“That is what I think is the challenge now.”
Charles said he hoped more money would be funnelled into “sustainable investment opportunities” with the help of the “genius” of engineers at the centre.
He then unveiled a plaque to launch the new National Centre for Propulsion and Power, which is to be built alongside the lab and is due to open in 2022 with funding from the Aerospace Technology Institute.
He said he wished the centre “every possible success because we all depend upon it to save this planet”.
The Whittle Laboratory was opened in 1973 by Sir Frank Whittle, whose original designs led to the development of today’s highly efficient systems that can power huge aircraft over long distances.
Over the past 50 years, the Whittle Laboratory has built industry partnerships with Rolls-Royce, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Siemens and played a crucial role in shaping the propulsion and power sectors.
The laboratory is collaborating with the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, of which Charles is royal founding patron, to raise the profile of the lab’s efforts to develop a world-first zero-carbon flight, to inspire greater industry ambition.
