After the despair of a steep hike in petroleum prices, comes a glimmer of hope. The hope, of a significantly reduced dependence on petrol, comes from 28-year-old school dropout Rafi Alam. Following a similar petrol price hike two years ago, he had ventured to design a vehicle that can run on freely available sources of energy.

The result of the two years of effort — aptly coming to fruition on the World Environment Day — is a redesigned two-wheeler that seeks to provide a unique solution to the energy crisis as well as the problem of pollution by using both solar energy and wind power to propel itself.

The use of solar energy to run vehicles is nothing new and many such demonstrations have been made. But it is perhaps the first time that wind energy is being used to propel a vehicle. What is unique is that the two-wheeler — the prototype is an old scooter fitted with a few electrical gadgets — uses both solar and wind energy simultaneously to charge a battery that then runs the vehicle.

The solar panel is installed on the front of the vehicle while a fan that delivers wind energy has been mounted on the front wheel cap.

Two sources of energy not only charge the battery faster but also ensure that if one component is not able to function, the vehicle can still run on the other source of energy. The vehicle is designed to generate energy even during the braking process, with a tiny switch on the brake pedal ensuring that the engine shifts from the motor to a generator which adds to the charging of the battery.

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