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Swiss Planet Solar II boat starts Lake Titicaca mission

Swiss solar boat Planet Solar II in Lake Titicaca in Peru
Swiss solar boat Planet Solar II in Lake Titicaca in Peru Keystone-SDA

Swiss solar boat Planet Solar II has launched on Lake Titicaca, Peru, at the start of a two-year scientific and environmental mission.

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Located between Peru and Bolivia at over 3,800 metres above sea level, Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable freshwater basin in the world.

Maja Messmer Mokhtar from the Swiss embassy in Bolivia, several Peruvian and Bolivian ministers and oceanographer Xavier Lazzaro, who specialises in this endangered ecosystem, took part in the launch, said the Planet Solar Foundation.

Planet Solar II will help to investigate the increase in nutrients in Lake Titicaca – for example due to over-fertilisation – and resulting plant proliferation, which is exacerbated by pollution and motorised shipping. In contrast to combustion engines, solar energy is particularly powerful at high altitudes, according to the foundation.

The Planet Solar II mission in Lake Titicaca is supported by the Swiss embassies in Peru and Bolivia.

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Translated from German by DeepL/mga

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