KARACHI, Dec 11: A German driver, Rainer Zietlow, who is promoting the eco-friendly fuel, natural gas, by undertaking a tour of the world in his van. After staying in the city for three days, he is leaving for Lahore early on Tuesday morning.

Zietlow is accompanied by a three-member support staff – Falk Gunold (video), Florian Hilpert (mechanic) and Franz Janusiewicz (photographer) who are following him in a support vehicle to assist in case of any emergency.

The 37-year-old environment friendly driver is taking the world tour to spread awareness regarding the harm that the emission coming out from vehicles using petrol, diesel and other fossil fuel are causing to the environment.

According to Zietlow, a natural gas (CNG) powered engine emits lesser amounts of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides etc then other conventional fuels that are generally used in automobiles. He said CNG besides being eco friendly was comparatively 50 per cent cheaper than petrol, so people using CNG were not only protecting the environment but also saving on fuel costs.

Driving a Volkswagen Caddy Eco-fuel van powered with a 2-litre four cylinder engine, Zietlow said he can undertake a journey of a little over 2,500 kilometres with the help of nine specially installed CNG tanks without refilling. Over 32 gas stations have been identified along the route to show that CNG was available globally.

Zietlow’s journey is supposed to take about six months and started from Koln in Hanover, Germany on October 23, 2006. It is hoped that it will conclude at Leipzig, Germany on April 4, 2007. During his trip, he will visit 75 metropolises in 40 different countries in t five continents travelling over 45,000 kilometres.

The German team arrived in the city from the UAE by ship. After Lahore, it will cross through the Wagah Border to enter India and drive on to Burma, Thailand, Singapore. From this island, they will sail to Australia. From Australia the eco team will fly to Chile and then drive on to Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and then the USA. From the US, Zietlow and his team will take a plane to Germany to conclude the world tour.

Talking to Dawn, Rainer Zeitlow said that he had undertaken the tour to promote CNG as an eco friendly fuel and also to create a Guinness World Record. He said that he had also created another Guinness World Record of driving at high altitude on Ojos Del Salado – a volcano in Southern Chile in 2005.

He said that he was also availing an opportunity to meet people from different back grounds, cultures and traditions and enjoying the trip and propagating a message of love and peace among the people. A reception was hosted last evening for Zietlow and his team by Lendi Renvo Pakistan where Zeitlow spoke about the benefits to the environment from CNG powered vehicles.