The Swiss-based project to fly the solar-powered Solar Impulse 2 (HB-SIB) round the world has raised $20 million to resume its journey, which was suspended in Hawaii in July 2015. The project's co-founder, Andre Borschberg, told the press at the COP21 UN Climate Change Conference in Paris that key sponsors, including chemicals group Solvay and power grid maker ABB, had contributed extra funding. HB-SIB departed on its circumnavigation from Abu Dhabi in March 2015 but there were delays caused by poor weather, including a month in China. The aircraft was then grounded in Hawaii after its batteries sustained irreparable damage during the five-day flight across the Pacific Ocean from Japan.
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