Campaigner's electric bike trip

The bike can reach speeds of around 40 miles an hour

A climate campaigner from Machynlleth is travelling 500 miles to Brussels on an electric bike to lobby a conference on carbon trading.

Dr Will Howard, 55, believes he has a plan for cutting Europe's greenhouse gas emissions, and is taking the idea to the EU Commission and Parliament.

Travelling at an average speed of 15 mph, the father-of-two will cross Wales to London, before going on to Brussels.

Dr Howard said the trip was low-carbon and would cost only 50p.

The bike is based on a folding design and can reach speeds of around 40 mph.

It does about 50 miles to the charge, which is quite remarkable for a folding electric Dr Will Howard

Dr Howard said he had chosen the bike as his form of transport as one of the issues he is campaigning for is tougher limits on transport emissions.

He said: "The electric bike is quite special actually.

"You know those little folding bikes people take on trains, they are called Bromptons often, it's one of those, and somebody has fitted what's called a nano electric hub to the front wheel.

"It does about 50 miles to the charge, which is quite remarkable for a folding electric."

Dr Howard said while it was not a "doddle" riding the bike, but it was not hard work either.

"As long as you've got electric there... when you do the hills it's like going on the flat," he said.

Trained as a soil ecologist, Dr Howard is the voluntary co-ordinator of Cap and Share, a group campaigning to cut greenhouse gas emissions and tackle climate change.

He said: "The first message really is who has the right to have the emission permits, because at the moment they're being given to the big companies.

Hardcore

"What I'll be saying is in fact, they should be given to citizens. The government's got no right to give away our emission rights."

Despite suffering from ill health, Dr Howard is confident he will reach Brussels on Monday 9 July.

"Although I'm not a kind of hardcore bike person, it does help, and I'm in a very good patch with the illness," he said.