It’s green, it’s clean and it’s, er, too quiet: ‘As motorbikes go, it has a lot to boast about. It can reach 50mph in 12 seconds, produces no polluting emissions, and is as quiet as the low hum of a laptop computer.

But therein lies the problem. British engineers who yesterday unveiled the prototype of the world’s first hydrogen-powered motorbike confessed they were considering adding an artificial ‘vroom’ to the machine as they were worried its silence might be dangerous.

Known as ENV (Emissions Neutral Vehicle), the ‘fuel cell’ bike is almost entirely silent. Anti-noise campaigners welcomed the prospect of a motorbike without the usual earth-shattering roar. But Harry Bradbury, chief executive of the bike’s manufacturer, Intelligent Energy, said: ‘There has never been a silent bike produced, so no one is used to it. As it goes forward towards production, we’re going to give thought to some light noise modulation.””

Via Envirolet® Buzz via Guardian Unlimited via Attaboy.ca.